Excalibur (automobile)
The Excalibur automobile is a car styled after the 1928 Mercedes-Benz SSK by Brooks Stevens for Studebaker. Stevens subsequently formed a company to manufacture and market the cars, which were a standard Studebaker car with special bodywork (and soon got an upgraded engine as well).<ref name="nyt1">Template:Cite news</ref> The Excalibur has a Neoclassic design, a term used to designate automobiles produced in the 1960s–1990s in the elegant and prestigious style cars of the 1920s and 1930s. Zimmer and Tiffany are two additional examples of Neoclassic design.
A prototype premiered at car shows in 1963, fitted on a Studebaker Lark Convertible chassis and using a Template:ConvertTemplate:Cn Studebaker 289 V-8. Studebaker ceased engine production in December 1963 and consolidating all manufacturing to its Hamilton, Ontario, plant, ending the availability of that engine.<ref name="conceptcarz.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Stevens subsequently obtained engines from General Motors through his friends GM executives Ed Cole and Semon "Bunkie" Knudsen. These were Chevrolet 327s in Template:Convert Corvette tune, making the Template:Convert Excalibur a strong performer. With the standard 3.31:1 rear axle, acceleration from Template:Cvt took less than six seconds.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Projected top speed was Template:Cvt.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Over 3,500 Excalibur cars were built, all in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.<ref name="conceptcarz.com"/> The American comedian Phyllis Diller was a notable proponent of the Excalibur automobile, and owned four of them.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The company failed in 1986 but was revived several times.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Production of the Excalibur continued until 1990.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Excalibur SS (4633350948).jpg
1960s SS
- 1984 Excalibur Series IV Phaeton (5409795985).jpg
1980s Phaeton
- NeoClassicExcalibur.jpg
1980s SS
- 2022 Downtown West Allis Classic Car Show 021 (1985 Excalibur Phaeton).jpg
1985 Phaeton
- Excalibur Series V 1X7A2559.jpg
Series V Convertible