1978 Excalibur SS Phaeton Series III

1978 Excalibur SS Phaeton Series III• America’s firsthand-built Neo-classic; one of only 263 Excaliburs made in 1978• Hand-built by Excalibur Automotive Corp. in Milwaukee, WI• Two-owner, garage-kept car; reconditioned in September 2019• Original body in cream and brown exterior with cream interior• Model SS Phaeton – two-door, four-seat, open-top roadster and rear trunk for extra storage• Chevy big-block 454 CID V-8 engine with a tuned and re-built carb• Functional working factory side exhaust pipes• Turbo Hydramatic 350 three-speed automatic transmission and other Chevy parts• Air-conditioning, power brakes, tilt steering column, new brake lines and calipers • VW Beetle front turn signals and rear taillights; MG Midget-like windshield and triple wipers• Two side-mounted spare tires within body-colored tire covers; original jack and tire iron• 112-inch wheelbase Looking for a neo-classic car with modern features? Then this two-owner, garage-kept and reconditioned 1978 Excalibur may be the ticket for you here at MotoeXotica Classic Cars. The Excalibur was billed as America’s first replicar, which married a fiberglass body to big block V-8 power. The factory fiberglass is hand layed and is twice the thickness of a Corvette! The Excalibur automobile was 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 conventional under their styling. Only 3,500 Excalibur cars were built, all in Milwaukee, Wisconsin over their entire production run! It was the Excalibur Series III, introduced in 1975, that really caused the production figures to shoot up and the selling price also. This was fundamentally a Series II car that had been modified to conform with new homologation requirements and thus it retained the traditional style but featured more enveloping fenders/wings. The chassis was a new one, although still a ladder-type affair, reinforced by a central 'X'-shaped member and featuring a removable bolt-on front section. Wheelbase had once more been stretched to 112 inches and the whole new chassis assembly housed an equally new engine...a Chevy Mk IV 454 cu. inch (7500 cc) big-block V8. Finished in two-tone cream over brown, the car’s paint and trim are in overall very good shape with only minor blemishes visible at close range. The original bodywork is straight and solid; the engine bay is tidy and cozy with that big V-8 inside, and the thin, chrome bumpers look shiny. The car includes soft top bows and tone cover but no top. The windshield and its triple wipers, an idea borrowed from MG. Turn signals perch atop the sweeping front fenders and taillights are affixed to the rear. In back is a trunk for storage and a jack and tire iron.This neoclassic rides on Sigma Tempest whitewall radials, size 225/75R15 at all four corners with factory wire wheel covers. The tires and wheels are in good, original order.Beneath that vented hood is a big-block 454 CID V-8 engine from Chevrolet, which by 1978, was sold in its trucks and vans. It has a tuned and rebuilt carburetor. Backing the engine is a Turbo Hydramatic 350 three-speed automatic transmission. Driver convenience features include air-conditioning, power brakes and tilt steering column. New parts include brake lines and calipers.Inside, the leather tan interior is in overall great shape. The tan-colored leather seats look great while the dark brown carpeting is in good, original condition. The car’s steering wheel, column and ancillary controls are stock GM from the late 1970s and the air horn is inoperable. The instrument panel, with its full line of auxiliary gauges and the inner door liners all look good as do the center console and GM console-mounted shift lever. A JVC AM/FM radio with cassette deck is mounted to the driver’s left. Excalibur prices and production began taking off with the Series III, which arrived in 1975 (At Excalibur, model years are more like suggestions than strict rules). This was the Series II design modified for tightening safety/emissions rules but not so much as to compromise styling or roadability that were, by now, Excalibur hallmarks. Besides “shock mounted solid aluminum alloy [bumpers that] meet government standards for absorbing impact,” Series IIIs boasted fuller clamshell-type fenders and standard high-back bucket seats covered in leather and made -- like most of the car -- by Excalibur itself. The main mechanical alteration was switching to Chevy’s 454 V-8, which could be emissions-tuned with less loss of power and torque than the small-block 350. The frame was redesigned with a bolt-on front subframe assembly.The chassis was a new one, although still a ladder-type affair, reinforced by a central ‘X’-shaped member and featuring a removable bolt-on front section. Wheelbase had once more been stretched to 112 inches and the whole new chassis assembly housed an equally new engine.By any standard, Excalibur was still a tiny automaker, but the Stevens brothers would not be rushed. Nor did they want to dilute their market with too much of a good thing. The “Phaeton” version continued to sell in greater numbers than the “Roadster,” as had indeed been the case since 1969, and even though production did remain restricted (even by a specialist manufacturer's standards) Excalibur broke a new sales record in 1977 with 237 units, followed by an encouraging increase to 263 cars in 1978 and 367 in 1979. This impressive figure related to a production rate of more than one automobile per working day and Steve Stevens remembers this stage of production in these terms: “We were building one car every six hours on average, and at such a rate we couldn't maintain the standards of build quality that we wanted to. We had to abandon this infernal production rate and come back to a more reasonable figure of 4.5 cars per week.” In 2003, Alice Preston, who had previously worked with Brooks Stevens, purchased the assets of Excalibur Automobile Corporation. The company continues to sell parts and perform restorations on existing Excalibur models. Famous Excalibur owners included Tony Curtis, Dean Martin, James Brown, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Paul Harvey, George C. Scott, Steve McQueen, Ronald Reagan and Efrem Zimbalist Jr., among many others. According to its dash plaque, this particular example was originally built for the American Realty Group. Competition to this car in 1978 included Mercedes-Benz’s 350 SL droptop, Stutz’s Blackhawk Convertible, and Zimmer’s Golden Spirit. If the idea of a contemporary classic excites you, then this Excalibur is something you should check out at MotoeXotica Classic Cars. Stop by today to look at this neoclassic beauty in all of its glory. Each EXCALIBUR has its own unique, federally-mandated Vehicle ID Number (VIN), i.e., Excalibur is not a conversion of a mass--produced automobile.VIN: 787045 This car is currently located at our facility in St. Louis, Missouri. Current mileage on the odometer shows 28,071 miles. It is sold as is, where is, on a clean and clear, mileage exempt title.GET OUT AND DRIVE!!! Note: Please see full terms and conditions listed below that pertain to the purchase of any said vehicle, thank you.