55k Mile Oddity: 1978 Excalibur Roadster
Not many people recognize an Excalibur when they see one. Many people think it is a kit car and some 1930’s sedan. This example is a was found by Mitchell G. and is located in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Excalibur was the brain child of Brooks Stevens and was designed after the 1928 Mercedes Benz SSK. Brooks Stevens was an American industrial designer and stylist who lived from 1911 to 1995 and designed everything from home furnishings, appliances, motorcycles, railroad cars and automobiles. This Excalibur is listed here on Craigslist for $40,000.
The ad has multiple pictures of the car but the description is limited to “This car is in good condition and 95% original.And with very low original miles.” The Excalibur does look to be in good condition and is reported to have 55,342 miles on the odometer. Engine sizes varied over the years of production from a GM 327 cid to as large as a 454 cid engine. This one obviously has air conditioning and they were said to be equipped with 3.31:1 rear gear ratios.
The interior looks roomy but not particularly comfortable or stylish. Most cars had power brakes, power steering, wire wheels, and a leather covered steering wheel. Production hit 263 cars in 1978 before the company first failed in 1986 but was revived several times and continued to sell Excaliburs into 1990. It is hard to make money with such low production numbers. I grew up with a family that bought one of these new in the early 1980’s. I never got to ride in it and it pretty much sat in a garage the whole time I knew them. It was white with a tan interior just like this one.
The first Excalibur was introduced at the 1963 car show circuit. It was built for Studebaker and powered by a 289 cid V8 engine. Studebaker ended engine production in late 1963 so Stevens switched to GM for sourcing powerplants. Stevens was friends with such notable GM executives as Ed Cole and Bunkie Knudsen. Over 3,500 Excalibur cars were produced up until 1990.
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Comments
Looks like the ad is gone.
Try this one: https://charlottesville.craigslist.org/cto/d/charlottesville-classic-car/7709266019.html
Looks like the ad is back.
The CL link in the article takes you to a Wikipedia page.
The link is fixed. Thanks – https://charlottesville.craigslist.org/cto/d/charlottesville-classic-car/7709266019.html
Here is the link
https://charlottesville.craigslist.org/cto/d/charlottesville-classic-car/7709266019.html
Copy and paste
What a shame the original Brooks Stevens Excalibur design devolved to this cartoonish parody we see here now. Going back to about 1966 or so, the car design was restrained, dignified and elegant. The original cycle fendered roadster, many with a manual transmission is a car you could drive without embarrassment
$40,000 is $35,000 or more overpriced, these cars were always kinda funny looking. When it comes to cars trying to look old-school I think the Shay roadsters are a better option
Excalibur didn’t fail in 1986. They manufactured cars up through the mid-1990s. The Phaeton which Matt Houston drove in the first season of the series was made through 1989 as a roadster, 4 door sedan and limousine. In the 1990s, Excalibur started manufacturing AC Cobra replicas which are still highly sought after
A friend of my x’s cousin had one in the 1978 period… I requested a ride, it was Christmas time in N.Y. state. It was cold snowy, pot holey and salty out… Remember bouncing through some pot holes in it.. Was a rare interesting car back then, more so now. I actually searched the owners name on Facebook last year and he still owns the car, lives now in southern California and runs an Excalibur car group…
I don’t know what manifold is on that car, but in the open hood picture it only has three ports. Which looks like a V-6.
They had Chevy v8s, usually corvette. Not sure if They were decorative of functional pipes.. Google would probably know
That is a big block Chevy. I’m not sure the side pipes aren’t just decorative, they look a little high to actually be connected to the engine.