Generally speaking when people think of safe cars names like Volvo and Mercedes come to mind but there was one company in the 70s that tried to build itself around safety while still looking sporty. That was the Canadian made Bricklin and their entry car was the SV-1, or the Safety Vehicle 1. Looking at the Bricklin SV-1 one wouldn't assume that it's about safety, and perhaps that was part of its problem.
Humble Beginnings
Malcolm Bricklin initially made his money in a Florida hardware store he helped start. After cashing out of that he turned to cars and selling the tiny Subaru 360. When safety concerns sunk the sales of the microcar, Bricklin began experimenting with different body designs, leading him to collaborate with Bruce Meyers of Meyers Manx fame. Bricklin would work with several designers until the final production shape of the car came together.
Stand Out
The design had two stand out features. The bumpers were designed to take impacts up to 25mph, and it overshot the mark surviving 37mph impacts. The other was the gullwing doors. During the design process Bricklin got a few high profile visitors including John Delorean a few years before he struck out to design his independent sports car of the same name. Initially designed around the Datsun 510 engine, the final product was first powered by a 360 cubic inch engine from AMC until it was replaced by the Ford 351W.
Safety Comes at a Price
Additional safety measures on the sports car added the one thing sports cars try to avoid, weight. The Windsor powerplant was good for 175hp restricted by seventies pollution regulations. It was enough for Car and Driver to compare it favorably to the Corvette of the time, though it was a low watermark for the Corvette as well. Ultimately financial problems shut down production after 2,100 units made. Today it has a small but loyal following.
Source: Hagerty