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E for Exclusivity: 1988 Excalibur Four Door Touring Sedan

Wowzers. File this one under “Cars of the Stars” as well as “Reserved for the Rich and Famous.” Excaliburs were pricey, costing twice as much as a Caddy back in 1965, but there was nothing else like them on the road, screamed “Look at me!, I have arrived!,” and during its initial 25-year run, compiled an impressive Who’s-Who list of owners. Celebrities such as Steve McQueen, Dean Martin, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tony Curtis, Prince Rainier, George Foreman, Phyllis Diller (who owned four), Dick Van Dyke, Sonny and Cher, Jackie Gleason, heck, even former President Ronald Reagan drove one. That’s quite a list. Here’s your chance to see what all that head turning was about with this extremely clean, well-preserved 1988 Excalibur Series V Four Door Touring Sedan. Located in Phoenix, Arizona, this rare Excalibur (1 of only 101 Touring Sedans built in 1988 and 1989) is for sale here on eBay. As of this writing, 39 bids had pushed the price to $25,300, but hadn’t met the seller’s reserve ($75,975 is listed as the BIN price). Another shout out to Larry D for bringing this rare Excalibur to Barn Finds.

Styled after late 20’s/30’s era classic Mercede’s-Benz roadsters by genius automotive and industrial designer Brook Stevens, the first generation in the early 60’s were produced for Studebaker. But within a few years,  Stevens formed his own company based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to manufacture and market these excusive head-turning automobiles. For 1988, Excalibur positioned the Four Door Touring Sedan as where “self-indulgence could have a practical side.” This metallic red beauty supports this with its larger coach size, four doors, and what Excalibur claimed was “the added convenience of abundant trunk space.” Based on the supplied photos, I can’t spot any issues with the paint, chrome, trim, glass, or anything. It looks practically showroom new. And how cool are the vintage styling cues and those dual spare tires, side supercharger pipes, Dayton wire wheels, and 4 vintage horn trumpets?

Excalibur advertising in 1988 promised that its new Four Door Touring Sedan offered “a more luxuriant passenger ride in opulent surroundings.” Based on the photos, the next owner will be thrust into “Luxury Land 1988 Style.” There’s a gorgeous red leather interior with matching red carpet, walnut dash, power steering, brakes, windows and seats, AC, and a Sony premium sound system for the AM/FM stereo cassette player. There’s even a vintage Uniden car phone to make this late-80’s time machine complete. Like the exterior, the photos show a clean, well-preserved interior with no major (or even minor) flaws.

For drivers seeking exclusivity, classic 20’s/30’s-era looks, plus modern reliability and luxury, the Excalibur checked all four boxes. There are no photos of the powerplant under that two-piece louvered aluminum hood, but the seller states that is has a Corvette 305-cu in V8 mated to a 3-speed automatic transmission with overdrive. The odometer reads 2,018 but it’s not known if those are the original miles or not. In 1988, there was nothing else like an Excalibur on the road. And 34 years later, that’s still the case. One look at this long, low beauty and you can understand why celebrities wanted to be a part of the exclusive Excalibur owners club.

Comments

  1. Avatar angliagt Member

    Does it come with a Liberace mink coat?

    Like 11
  2. Avatar angliagt Member

    Buy it,then enter it in the Oregon Malaise car show
    in Eugene,Oregon on June 26.

    http://www.oregonmalaise.com

    Like 2
  3. Avatar RoughDiamond

    I love the dual spotlights too. I don’t know anyone today with a garage deep enough to accommodate that big low beautiful red barge.

    Like 2
  4. Avatar Howard A Member

    Always a treat to see one of my hometowns greatest achievements, right up there with Harley, AMC, Briggs and Stratton motors and AO Smith water heaters,,I mean, car frames. Many poked fun at the Excalibur, but the author is correct, unless you drove a 1928 Mercedes with a SBC, there literally was nothing like it. I’ve said everytime, I delivered the paint to Excalibur, slight correction, in West Allis, Wis, a suburb of Milwaukee. The plant was spotless and no Excalibur post can be shown, without mentioning a person named Alice Preston. She was the “blood and guts” of Excalibur, made it her lifelong passion, and still maintains a registry of all the cars made. An astonishing % of the original owners cars, are still in the family. She was devastated 2 Excaliburs were lost in the “Cash for Clunkers” program. She would have gladly bought them just for the parts. Naturally, I feel, the wide whites look silly, and detract away from the neat lines of the car. What blows me away, for the price of a rusty 1st gen Bronco, you could have this and rub elbows with some of societies elite. A rusty Bronco, not so much. Fantastic find.

    Like 12
    • Avatar 454RAT Member

      Thanks for the correction. I drove a truck in the 80’s and our terminal was just down the street from the Excalibur plant in WEST ALLIS. I saw them in the lot every day. If I owned one, I would not be able to see how to drive it because my head would be reared back so far and my nose straight up in the air. If you drove one of these down the road, you would be the classiest person on the road, bar none.

      Like 1
  5. Avatar That 80's Guy

    “Corvette 305″…That’s not what the eBay listing says, and there certainly was no 305 in a 1988 Corvette.

    Like 8
    • Avatar Jay McCarthy

      It’s refreshing to see an Excalibur of this vintage that’s not white.
      Damn shame it has that pathetic 305

      Like 3
  6. Avatar That AMC Guy

    Wonderfully hideous.

    Like 9
  7. Avatar Brian

    Wow. No rear center armrest ! Big mistake for that price.

    Like 0
  8. Avatar CCFisher

    Looks like the love child of a Mercedes 540K and a 1938 Cadillac Sixty Special.

    Like 2
  9. Avatar Big C

    This car, a green leisure suit and a bad fitting toupe’, always announced to the world: “I made it, baby!”

    Like 9
    • Avatar Ike Onick

      @Big C- Especially if your world was Youngstown, Ohio.

      Like 3
  10. Avatar arkie Member

    If we should add to the list of notables who drove an Excalibur we’d be remiss in not mentioning Navin Johnson

    Like 2
  11. Avatar jwaltb

    E for eww.
    I’m sure all the rich and famous wanted to drive fake classics!

    Like 0
  12. Avatar Troy

    Maybe it’s because I grew up in the 70’s 80’s I kinda like it but not enough to drop $76k on it

    Like 1
  13. Avatar Eskimojoe

    Ok…I’m stumped on this one. What was the donor car/what was sacrificed to create…this???

    Like 0
  14. Avatar Howie

    Check out the sellers other two items, another Excalibur and a pair of headlights for $4,000.

    Like 1
  15. Avatar JOHN BARNES

    Perfect for cruising Wichita,Kansas in a leisure suit, white shoes and belt in
    the late ’80s.

    Like 0
  16. Avatar Oregonman

    My dad purchased a 1974 two-door in 1988 it was black with tan interior…454 and a TH400 we used it as a parade car it was great..soft top with bows.. or use the hardtop that the canvas top stretched over…wonderful car. He sold it to a guy in Kansas. I miss it every day

    Like 3
  17. Avatar Eskimojoe

    Front seat screams Monarch, Versailles leather…back seat looks to have been done in house, probably in marine grade vinyl…

    Like 0

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