Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 24, 1991 TAG: 9102230035
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: E-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MILWAUKEE LENGTH: Medium
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Shapiro ordered the suburban Milwaukee carmaker liquidated by a bankruptcy trustee. The company filed an immediate appeal, but the trustee said a reversal was unlikely.
"Anybody who has an interest in buying should step forward now," said Assistant U.S. Trustee John Byrnes. He said there were people interested in purchasing the company's plant and machinery and resuming operation.
Excalibur was formed in the mid-1960s, building convertibles, touring sedans and limousines that resemble luxury cars of the 1920s, '30s and '40s.
The cars - many of them looking like props straight out of "The Great Gatsby" - typically sold for between $75,000 and $150,000.
"Almost everybody likes to be part of Excalibur and the cars and the lifestyle image," Scott Dennison, Excalibur's president, said when he took over the job in June.
"We're really not in the car business, we're in the toy business."
The company went bankrupt in the mid-1980s, then was bought by its current majority owner, Henry Warner, in 1986 for $2.3 million. It posted sales of $3.5 million in 1989.
The company halted operations in June and sought Chapter 11 protection in September, strapped by mounting debts, bounced employee paychecks and allegations from workers that the company switched odometers and sold cars with used parts.
Court documents said the company has $3.98 million in debts, including more than $2.1 million in loans with First Wisconsin Bank.
Excalibur remains optimistic. "The fight's not over," spokeswoman Patty Schuetz said.
by CNB