Coldplugs - Berkeley Sportscars in the US

July, 2007 - Just added some fascinating material - it's a package sent to prospective dealers by Berkeley of America, who was the east coast distributor. Some of the claims made for the car are astonishing. Take a look!

Skip Callanan was very active in racing in the New England - he held the "MG" lap record at Thompson in his TC and was co-winner of the 1959 Little LeMans at Lime Rock. He was instrumental in starting Scuderia Mosquito, which was to offer Berkeleys at a discount for people intending to race them. We have no evidence that this effort succeeded but would love to hear differently.

Carroll Shelby's dealership in Dallas, Texas opened in early 1957. Shelby was a well known race driver, who had been named "sports car driver of the year" by Sports Illustrated magazine (do they still do that?) in 1956. Some of the financial backing came from Dick Hall, who was Jim Hall's (Chaparral!) brother. The building was located at 5611 Yale Blvd . Today, the building is empty and apparently being refurbished. Removal of a large sign recently exposed an artifact of the Shelby era and Don Gwynne graciously sent some recent photos and added some interesting background info: "You might be interested to know that the upstairs of the building in your photo housed the 'Playboy Club', but that one was owned by Jim Hall's brother, not Hugh Hefner! Racers hung out there in late 50's and early 60's."

[Thanks Don.]

Kurland Motors in Denver sold Willys vehicles in 1955, Berkeleys and Simcas as of 1959, and Datsuns in the seventies. It was located at 1134-1144 Broadway.

Advertisements

The ad above appears to have been created by the West Coast distributor and was included in a race program for the May 1958 "Speed Week" in Hawaii. [Provided by Jim Fox]


This ad is interesting because it lists the four US distributors. The same ad was used by individual dealers, without the distributor names and with the dealer name printed or rubber stamped somewhere in the whitespace.	This ad indicates prices of $1695 for a 328cc and $1895 for a 492cc Berkeley. In 1959, POE price for an Austin-Healey Sprite was $1795, a Morgan 4/4 sold for $2295, and a Porsche 1600 Super for $4400 West Coast POE. The smaller version appeared in national magazines.
	Click the small image to see the brochure used for the ad above.
Looks like a fire sale at Olympic International, the western distributor. Maybe they needed space for the new B-95's.	By sometime in 1960, it appears that Olympic Motors has changed their name, at least for this ad.

The above images show the front and back pages of a brochure apparently used in late 1957 or early 1958. This was folded in the middle and the center part is shown at the right. Here, "cream" is shown as an available color and white is missing. Also interesting is the horsepower figures for the 2 cylinder engine, given as 15 bhp @ 3000 rpm and 18 bhp at 5000. The exhaust system on the 2 cyl - what you can see of it - doesn't look like the one we commonly see. And what's the round thing balancing off the speedometer.	The center part touted various race successes. "His Berkeley showed what it was made from when it lifted its nearside rear wheel under the stresses of acceleration and cornering". What were they trying to say, exactly?

These brochures for 1959 are interesting in that they are almost, but not quite, the same. They use the same verbiage, but different fonts. Also, note that the car on the left is clearly right-hand drive and has a UK tax disk on the windshield. The windshield on the right image is opaque, so we can assume left or right hand drive. The tax disk has vanished - along with the shadows of the bumperettes. The Berkeley logos are also different.	The back of the brochures are almost identical with the biggest difference being that UK prices are listed in the left version. Also, the logos are different again. All this indicates that the brochure on the left was probably indented for domestic (UK) use while the other was printed for use in export markets.

Brochures for the 4 seater show the same characteristics as for the 2 seater shown previously, although the export version (on the right) clearly shows a right-hand drive car. The fonts and logos are consistent also.	Again, no prices are shown in the (presumed) export version on the right. Also, there seem to be an additional interior color offered on the export cars - or at least in the brochure. As in the brochure for the 2 seater, no guarantee is mentioned for the export cars.

