Thursday, July 29 1979 | BY GLENNA McWHIRTER | Free Press Business Writer | DETROIT FREE PRESS
The Paul Newman and the Robert Redford of the auto industry met briefly at the Automotive News World Congress in Dearborn.
John Z. DeLorean, who wants to get into the business of building a high-styled, high-performance U.S. sports car, delivered the final speech at the three-day gathering.
Malcolm Bricklin, who did what DeLorean hopes to do and went bankrupt, spoke earlier in the day about his latest adventure: helping to develop and market an exotic piston engine called the Bricklin-Turner Power Plant.
The charisma index was high, but neither speaker had much solid information to impart.
DeLorean refused to answer questions about his DSV sports cars project, saying, as he has for many months, that he is working on the prospectus for the new company and Securities and Exchange Commission rules prohibit prior public announcements.
He promised some information would be available in 40 to 60 days.
“We are in the final stages of registering for a public (stock) offering and we just can’t talk. It’s killing me,” DeLorean said.
Delorean said Bricklin failed in his attempt to start the first new auto company in North America in 30 years because of undercapitalization.
BRICKLIN AGREED, and said DeLorean will do better in his attempt because “he’s smarter than I am.”
Bricklin and his Canadian-headquartered company spent about $30 million of Bricklin’s — and other people’s money designing, building and marketing about 3.000 Bricklin cars between 1973 and 1975, when the company went bust.
Since then Bricklin has moved to Phoenix and has formed a new company called Bricklin Motors Inc. He is chairman.
A Phoenix investor and retired Air Force officer, Robert Whitlow, is a primary financial backer and president of the company. He owns the Phoenix Road Runners, a World Hockey Association team. Bricklin’s fiancee (the wedding is set for Sept. 18 in Phoenix) Colleen McCabe is a company director.
There are a half dozen other unnamed California and New York investors according to Whitlow, who said: “And we’re looking for about four more.”
Bricklin Motors has associated itself with a Graham, Tex., firm called Turner Re-search Inc.
This company comprises Frank Turner, an inventor, and some few people of like persuasion. Turner has developed an unusual piston engine with no reciprocating parts. Much of the hardware in a conventional spark ignition has been eliminated.
BRICKLIN claims the engine develops high torque, idles at 150 r.p.m., but can rev up to 9,000, is lightweight, compact, smooth running and almost vibration free.
Little is known of its capacity to meet emissions standards or of its fuel economy or durability. The engine has never powered a car. So far only prototypes on test stands have been built and a spokesman for Chrysler Corp. said: “As in the case of all current alternative power plants, this one has some potential advantages as well as disadvantages. We just don’t have any data to evaluate.”
Bricklin hopes to Interest one or more of the Rig Three auto companies in taking on the cost and effort of pursuing this development work. Brick¬lin and Turner would receive royalties.
Turner himself was in town in 1972 trying to interest the automakers in an engine, which he was then calling the Rotary-Vee. Turner and an oil man-auto dealer-entrepreneur named Fred Boaz met unsuccessfully with representatives from all four automakers.
Bricklin said he was meeting with Henry Ford II, chairman of Ford Motor Co., late Wednesday to discuss such a project.
A Chrysler spokesman confirmed that a similar meeting with unnamed Chrysler executives was scheduled for Thursday.
Bricklin planned no meetings with General Motors Corp. or American Motors Corp.
John DeLorean and Malcolm Bricklin at auto congress: DeLorean is trying—amid much secrecy—to succeed where Bricklin failed.
