Above Excalibur at Prescott hillclimb startline.
Below Excalibur in another form again at prescott.
| Make... | Excalibur | |
| Model... | Special | |
| Engine type and size... | Pre Unit Triumph T100, 500cc | |
| Gearbox... | Pre Unit Triumph | |
| Brakes... | 7" drums on the front | |
| Single disc on the rear | ||
| Suspension... | A combination of swing axle front and rear with adjustment for castor / camber on rear | |
| Wheels and tyres... | Dunlop R5 204 compound size to be confirmed | |
| Exterior... | Rolled aluminium body to the original styling | |
| Interior... | Seat and peddles, not much else |
As can be seen from the pictures above this car has undergone many changes over the years. Our intention is to try to return Excalibur to as close as we can to its original specification whilst taking the opportunity to improve on some of the aspects regarding safety.
Once complete we intend to run the car within the 500 owners association rules in sprints and hillclimbs alongside other 500cc cars
As can be seen from the picture on the left Excalibur although substantially 'all there' minus the engine, was in a farley sorry state having laid unloved for some considerable time.
Our task started with some serious research.
The 3 pictures on the right show the chassis in the form we found it with the addition of a serious roll bar.
Later research was to cause a little re-think about the chassis, and the form it was going to take. It did however serve to clear up a lot of anomalies we had found on the chassis as it was when we bought it.
Our research led us to Bob Light, Bob was the official photographer (I believe) at Prescott during the time when Excalibur was racing there, and I must add in our thanks to Bob for his assistance in this project, and credit goes to him for many of the period pictures of the car competing at Prescott.
The information we have is that Excalibur was built by George Ellis and the only reference to date is 1959. We have been led to believe that the car passed through the hands of Jack Dillard in the early 1960's, it was bought and campaigned by Richard Culverhouse before passing on to Jeremy Thurston. Most of the pictures we have date from the period when Jeremy ran the car, mainly at Prescott.
It then passed from hand to hand through several different owners until we acquired the car in the late 1990's. Pressure of work and other projects has meant quite a long gestation period but we are now well on with the re-build.
The series of pictures to the right show the chassis nearing completion, with a pre unit Triumph T100 engine fitted, this drives a Triumph pre unit gearbox.
The intention (after talking to many fellow 500 owners) is to run the engine on methanol.
Once complete the car is going to Dave Gregson, a good friend of mine to have an aluminium body made to the original pattern. Then a quick strip down, fettle, and build up should see the car ready for testing before hopefully running the car on the hills once again with the 500 owners association.
