TheExcalibur automobile is a car styled after the 1928Mercedes-Benz SSK byBrooks Stevens forStudebaker. 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).[1]. 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 aStudebaker Lark Convertible chassis and using a 290-brake-horsepower (290 PS; 220 kW)[citation needed] 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.[2]
Stevens subsequently obtained engines fromGeneral Motors through his friends GM executivesEd Cole andSemon "Bunkie" Knudsen. These wereChevrolet 327s in 300-brake-horsepower (300 PS; 220 kW)Corvette tune, making the 2,100-pound (950 kg) Excalibur a strong performer. With the standard 3.31:1 rear axle, acceleration from 0–60 mph (0–97 km/h) took less than six seconds.[3] Projected top speed was 134 mph (216 km/h).[4]
Over 3,500 Excalibur cars were built, all inMilwaukee, Wisconsin.[2] The American comedianPhyllis Diller was a notable proponent of the Excalibur automobile, and owned four of them.[5]
The company failed in 1986 but was revived several times.[6] Production of the Excalibur continued until 1990.[7]
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