Club Clips: October 17, 2019 Edition
Bricklin magazine recalls talents of Bruce Meyers The mainly red-and-white cover of The Brickline, Vol. 44, No. 1, bristles with dynamism as an exploded view of the concept car is…
Bricklin magazine recalls talents of Bruce Meyers
The mainly red-and-white cover of The Brickline, Vol. 44, No. 1, bristles with dynamism as an exploded view of the concept car is depicted with body panels floating around the chassis. The creative cover is not unusual for the publication of the Bricklin International Owners Club, Inc., (editor Randy Wyrick).
The highlight of this issue came in the two-article section covering five pages. Steve Owen’s treatise on Bruce Meyers opens with a focus on his “earliest days of the safety vehicle.” Meyers, who was an anti-aircraft gunner shooting at Kamikazes in World War II was well aware of safety measures. Survival may have seemed miraculous to him. When peace returned, his thinking was conveyed to the dune buggy craze, which he helped to spark in postwar years. The inventor of Armor All (Alan Rypinski) urged Meyers to connect with Malcolm Bricklin and set a special course. The idea was to use the Subaru 360 as a platform for racing. Roll cages and exoskeletons were in the mix, circa 1970.
A sleek design and Polyethylene skin soon followed for what was labeled the FasTrack program. That concept was noticed by John DeLorean. All the while, Meyers pushed for a first-class initiative. Early concepts seemed to smack of Datsun or Toyota, and Meyers doesn’t apologize for that.
As the writer stated, “If there is a revelation in this story, it’s the breadth of Bruce’s talent. How many people can create a working chassis from scratch and produce world class industrial designs, or innovative body skins that bounce back after sharp blows?”
Survivors of the FasTrack idea still are maintained. Good ideas often timeless.
Meyers literally was credited with teaching Malcom Bricklin “about the car business from clay models on up.”Also, Rypinski interfaced seriously with Bricklin, eventually phasing out of a joint venture, only to rebound with the magic of Armor All.
Tossed into the stretch of pages is the magic of Howard Hesketh, located smack-dab in the center of the U.S.A. When Bricklin owners have operational problems, he puts matters into perspective with the wave of a wrench. “If your brakes don’t work well, why are you trying to build a 600-horsepower motor?”
Practical, he is. Good advice!
Bricklin International Owners Club, Inc.
P.O. Box 1021
Vail, CO 81658
thebricklin@gmail.com
