Henry or Edsel?

Amid a DeMillean display of press-agentry, the Bricklin car--product of cowboy-booted, Indian-beaded Millionaire Malcolm Bricklin, the first American to start an auto manufacturing business from scratch in 28 years (TIME, May 27)--made its official debut last week at Manhattan's elegant Four Seasons restaurant. Though its stress is on safety, it turned out to be a sporty-looking, high-priced ($6,500) vehicle with several unusual features. Its gull-wing doors need only a 10-in. clearance to open fully, minimizing the risk of side swipes. Polyurethane bumpers are designed to absorb the shock of a 10-m.p.h. collision, double the legal minimum, by receding into the body. The Bricklin's body is made of a corrosion-proof, vacuum-formed acrylic that is impregnated with color (Safety Red, Safety Green, etc.) rather than painted. Bricklin will put the new car, which is being made in Saint John, N.B., on sale in the Northeastern U.S. next month. He expects to make 1,000 cars a month initially, 100,000 a year eventually. But it remains for the consumer to determine whether Mal Bricklin is the new Henry Ford or his car is the next Edsel.

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