Kurland Motors advertised complete racing cars, with roll bars, engine mods, and body alterations. The exhaust system looks especially interesting. Was this factory supplied? Ray Kurland said he bought half of the S-E492 3 cylinder cars that were shipped to the US - 75 cars by his count. He sold and raced DKWs and Berkeleys and ran his own B105 for a while. After two Royal Enfield engines failed on him he installed a second oil pump and cured the problem(s).	A spec sheet for the 328 cc provided by the distributor in the northeast., modestly named Berkeley of America. The sheet uses British terminology and was probably provided by the company. A heater is listed as optional, as is a tachometer. It also notes that the seat is "pullman sprung". Does this refer to the railroad car?

This brochure was probably handed out by a dealer in Maryland, since it shows area code 301. At the time, 301 included all of Maryland. This is the only place I've seen even a hint of the carpet shapes.	Racing accessories. The ram tube looks longer than the stock ones, which would improve low-end performance (in theory). Mounting a roll bar in a Berk is a challenge since you need to find something solid to attach to.

This photo crops up now and again. The girl is not a model for one of the Dilbert characters - that's not her hair, it's an oddly shaped hat. The car has chrome plated wheels and brake drums intended to catch the attention of prospective customers at the 1957 Los Angeles auto show The car was bought and later raced by Jim Fox. Dave Foreman was head of International Motors, which is where Jim bought the car.	Above is a letter sent by Charles Panter to Jim Fox, who was president of the US Berkeley Owner's Club. Panter was the prime mover behind the Berkeley company.

A dealer in New York City offered discounts to buyers who planned to race the cars. Tony Pompeo supplied at least one road test car to a national magazine.	JC Whitney apparently saw a market here.

Dealer Forms and Documents

So, you want to be a dealer? Here's the package!

Other forms and documents


A parts order form from a Maryland dealer. It shows some electrical parts, touch-up paint, headlights, and more. The connectors appear to be standard Lucas bullet connectors - does anyone know?	This is an extension of the form at the left. This sheet lists mostly brake and suspension parts. It's interesting that it lists a rear swing arm for the three-wheeler, although it looks like it was a US form. Maybe a little cut-and-paste?

We sold one! A Berkeley sales order from St. Patrick's day in 1958 documents the sale of serial # 739.	A bulletin sent to dealers announcing that a B-95 had finished 2nd in the Mobil Economy run of November, 1959, delivering almost 56 miles per gallon! [From the Detroit Public Library collection]

Stoddard motors was started by Chuck Stoddard, who was very active racing Porsches - he later became a major parts supplier for vintage Porsches. His dealership sold dozens of car makes, including Abarths, Facel Vegas, and Ferraris. The building was originally intended to be a Tucker dealership. This receipt is for Ted Jayne's 3 cylinder race car. Image courtesy of Doug Jayne

Dealer details and statistics

Prices

Based on various road tests and the Sports Cars Illustrated Directorys of 1959, 1960, and 1961, prices were as follows:

Model	East Coast	West Coast
SE328	$1,595.00	$1,695.00
SE492	$1,795.00	$1,895.00
B95	$1,795.00	$1,795.00

For reference, $1795 in 1958, bought as much as about $11,500 today. In 1960, the Austin Healey Sprite list price was $1795.

Dealer Names & Addresses

Much of the data on this list is unconfirmed. If you know of dealers not on the list or can full in any missing information, please contact me. We are also interested in photos, documents, stories, etc relating to Berkeley dealers.

