| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| sjzukrow |
Posted - August 03 2013 : 08:08:20
40th Anniversary in Saint John |
| 8 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| GreenTrash |
Posted - June 22 2014 : 04:25:04
The actual dollar figures are difficult to track for the entire project. The Bricklin project was spun out of the Fastrack company which in its own right had financial irregularities and angry investors. There were multiple lawsuits against Malcolm's various corporations at this point. He took an unknown percentage of FasTrack's money to evolve the FasTrack shop. He was then peddling his new Bricklin company to investors, enticed investors with a royalty agreement for each car produced (the N.B. government was not aware of this). Bruce Meyers produced the model prototype to get investor interest and Marshall Hobart was hired, first to produce brochures, investor literature and the Bricklin logo you know now. The building of the Gray Ghost was used to pique more interest. All of these early investment rounds and the investors do not show up on the books in New Brunswick as they are a different company.
When Joe Rose, Leon Klein and Ian Watson create the original books in New York there were creative figures for such things as Malcolm's goodwill and knowledge. Multiple spin off companies were created to siphon funds from Bricklin of Canada as these other companies had little or no money invested in them. The Bricklin family at the time had very little regard for proper accounting and corporate behaviour. Many attempts by my father and the government of New Brunswick to impose proper conduct were ignored. The Saint John office had a room that my father dubbed the maturing room. This is where he had bills that were past due and dated with a priority system. After he left this system was not used and payables were just loaded into boxes. When Terry Tanner was in the office after the closure he saw the sad state of affairs in this room. What he recalls is unpaid bills from the hardware store in California for the Gray Ghost build. The appointed receiver in New Brunswick, nor the government released the figure for payables not paid out due to the receivership. The banks involved were made whole by the government guarantees. Hal Fredericks (Bricklin author) got many of the facts and figures from my father, he used the $23 million figure and that is the one that has seemed to stick. Taking into account the $23 million, money outstanding, unreported emergency money and secret investors, the final figure would be around $30 million. Its up to you if you wish to use an inflationary calendar to put it into perspective. I do not believe any of the statements over the years by Malcolm Bricklin regarding his financial investment in Bricklin and his subsequent losses. |
| play8o9 |
Posted - June 22 2014 : 01:00:53
Andrew, this may be the place to try to get some historical information confirmed or not. The 20 million figure is one that I repeatedly hear. Is this accurate?
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| GreenTrash |
Posted - June 21 2014 : 10:29:05
As much as I dont want to go down this road, I will clarify the following facts regarding the New Brunswick government and the Bricklin project. First of all, if you own a Bricklin you might want to know the actual facts, many of you do and I respect that. Malcolm Bricklin essentially came to the last stop, New Brunswick, in his unethical quest to fund his latest scheme. The government of Canada invested a minimal amount of money into the project and only did so after Premier Richard Hatfield played several political cards.
The government of New Brunswick was convinced by Richard Hatfield to invest in the Bricklin project, although many experts, government and non-governmental, advised against such an investment. On paper, the proposal was poorly thought out, poorly researched, naive to say the least and certainly not ready for prime time. Nevertheless, Malcolm Bricklin charmed the pants off of Richard Hatfield and the cheques kept on coming, well sort of. Yes, it was my fathers calm attitude and English charm that was used to collect more money and more money. Hatfield liked my father so much that he was given a job prior to the demise of the Bricklin, after it was disclosed what really was happening behind the scenes (how all of the money was not being directed to what it should have been). Quite frankly, Richard Hatfield had lost his political will to support Malcolm Bricklin, he always had faith in the workers and design team. He loved the car! I clearly remember this as a kid because he had a huge smile when with the car just like us kids.
