Founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1965, the Excalibur Automobile Corp. was the first automaker to create contemporary classics or neoclassical cars, that is, inspired by the models of the 1920s and 1930s. It stopped production in 1989 . An Excalibur Phaeton The original idea stems from a study conducted in 1963 when the company founder was still employed by Studebaker . However, when he started his own company, it was decided to try to produce most of the parts himself and use a 5,362 cm³ Chevrolet as the engine. The first models were inspired by the Mercedes-Benz SS from 1928 and the Bugattis from the same period. Production has always been quite limited, both in number and type of models produced. The chosen body shape consisted of practically only two types, roadster and phaeton, while the engines were almost entirely V8s with a large displacement. Over the years, five series of cars have been produced, traditionally changing models every five years: the first series from 1965 to 1969 with 359 units, the second series from 1970 to 1974 with 352, the third series from 1975 to 1979 with 1141, the fourth series from 1980 to 1984 with 935 and finally the fifth series from 1985 to 1989 with the last 359 units produced. The car was mainly successful as a ceremonial car and is still readily available in this particular market today. Image size: 260 x 360mm