Many " replicars " have come and gone since the mid-1960s , so it ’s fitting that the first and good of the breed – the 1965 - 1969 Excalibur Series I – would survive the long . It was the splendid creation of noted industrial designer Brooks Stevens .
Classic Cars Image Gallery
The first Excaliburs were lightweight airstream - and - ride roadster built in 1951 with " vintage - forward-looking " bodywork on the Henry J chassis , but the production Excalibur was born in 1963 atStudebaker , where Stevens had been a advisor the premature four year .
Having completed clever , low - price face - nip and tuck on the compact Lark and clean Hawk coupe , he was require by ship’s company president Sherwood Egbert to fare up with some show cars to convert hoi polloi that moribund Studebaker had a future after all .
At first , time let only a trio of dolled - up Larks . But for the one-year New York Auto Show in April 1964 , Stevens require something that would really " get people to amount to that damn booth . " Egbert , lamentably , was stricken with Crab by then , but replacement Byers Burlingame agreed to go along .
Stevens forge what he call a " contemporary classic , " a raw car that looked like the supercharge Mercedes SSK he once owned . Badged " Studebaker SS , " the dashing cycle - fendered runabout , riding a Lark Daytonaconvertiblechassis withsupercharged , 290 - horsepower 289 V-8 , was completed in just six weeks by Stevens and his boy David and William .
No rather did it arrive in New York than Studebaker backed out , officials saying it was at betting odds with their new " coarse sense " melodic theme . undiscouraged , Stevens exhibited the SS on his own , and immediately draw an avalanche of orders .
This prompted his sons to organise SS Automobiles in August 1965 , and within a year they ’d build 56 examples of a modified mho bearing the Stevens - registered name Excalibur – and " sword - in - circle " radiator mascot that suggested , but did n’t impinge upon , Mercedes ' jealously guarded tristar emblem .
Studebaker , in the meantime , had cease production , but the Stevens blood brother secure 300 - bhp 327 V-8s fromChevroletthat gave their lithe , 2,100 - pound Excalibur inebriate performance . With standard 3.31:1 rear axle , 0 - 60 miles per hour take less than five seconds , versus seven for the Studebaker - power prototype . And image top speed was near 160 miles per hour !
Continue reading to learn more about the 1965 - 1969 Excalibur Series I.
For more information on cars, see:
Continued
Though quite old , the Lark chassis was narrow and thus literally worthy for the slim organic structure of the 1965 , 1966 , 1967 , 1968 , 1969 Excalibur Series I. It was also firmly X - braced , though the high-pitched king - to - exercising weight proportion demanded considerable reworking for salutary manipulation .
That undertaking fell to David Stevens , as did legion others . The vintage - style cowling , for illustration , push him to low pedal andsteeringcolumn . He also had to change spring rates and caster / cant angles , but the railcar went as quickly around curves as it did on straights .
This chassis go on under all " Series I " Excaliburs . For 1970 ’s revamped " Series II , " young Stevens designed a new box - subdivision shape with all - independentsuspension .
Uncompromising quality would always congeal Excaliburs aside from the motley radical of " neoclassics " they inspired . Papa Stevens , for example , secure Mercedes ' original German supplier for his railway car ’s simulated outside exhaust pipe , and chose French - made freestanding headlamp closely resembling the original SSK social unit .
Early production Excaliburs were bodied in hired man - hammered Al , but fibreglass was before long fill in for reason of monetary value and practicality . Radiators , though , were always cast in aluminum , and the hyphen was filled with purposeful livid - on - disgraceful gauges in an locomotive - turn panel . All this in a paw - built gondola with arresting performance and good roadability made the announce $ 7,250 base price just unlikely .
buoy up by their initial success , the Stevens sidekick added two models in 1966 : a more elaborate two-seater with full fenders and run circuit card , and , very recently in the year , a astonishingly roomy four - place Phaetonconvertible .
Prices of necessity escalated , reaching $ 10,000 by 1969 , but Excaliburs stay remarkable time value . Not until 1976 would prices exceed $ 20,000 , and then mostly because of puffiness and government mandates , though a progressively upgraded equipment listing no doubt added to the totality .
received feature article by 1969 included air conditioning , heater / deicer , varying - proportion power steering with tilt wheel , power front - disc brake , radialtireson chrome - plat telegram steering wheel , matching sidemounts , luggage stand , AM / FM stereo , leather fundament , air horn , driving lights , rearward tune shocks , " Positraction " limited - slip differential coefficient and ego - shift Turbo Hydra - Matic ( the last two from GM , of course . )
The Excalibur hold out the 1970s through Series II and III models that picked up where the Series I go out off . Then came larger and slower Series IVs , which pile up big losses in a topsy - turvy market , force the Stevens brothers to sell out in the late 1980s .
New owners tried to keep things locomote , but the business firm slipped into the limbo of bankruptcy in 1991 .
Continue reading to learn more about the Excalibur Series I specifications .
1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969 Excalibur Series I Specifications
The 1965 , 1966 , 1967 , 1968 , 1969 Excalibur Series I models were build for public presentation , and although later model cant towards the luxury market place , the proficient Excalibur Series I elevator car were the performance - driven runabout .
Specifications
Engines:1965 : Studebaker 289 Criminal Investigation Command ( 3.56 x 3.62 ) , 290 bhp;1966 - 1969 : Chevrolet 327 Criminal Investigation Command ( 4.00 x 3.25 ) , 300 bhp
Transmissions:4 - f number manual of arms , 3 - speed automatic
Suspension front : upper and lower A - arms , helix saltation
temporary removal rear : lively axle on semi - elliptic leafage springs
Brakes : front discs / rear drums
Wheelbase ( in.):109.0
Weight ( lbs):2,100 - 2,650
Top speed ( mph):150 +
0 - 60 mph ( sec):5.0 - 6.5