The citizens of a very small province, with little spare money footed the bill for just one of Malcolm Bricklins schemes and paid dearly with a debt they really couldnt afford. Comparing funding of the Bricklin and Delorean by actual dollars skews the reality because you are looking at a ten year difference and a government of a large country versus a small maritime province. In what should have been a valuable lessen for the New Brunswick government, it was decided not to have an inquiry as to what actually happened. If there was an inquiry, I am sure that the final report would have been useful for the government of Great Britain. Again, the Delorean became enmeshed in a situation with a schemer and politicians, sound familiar? Also, the reported funding amount for Bricklin and the actual amount are not the same thing.
Years later, I decided to do a film about the Bricklin by revisiting the situation, especially in New Brunswick. From my experience, there is no current animosity from Premier David Alward, politicians and citizens towards the Bricklin. Please give them the credit due, they have moved on and yes the New Brunswick I see now has changed a lot since I was a kid. They have the same challenges as anyone else in North America especially funding cultural and historic events. At last years Silver Wave Film Festival I had a chance to talk with many people including some of the politicians. Several people told me about the time when Bricklin the Musical was performed in Fredericton and about Malcolm Bricklins paid appearance at the event. Although charming when signing owners cars, he was disrespectful to the former workers and was very arrogant. In print, radio and television he was telling his revised version of events that differed from actual documented events. As Terry Tanner has often told me, If Malcolms lips are moving, he is lying. In my in depth research and experience thus far I would agree with Terry. The unfortunate problem is that the car and the man are forever intertwined.
Having said this and being purely pragmatic, New Brunswick is not keen on doing Bricklin 40 for the following reasons in my opinion. Events like this take marketing money and in many jurisdictions this falls into the category of tourism marketing. Provincial and municipal tourism marketing efforts focus on general audience marketing for their peak tourism period. Special markets can be of interest and receive funding when not in peak tourism periods. In the case of Bricklin 40 it was in the middle of the peak tourism period. Perhaps if it were in the shoulder season it would have garnered more interest from the key groups.
The Bricklin is a very specific audience and to be fair a small community. From my twenty years in the tourism industry I can see why it was hard to divert key funds towards a fringe event. This is not just a New Brunswick thing, it is a reality throughout North America. On the ground, they found it very difficult to get a grassroots effort in New Brunswick to do this, as did I and others. So instead of pointing fingers towards the people of New Brunswick, Bricklin International should reflect and digest what occurred. No individual Bricklin owner from New Brunswick stepped up to the plate and Bricklin International did not stand up to the plate. It was several individuals from Ontario rallying the troops from afar. I respect these individuals for their efforts and hopefully the Bricklin community will learn something from it.
Although, Bricklin 40 isnt happening, paying respect to individuals that created the Bricklin should still be important. Perhaps next years big meet should pay tribute to the guys that conceived, designed and built the Gray Ghost. Bruce Meyers and Marshall Hobart are still with us and Im sure Kid Dean would talk about his dad.
Cheers, Andrew Watson |
| play8o9 |
Posted - June 21 2014 : 00:12:49
This is still a touchy subject to some Canadians. If I compare it to the deal that Delorean had with the English government they should be thankful that Malcolm was there first. 20 Million compared to the 330 million British pounds silver does not sound that bad. |
| 75brick |
Posted - June 20 2014 : 22:00:33
If the statement is true that they do not want any reminders, I truly am disappointed. I was looking forward to the event. Even though the car failed, the people of New Brunswick have nothing to be ashamed. Hopefully that sentiment will change soon. |
| bricklin107 |
Posted - June 15 2014 : 21:17:16
The New Brunswick Government does not want to remind voters of the Bricklin |
| Gulwings |
Posted - June 14 2014 : 15:59:50
To the best of my knowledge Lou; this is a dead issue now... check the next post down re "Bricklin 40th"...
Cheers!
Chopstick |
| 75brick |
Posted - June 12 2014 : 17:10:28
Please inform me of any information regarding the St. John event. Mostly interested in getting transportation arrangements for the car to New Brunswick from Detroit. Thank you. |
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