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Berkeley 1956-1960 - Start-Up

Name: Berkeley Sports 1957
Brand: Berkeley

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Created in 2011

Text:

Roger Gloor

Photos:

Darin Schnabel - Courtesy RM Auctions 2012

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Darin Schnabel - Courtesy RM Auctions 2012

Archiv

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Berkeley De Luxe Coupé (1957) - the three-cylinder sports car doesn't look compact at all

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Berkeley Bandit (1960) - the "Bandit" could do everything better than its predecessors and even the cockpit was covered

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Berkeley Sports SE328 (1958) - offered at the auction of the Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum by RM Auction on February 15 and 16, 2013

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Berkeley T60 (1960) - offered at the auction of the Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum by RM Auction on February 15 and 16, 2013

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Summary

There have been around 10,000 car brands and designers - most of which have disappeared. Berkeley can also be counted among these vanished brands. The Berkeley Sports from 1956 was a pretty little sports car with commendable driving characteristics. It was constantly developed further and 4,500 Berkeleys were built by 1960.

Estimated reading time: 3min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Unveiled at the London Motor Show in the fall of 1956, the Berkeley Sports was a very pretty little sports car, just 312 cm long, which - a few sizes larger - would have looked much more modern than an MG A or a Triumph TR 3. It was built by a caravan company in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire. Initially, the two-seater designed by Lawrence Bond had headlights mounted on the front, and it surprised with one of the first plastic bodies built on an aluminum frame as well as front-wheel drive and a rear swing axle. The air-cooled 2-cylinder 2-stroke motorcycle engine from Anzani was soon replaced by an Excelsior unit (328 cm3, 18 instead of 15 hp), and the headlights disappeared under plexi covers. The Sports weighed only 320 kg, reached 105 km/h and offered commendable driving characteristics.

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