1975 Bricklin SV-1

Name: David Brickner, 44, Spokane.

Purchased: August of 2004.

Why I love it: In 1975, when I was a 13-year-old kid, my older sister’s boyfriend pulled up to our house in a brand new, orange Bricklin. When I saw the doors fly open toward the sky, I thought for sure a spaceship had landed. I was allowed to play with the magical buttons that opened and closed the doors, and from that moment on it was love at first sight. I was hooked. I made a vow to myself that one day I, too, would own a Bricklin. My dream car has won first place at several different car shows. The Bricklin has been immortalized twice: In 1996 the Canadian Royal Poste added it to their air-land-sea series of stamps; and in 2003, the Royal Canadian Mint issued a limited edition two-tone $20 coin. My Bricklin rolled off the assembly line from the Bricklin factory in New Brunswick, Canada, on May 23, 1975. … I love this car because when I am driving it people think it is a brand new kind of car. When I tell them it is 31 years old, their mouths drop open. My Bricklin has only 56,000 miles on it. The gull-wing doors weigh 90 pounds each and are operated by a pressurized air system.

My next car will be: A new Mercedes, which is reviving the gull-wing doors!