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Private company

Excalibur

Logo: Slashme, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons3

Automobile from Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The Excalibur automobile is 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 a standard Studebaker chassis with special bodywork (and soon got an upgraded engine as well). The Excalibur has a Neoclassic design, a term used to designate automobiles produced in the 1960s–1990s in the style of cars of the 1920s and 1930s.2 It ceased to exist in 1989.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1963Founded1
  • HeadquartersMilwaukee1
  • Founded inMilwaukee1

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Excalibur Series III Roadster SS in Paris
Photo: LPLT, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons5

The Excalibur automobile is 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 a standard Studebaker chassis with special bodywork (and soon got an upgraded engine as well). The Excalibur has a Neoclassic design, a term used to designate automobiles produced in the 1960s–1990s in the style of cars of the 1920s and 1930s. Zimmer and Tiffany are two additional examples of Neoclassic design.2

The story

Founded by Brooks Stevens in 1963, in Milwaukee.1

A prototype premiered at car shows in 1963, fitted on a Studebaker Lark Convertible chassis and using a 290 hp (294 PS; 216 kW) 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.

Stevens subsequently obtained engines from General Motors through his friends GM executives Ed Cole and Semon "Bunkie" Knudsen. Over 3,500 Excalibur cars were built, all in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The American comedian Phyllis Diller was a notable proponent of the Excalibur automobile, and owned four of them.

The company failed in 1986 but was revived several times. Series production of the Excalibur continued until 1990, with a few false starts taking place under new owners afterwards. The final Excalibur was built in 1997.

From Wikipedia’s article on Excalibur (automobile), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Leadership

Who has led Excalibur, and when. Pick a name to see everywhere that person has worked.

Timeline

  1. 1989Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1963Founded Founded in Milwaukee1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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