I don't know what that is but there's no way it's any kind of Corvette.

Google Excalibur - and check the images. I think Plllog is right.

It has no official name. It is just something that I put together over the course of a few weekends.

Jim, you are too funny!! Always love your responses.

Excalibur was an actual car, not a kit. :) But there are kits that look similar, based on the same old Mercedes.

So the two things that put me off were the fender sweep and the lack of the distinctive, vintage Mercedes style, supercharger tubes. There were also some based on old Bugattis, I think, but this looks like a newer car. Most Excaliburs had Corvette engines and some had Corvette chassis, too, I think. Some of the first were Studebakers, and I think there were also other Chevy engines in some.

Can you see the hood ornament at all in the original picture? If it's an Excalibur, it'll be a circle with a sword pointing down inside. Can you see what it says on the light covers?

The lights look right, the radiator looks possibly right, but that rear fender just looks wrong, and lack of the tubes is as well. Plus, it looks shorter. Is that a Corvette window? It's not the Corvette door. It does look more like fiberglass than aluminum, though that's really hard to tell from a picture.

I found this picture of a Corvette mod, but, as you can see, it still has the distinctive corvette rear window: http://karakullake.blogspot.com/2014/03/c3-corvette-kit-car.html And this kit has a more similar fender sweep: http://bobsclassics.com/sold/m36.htm

I've been using all the clues you gave to do searches, but haven't found it. I'd think that if it were an official anniversary model, even if just a show car (though I'd think it would have a better paint job if it were a show car), there would be something online. My best guess is that Jim's right and it's a kit or a mod, rather than an Excalibur (which was my first guess).

Does the logo/symbol on the hubcaps lend a clue?

They could. I tried matching one on Google but didn't get anything. If they were Excalibur, they'd have the sword logo with Excalibur written around it, or with a couple of waggly motion lines on either side. Corvette is crossed racing flags. But they could be anything, including the owner's own logo.

I've pretty much eliminated Spartan--one of the more poplar kit cars. In the pictures I've looked at, the Spartan II has too square a radiator, what looks like a standard hood, as opposed to the side opening, and doesn't have the fender mount turn lights or the bullet on stalk tail lights.

AHA!! This might be its sister: http://www.autobia.com/car-detail/replicakit-makes/ReplicaKit-Makes-Phillips-Berlina-Mercedes-Benz_141713244490.html A Phillips kit on a Corvette.

It seems to have the same trim, and looks like the same fender, with the sweep of the door rise but without the crease, and without the pipes through the hood and fender.

Google Images shows quite a number of them that look the same, but with better paint jobs than the one above. :) And one with the same logo as the wheel covers on the gas cap. ...And, it looks like the same logo on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillips_Berlina And it certainly could have been an anniversary model Corvette (of which there are many iterations) that is the base car.

Thank-you, Lindsay, for giving me inspiration to keep looking. I've seen lots of Excaliburs, and some Clenets (rear mount spare), but never heard of Phillips.

A special thank-you to you, Jemdandy, for the really fun puzzle!!

A Stutz Bearcat perhaps?

Hubby says it's a Cord.

Edited that it does appear to be an Excalibur :-)

More information:

1. The paint is very nice and shows that way in my original image. i noticed the loss of detail when I posted this. I'm don't have a photo service account, therefore, this was posted directly using the built-in application of this site, and that utility compresses the file. I don't know what the file size limit is in Houzz, but in the old Garden Web, it was 60K maximun and that isn't very much.

2. When I asked the owner what this was, he told me model name which I promptly forgot, but said it was a special anniversary of a Corvette and that only 50 were made, and its rarity was the reason he bought it. I'm not sure if he was toying with me because it has styling cues similar to other Brook-Stevens creations, the Excalibur for instance. The radiator grill reminds me of Mercedes sport cars.

The owner did not open the hood to reveal what was under there.

3. Two more views are supplied.

Dscn0351-2 Front view

A standard Wisconsin license plate bearing number 128-ALP. The rear plate has a year 2002 sticker. This a standard license plate and not a collector's plate. Likely, the car was not old enough to be eligible for collector status in 2002 as defined by Wisconsin's DMV.

The radiator ornament reminds me of Pontiac's Firebird.

Dscn0350 Rear View.

There is a Phoenix emblem on the rear deck that matches the radiator ornament.

Again, the paint and bright work was very shiny, not dull as seen in these images.

One more Detail

Wheel covers have the same Phoenix emblem.

This car should be identified in Wisconsin's license plate registry for year 2002.

I think that the name of the model may be on the side of the hood. Unfortunately, this detail is hidden by the front fender in all my photos.

duesenberg?

Jemdandy, Maybe what I said was buried too well up topic. Check the links in my previous.

I'm pretty darned sure it's a

Phillips Berlina kit on a Corvette.

Same phoenix emblem, same fender sweep and rear fender proportions, same deep into the fender spares, same door, same overall proportions, same amber lights on the front fenders, same bullet on stalk rear lights, same round cornered radiator grill, same chrome wing mirrors, same flippin' pointy swoosh trim on the underside of the running boards, same up angled trim from below the door handle through the edge of the bonnet.

The emblem on the rear is the gas cap.

It's hard to tell for sure, but it looks like there's a crease on the roof, so there might be a T-top from the original Corvette, which many of them have.

The Phillips was designed after the same 1936 Mercedes Benz that the Excalibur was, as well as the Clénet, as was the Spartan II. (Though there was also an Excalibur that was designed after a Bugatti.)

plllog:

Thanks for the insight. I believe you have nailed it. Do you think that only 50 copies were produced?

Turns out I was misinformed about it being a kit (something I read on several for sale descriptions), and it was actually factory made. That makes sense because the fit looks a lot better on all of these than most hobbyists can manage.

To answer your question, I found a site that claims to be about presenting accurate information about makers: http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/p/phillips_motor/phillips_motor.htm

It says, in what appears to also be a copy of a sales listing (but with a lot of details that sound knowledgeable) that there were 87 of the T-tops, and another entry says that there were fewer than 200 of the Mercedes style. I don't know if that's accurate, however.

Here is an enthusiast site with lots more info: http://berlinacoupe.org/