Harry P. Posted June 18, 2011 Author Share Posted June 18, 2011 Because Brooks came up with the Idea......as I lived 4 houses away... It doesn't matter if you lived in the same house as he did! A ripoff is a ripoff. Zimmer ripped off Stevens. Stevens ripped of Mercedes. No difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelmartin Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 But Brooks was the first! I always thought the Excalibur was atrocious. It was the original pimp-mobile, gold chain express. The weird thing is that he was a DESIGNER and he came up with that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjordan2 Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 As I recall, the Excalibur SS was considered to be pretty cool in its day. You can still get your hands on a 1/12 kit version. In 1965, the Alfa Romeo factory even issued a "homage" semi-replica of its 30s 1750 Gran Sport (also available in large-scale/low detail kit form) for those who wanted a reliable retro classic as described by Stevens (though, with modern Giulia running gear, "reliable" is always a concern with Alfas). I don't see any "rip-off" intentions behind those or any other kit car or manufactured replica that's come along, from the Porsche 550 Spyder to the 8/10 Cord, McLaren, Cobras, etc. Perhaps the biggest "rip-off" problem was with the Miami Vice Daytona Spyder, which got the manufacturers in LOTS of trouble with Ferrari, and another builder of a 250 GTO replica was similarly sued. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted June 18, 2011 Author Share Posted June 18, 2011 I don't see any "rip-off" intentions behind those or any other kit car or manufactured replica that's come along, from the Porsche 550 Spyder to the 8/10 Cord, McLaren, Cobras, etc. Perhaps the biggest "rip-off" problem was with the Miami Vice Daytona Spyder, which got the manufacturers in LOTS of trouble with Ferrari, and another builder of a 250 GTO replica was similarly sued. No, the "rip-off" angle doesn't apply to a replica, because obviously a replica is... well... a replica. A copy of the original. But taking a Mercedes SSK roadster and pretty much copying it and then selling it as something else (an "Excalibur") is a rip-off of Mercedes. There was hardy anything "original" in the Excalibur, it was obviously derived from the earlier Mercedes. So my point was, if Zimmer stole from Stevens, as Mike implied, then surely Stevens stole from Mercedes, and his "design" is no more worthy or valid or original than Zimmers' "classic" cars were. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMc Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 (edited) YOUR ALWAYS CORRECT HARRY.... If you knew the real story...you would not defend the Zimmer family......... I really do not care if you like or dislike the car..you missed my point as always and wish to argue.... " So my point was, if Zimmer stole from Stevens, as Mike implied, then surely Stevens stole from Mercedes" It was sold as a NEO CLASSIC......NOT A MERCEDES.......The Zimmer was made to take customers away from the market that Excaliber found and filled, On the other hand the Excaliber was not made to take away Mercedes customers. Edited June 18, 2011 by MIKE THE MANIAC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelmartin Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Why waste energy arguing about trashy cars? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoom Zoom Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Why waste energy arguing about trashy cars? Amazing, isn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted June 18, 2011 Author Share Posted June 18, 2011 Why waste energy arguing about trashy cars? Because it's fun? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted June 18, 2011 Author Share Posted June 18, 2011 YOUR ALWAYS CORRECT HARRY.... If you knew the real story...you would not defend the Zimmer family......... I really do not care if you like or dislike the car..you missed my point as always and wish to argue.... " So my point was, if Zimmer stole from Stevens, as Mike implied, then surely Stevens stole from Mercedes" It was sold as a NEO CLASSIC......NOT A MERCEDES.......The Zimmer was made to take customers away from the market that Excaliber found and filled, On the other hand the Excaliber was not made to take away Mercedes customers. You may be right as far as "intent" and who wanted to take who's customers away (trying to snag the competition's customers away is how business operates!) but that's not my point. You implied that Stevens taking his design directly from an earlier Mercedes was legitimate, but Zimmer doing the same thing to Stevens was underhanded somehow. As far as I can see, Stevens stole his "design" from Mercedes the same way that Zimmer stole their "design" from Stevens... who stole it from Mercedes in the first place! Ripping off someone else's work is ripping off someone else's work, doesn't matter what the intent was. PS: Any of you in the peanut gallery who want to take precious time out of your very busy schedule of doing "Important Things" in order to comment on how silly it is to argue the point may do so now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted June 18, 2011 Author Share Posted June 18, 2011 I will now. My gripe is that both Stevens and Zimmer strayed so far from the class and style of the original, and drove their blechmobiles off the cliff crashing into crassville. No argument there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoom Zoom Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 I will now. My gripe is that both Stevens and Zimmer strayed so far from the class and style of the original, and drove their blechmobiles off the cliff crashing into crassville. Ed Zachary. The original Excalibur wasn't the disgusting neoclassic that emerged still wearing the name long after the SSK re-creation. That others were compelled to also join in the fray of obnoxious neoclassics...well, that's some pretty head-shaking herd mentality for you! And to pour salt into the wound, what is left of Zimmer is nothing like the car that was featured this week. Straight back to crassville they went. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjordan2 Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Ed Zachary. The original Excalibur wasn't the disgusting neoclassic that emerged still wearing the name long after the SSK re-creation. That others were compelled to also join in the fray of obnoxious neoclassics...well, that's some pretty head-shaking herd mentality for you! And to pour salt into the wound, what is left of Zimmer is nothing like the car that was featured this week. Straight back to crassville they went. :D I wonder how many others know the "Ed Zachary"joke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisR Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 I have seen a photo of this car long ago but could not remember the name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Gibbons Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 I sold VWs from '85 -'87, and I remember seeing pictures of the Quicksilver in one of the automotive magazines of that time. My friend and I got a good laugh out of it. I do have to admit that's it's one of the more tolerable Zimmer designs, but I agree; that rear end is pretty awful. A little anecdote on the first series Excaliburs; they actually looked decent, and appeared closest to the MB SSK. We lived on Long Island at the time, and dad had a '65 Mercedes 190D. We were on the Southern State Parkway, and we were passed by an early Excalibur. The driver must have seen me staring with my jaw dropped, and that he was next to a real MB (which were fairly uncommon at the time,) as he waved as he passed. I had the 1/32 Pyro SSK model at the time, so I was mesmerized. I recently got an original Pyro SSK off Ebay for a song (under $10), and hope to start a WIP topic on it soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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