Excalibur Automobile Corporation; Receipt of Application for Temporary Exemption From Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. 94-100; Notice 1]

Excalibur Automobile Corporation; Receipt of Application for

Temporary Exemption From Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208

Excalibur Automobile Corporation of West Allis, Wisconsin, has

applied for a temporary exemption of its JAC 427 Cobra passenger car

for three years from compliance with paragraph S4.1.4 of Federal Motor

Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208 Occupant Crash Protection. The basis of

the application is that compliance would cause substantial economic

hardship to a manufacturer that has tried to comply with the standard

in good faith.

Notice of receipt of the application is published in accordance

with agency regulations on the subject (49 CFR part 555) and does not

represent any judgment of the agency on the merits of the application.

The applicant seeks an exemption for its JAC 427 Cobra passenger

car, of which it has produced 59 between January 1993 and September

1994. Thirty-six of these ``are presently in the control of Excalibur's

dealers'', and the applicant asks that the exemption cover these

vehicles so that they may be offered for sale and sold in compliance

with the law. It plans increased production in 1995, of which 60 to 108

would be sold in the United States.

Excalibur is a small company with 37 employees and net assets of

$3,000,000. The company has had cumulative net losses of $4,493,000

from January 1, 1992 to September 30, 1994. If it were required to

comply immediately with the automatic restraint requirements of

Standard No. 208, it would have to raise the retail price by more than

300 per cent which ``is likely to deemed (sic) to be prohibitive by

potential purchasers (and dealers), thereby significantly reducing the

line's desirability, if not ending the demand entirely . . . .'' Denial

of the petition would result in a reduction of the work force to 8

employees.

Excalibur has been owned since 1991 by German residents, who

changed the company's management in August 1994. The new management has

not been able to trace the company's efforts to comply beyond December

1993 when the then Vice President of Production informed the then

President that he had ``just located a potential source for a retrofit

driver's as well as passenger air bag system.'' Compliance was

anticipated ``within weeks.'' NHTSA was likewise informed of this

possibility in December 1993. On May 31, 1994, in an incomplete

petition for exemption from Standard No. 208, Excalibur informed the

agency that its efforts to work with companies in Arizona and Florida

had ended in frustration and failure and that it was currently unable

to find a source for an adequate, workable airbag system.

According to its application, Excalibur will use the exemption

period ``to accommodate a fully-complying airbag system.'' It is

investigating the possibility of installing Ford Mustang steering

columns and airbag systems, as well as whether its existing column

could accept an airbag produced by Breed Technologies. Exempted

vehicles would be provided with a three-point restraint system as well

as with a ``clearly visible warning label reminding the vehicle's

occupants of the importance of wearing their safety belts.

The company argues that an exemption would be in the public

interest and consistent with the objectives of motor vehicle safety

because it presently has 17 dealers in 12 states, and ``a thriving

manufacturing business and dealer network not only provides employment,

but will generate federal and state tax revenues.'' The small number of

vehicles that the exemption will cover and the limited mileage they

will be driven ensure that an exemption ``will not materially affect

overall motor vehicle safety in the U.S.''

Interested persons are invited to submit comments on the

application described above. Comments should refer to the docket and

notice number referenced above, and be submitted to: Docket Section,

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, room 5109, 400 Seventh

St. SW, Washington, DC 20590. It is requested but not required that 10

copies be submitted.

All comments received before the close of business on the comment

closing date indicated below will be considered, and will be available

for examination in the docket at the above address both before and

after that date. To the extent possible, comments filed after the

closing date will also be considered. Notice of final action on the

application will be published in the Federal Register pursuant to the

authority indicated below.

Comment closing date: January 27, 1995.

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30113; delegations of authority at 49 CFR

1.50 and 501.8.

Issued on: December 21, 1994.

Barry Felrice,

Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.

[FR Doc. 94-31853 Filed 12-27-94; 8:45 am]

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