Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 Thinking about Excaliburs,

Can a replica "be" the real thing?

and other "Neo Classic" kit cars.

I recently came across an Excalibur offered for sale on CL.  There was a link from the AACA forum, "Cars for sale. Not mine." This is a 1968 model offered at 25,000 dollars.

Excaliburs were designed by Brook Stevens, they are a recreation of the classic 1928 Supercharged Merecedes SSK roadsters. The fiberglass body was initially plunked down on a Studebaker convertible chassis and powered by a Studebaker engine. The prototype was built in 1963.

Brook Stevens was a legendary car designer. He was famous for restyling and updating older models for independent American Automakers, most notably Studebaker. For example, he took the finned Hawk of the 1950's and streamlined it into the elegant Studebaker GT. Quite an improvement.

From this.

To this.
This was the third restyling of this body.

Brook Stevens was a kind of "sow's ear to silk purse" miracle worker who helped the independents survive for a few more years. It's no wonder that he wanted to bring out his own concept. After the prototype was built for Studebaker, Stevens founded Excalibur Motor company. These cars were built in Milwaukee Wisconsin. 

Note how the body color painted cross member
does not appear out of place.

When Studebaker went out of business, Corvette engines were used. These cars were strong performers. The bodywork was of high quality and a fair reproduction of the Mercedes. The side exit exhaust system is a well built functioning component.

There wasn't much effort spent on trying to give it a true vintage looking front suspension. That would have required a solid beam, leaf sprung axle, like those commonly seen on Hot Rods. The modern cross member and independent suspension arms are in plain view. But the real design genius is displayed in that the radiator was located just aft of the cross member, giving it the proper Classic proportions.

 Classic Era cars had the radiator placed directly over, or slightly behind the front axle. 

For me, this front wheel placement instantly registers as an attractive classic cue. I've seen home made efforts to place a hot rod type body on a modern chassis that fall short because the front axle is located too far back. This is a powerful design cue, my '06 Mustang also has the front wheels located quite a bit ahead of the cowl, it gives the car great proportions. 

The central driving light is another nice touch. Also 
note the high quality grille texture.

Note that the underside of the cross member is filled in.

This is what the suspension of the original looks like.
photo source: getty images

The Excalibur also has the cross member smoothed out with metal panels welded on underneath giving a smooth finish to the chassis. By painting the cross member body color, your eye accepts it as the splash and gravel guards found on vintage cars. If you are not familiar with automotive construction it might not even raise an eyebrow. 

The frame has also received this smooth treatment. It has been filled in, so that it does not look like a modern open channel frame, likewise the suspension arms.

Enough about the chassis, how does it look overall? Pretty darn cool, or even Boss as we might have said back in '68!

You can live out your Great Gatsby fantasies.

These cars are big and substantial, and look quite impressive.

You're not going to be too comfortable.

This is a '68 model Excalibur, which makes it a contemporary of the muscle cars of it's era. It is powered by a Corvette engine which gives it instant credibility. I was in the seventh grade back then. My lunch periods were filled with discussions about the cool cars that we'd seen or heard about, during the week. 

I made a comment on the AACA thread, that this was the "Uber Gazelle." The Gazelle being one of the most popular neo classic kits cars of the 70's and '80's. These were usually VW powered.

This is an MG repro, but the Gazelle and it's 
siblings are very similar. 

This particular MG fiberglass body was used as the basis for reproductions of several different vintage cars: The MG, the Jaguar SS, the pre war Mercedes, there were probably more. There wasn't that much differentiation. Certain details were used to give them a marque specific feel. Most of the earlier kits were plopped down on a VW floor pan, so that was the power train. Later on, a ladder type frame was an option and these were usually powered by a four cylinder Pinto engine. 

One of my biggest gripes is that so many builders used the cheapest wire spoke wheel covers that they could buy. Extremely unconvincing, and it really makes the cars look low buck. This Excalibur sports genuine knock off wires for more sports car cred. 

Comparing the "factory built" Excalibur against the kit car Gazelles shows their differences. The kit  cars are a bit smaller but they can be easily mistaken by most folks. Of course, the Excalibur was expensive and cost more than a Cadillac when it was new.

Neither of these cars could be described as comfortable, lacking most of the amenities that a modern driver is accustomed to. Neither has even the most basic convenience of roll up windows. Forget heating and a/c, or an easily erected convertible top. The seats on the smaller cars and even the Excalibur, don't look that comfortable. I won't go into the lack of operator safety features. Effective seat belts? Nope. Collision survival features really can't be built into these kinds of platforms. Both could benefit from a roll bar.

Could cars of this kind be considered as a fun hobby car? 

They can, but you always have to be aware of their limitations. In many ways they are similar to traditional hot rods built from 1920's to '30's cars. 

There are many traditional hot rods built off of new repop frames and suspensions with fiberglass copies of early Ford bodies. The low buck kit car, the repop hot rod, and even the Excalibur all spring from the same concept. However their partisans will argue vociferously over that statement! 

The attraction to these cars is that they are basic automobiles, open top roadsters.  The driver and passenger are quite exposed, much like a classic 20's Speedster. Open top cars are fun, I've had many convertibles. When the weather is right, top down driving can't be beat. 

I once got a ride in a dune buggy and I will admit that it is quite different than riding in my Mustang convertible. As a passenger you are more exposed to the elements, and the pavement rushes past you so close, that you can almost reach down and touch it.

In many ways, it feels a lot like riding a motorcycle, it's raw and visceral.

I think that these early, basic Excaliburs are the "real thing."  Then there's that name, Excalibur. That was the name of fabled King Arthur's sword, pulled from a stone! What a romantic and evocative name! 

Sure beats Gazelle!

Unfortunately, when the company was revived, most of the designs were of larger closed cars, that look more like a parody, than an original. 

In my next segment I'll compare the VW based neo classic kit cars against the Excalibur.