[DML] Bricklin Gathering in Holland, Michigan ??

["dmcerik" <dmcerik@xxxxxxxxx>]

Ken, come on, couldn't you have done the DCS here too?  It would have 
made my trip so much shorter....like 2 minutes!  The show is about 3 
blocks from my house.

Here is the article from the Holland Sentinel 
(www.hollandsentinel.com)

'It made such an impression on me'
Owners of unique Bricklin cars gather for annual meeting

By OLIVIA COBISKEY Staff writer
FEATURED ADVERTISER


 
PROUD OWNERS: Paul and Pat Agema of Wyoming pose with their 1975 
Bricklin on Windmill Island Wednesday afternoon. Holland will play 
host to a convention of Bricklin owners through Saturday. 

Sentinel/Dan Irving



 
Paul and Pat Agema of Wyoming, Michigan pose with their 1975 Bricklin 
on Windmill Island Wednesday afternoon. Holland will play host to a 
convention for Bricklin owners running through Saturday. 

Sentinel/Dan Irving

 
An interior view of the 1975 Bricklin owned by Paul and Pat Agema of 
Wyoming, Michigan. Holland will play host to a convention for 
Bricklin owners running through Saturday. 


RELATED STORIESIt's not a Lamborghini. It's not a DeLorean either. 
The cars with the gull-wing doors coasting down Eighth Street this 
week are Bricklins.
"The gull-wing doors make the whole car," said Paul Agema, a member 
of the Bricklin International Owners Club.

More than 100 people are expected to attend an international meeting 
of Bricklin car owners taking place at the Holiday Inn and Conference 
Center, 650 E. 24th St., through Saturday.

Agema, co-chairman of the meeting, said the Bricklin was 
revolutionary for its time. The brainchild of Malcolm Bricklin, it 
was designed in Michigan by Herb Grasse to exceed safety requirements 
in the mid-1970s.

The Bricklin (SV-1) had a built-in steel roll cage, shock absorbing 
bumpers that recede into the car in the event of a front or rear 
collision and a steel-enclosed fuel tank and side guard rails. It 
featured gull-wing doors -- which are hinged at the top -- a 
fiberglass body and tubular frame. They had no ashtrays or lighters.

However, the company that sold the Bricklin went out of business in 
September 1975 after producing only 2,880 in 1974 and 1975. Another 
17 cars were finished in 1976.

Agema said there are approximately 1,800 Bricklins today still on the 
road -- 55 in Michigan.

Club President Jim Wajda said that number jumps to about 80 if you 
count cars not registered with the club.

"There were more Bricklin dealers in the '70s in Michigan than in New 
York," said Wajda, who bought his first Bricklin in 1983 for $7,500 
when he was 17. "So it's always great coming back home."

Wajda said he was 10 when he saw his first Bricklin.

"I've always remembered it -- it made such an impression on me that 
day," Wajda said. "And I promised myself that when I made it, I'd buy 
one."

Standing next to his orange Bricklin, Agema said he bought it new for 
$8,500 after the company went bankrupt.

For him it was also about fulfilling a childhood dream.

"As a kid I saw some of the Mercedes with the gull-wing doors and 
always wanted one," Agema said.

However, Agema is the first to admit the car was plagued with 
problems from the beginning.

The hydraulic door system, made famous 20 years earlier by the 
Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, wasn't reliable. In fact, his wife has been 
stuck in the car several times because the doors malfunction.

"The Bricklin was a good car, they just didn't have time to work the 
bugs out," said his wife, Pat Agema.

However, the doors weren't the only problem. The weather stripping 
leaked and the rain would slide down the windshield and into the air-
ducts fogging up the windows inside and dripping on the passengers 
feet, Paul said, all problems he's since fixed.

The Wyoming couple attended their first Bricklin car meet in Hershey, 
Pa., the same year he bought the car.

"The first meetings everyone would get together and buy parts and 
figure out how to fix things," Paul said.

But it's more about the life-long friendships they've made along the 
way.

"You don't just do it for the car, you do it for the people," Paul 
said about the meets.

The event is open to the public.

For more information on the club, visit www.bricklin.org or call the 
Holiday Inn at (616) 394-0111 for tickets to any of the events.

Many options

The Bricklin was initially meant to compete with the Corvette, the 
most expensive car GM sold in the 1970s. In 1977, a fully-optioned 
Corvette cost $8,000 to $9,000. By 1975 the initial $4,000 price tag 
on the Bricklin has increased to more than $9,980.

By the numbers

Cars built by year

1974 -- 750

1975 -- 2,130

1976 -- 17

By the colors

White -- 1,900

Red -- 250

Orange -- 250

Green -- 250

Suntan -- 250

If you go

Today

10 a.m. Caravan to Gilmore Car Museum, 6865 Hickory Road, Hickory 
Corners. Admission $5

5 p.m. Dinner, Boatwerks Waterfront Restaurant, 216 Van Raalte Ave.

Friday

10 a.m. Road Rally begins at Holiday Inn parking lot, ends at the 
White House Restaurant in downtown Saugatuck

5 p.m. Caravan to Jeanies Country Cafe, 6642 Blair Lane, Holland

Saturday

9 a.m. Car show and judging in front of Holiday Inn

5 p.m. Banquet

Contact Olivia Cobiskey at olivia.cobiskey@hollandsentinel. com or 
(616) 546-4264









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