Dealer Name	Street Address	City or Town	State	Comments
Kurland Motors	?	Little Rock	AK
Foreign Motors	503 E. Van Buren St	Phoenix	AZ
Precision Motors	2019 N.Stone Ave	Tucson	AZ
Ansel J. Schloss Inc.	1900 S.Van Ness	San Francisco	CA
Barlow Motor Co	901 N.Oxnard Blvd	Oxnard	CA
Berkeley Motor Cars	6505 Wilshire Boulevard	Los Angeles	CA
Berkeley Motor Cars, Ltd (Div of Olympic)	218 West Garvey Boulevard	Montery Park	CA	Distributor as of 1961
Bill's Auto Center	515 E. Allisal St.	Salinas	CA
Blums Imported Cars	1957 W.San Carlos St.	San Jose	CA
Clem Atwater Sports Cars Inc	15531 Ventura Blvd	Encino	CA
Colonial Imports	136 So Glendale Ave	Glendale	CA
Crenshaw Sports Cars	4210 Chenshaw Blvd	Los Angeles	CA
Don Hampton Inc.	4195 El Camino	Palo Alto	CA
Flintridge Motors – Westwood	1220 So Glendon Ave	Los Angeles	CA
Frank Millard Sports Cars Inc.	15531 Ventura Blvd	Encino	CA
Friendly Auto Center	11648 E. Washington Blvd	Whittier	CA
J&S Dodge Center	1840 Reseda Blvd	Reseda	CA
Lira Motors	1461 Broadway	Fresno	CA
McGraw Motors	171 W. “I” St	Colton	CA
Newcastle Sports Car Center Ltd	505 Pacific Coast Hwy	Hermosa Beach	CA
Olympic International Motors, Inc.	5766 Hollywood Boulevard	Hollywood	CA	Distributor
Springer Motors	3460 Broadway	Oakland	CA
Aurora Imported Cars	10929 East Colfax	Aurora	CO
Boulder Sports Center	1102-06 Pearl St	Boulder	CO
Kurland Motors	1134 Broadway	Denver 3	CO
Quality Motors	3001 S. Broadway	Englewood	CO
Berkeley of America (BCS)	566 Whalley Avenue	New Haven	CT	Distributor
Lee Circle Motors	1063 Boston Post Rd	Milford	CT
?	?	Gainesville	FL
Jarrard Motors	913-1013 West Garden Street	Pensacola	FL	Distributor
Imperial Motors	721 Green Bay Road	Wilmette	IL
Imperial Motors	?	?	IN
Berkeley	4516 Harling Lane	Bethesda	MD
Isetta of K.C.	3911 Broadway	Kansas City	MO
Perry Motor Imports Inc	3001 McGee Trafficway	Kansas City	MO
AHR & Co. Sports Cars, Inc.	1509 Hertel	Buffalo 16	NY
Ripley Motors	337-339 Elmira Road	Ithaca	NY
Bob Martin Auto Sales	?	Delmar	NY
Robert E. Lee Motors	520 W. 19th St.	New York	NY
Imperial Motors	?	?	OH
Sealy Turner	110 Dayton St.	Yellow Springs	OH
Stoddard Motor Cars	38809 Mentor Ave.	Willoughby	OH
Armstrong & Goetz	106 N.E.Grand	Portland	OR
Flintridge Motors	?	?	OR
Oregon City Dodge	Super Highway 99 E.	Gladstone	OR
Sheppard Motors	390 East 8th St	Eugene	OR
Tonkin Motors	334 S.E.Grand Ave	Portland	OR
West Side Dodge	2863 West Burnside	Portland	OR
Madison Smith Motors	1710 Broad St.	Nashville	TN
Carroll Shelby Sports Cars	5611 Yales	Dallas	TX
Dave Fawcett Imported Motors	2312 Texas Avenue	Lubbock	TX	Distributor
Flintridge Motors	South Jackson	Tacoma	WA
Foreign Car Sales	9607 Gravelly Lake Dr. S.W.	Tacoma	WA
Midway Auto Imports	219 1st Ave	Yakima	WA
Giard Berkeley Motors	?	?	?

A letter in The Berkeley Exchange of May 1981 mentioned a dealer in Claremont, CA. Does anyone know who this would have been?