Coldplugs - Berkeley Sportscars when they were new(er)

Some cars are memorable. People always seem ready to talk about:
1) Their first car
2) Some VW or other, especially a van
3) At least one old truck
4) Their Berkeley, if they owned one

Over the years I've had dozens of people comment on the Berkeley they, or someone they knew, owned. The stories are always interesting and you get the impression that while Berks may not have delivered outstanding speed, comfort, or reliability, they certainly delivered more fun than most vehicles. I've never met anyone who regretted owning one.

Berkeleys seemed to deliver unique experiences - ones that most other cars simply couldn't. Here's some examples. (I need more - if you had a Berk, and especially if you have pictures, please contact me).

Stories are all on this page - you can use the following links to jump directly, or you can just read down the page.

"The Berkeley Boys" refers to Ted (who wrote the words below), Bill, and Clark, three guys who seemed to have more fun with three Berkeleys than would seem possible. We'll try to add more info and also to get some race photos from the cars racing at Put-in-Bay.

My vivid memory is of the three of us driving those tiny buzzing little roadsters north through the countryside (well before I-75!) over hill and dale. They were a blast to drive of course, and to follow two identical ones up and down hills, around curves, and through towns was just marvelous. The weather must have been great because I can almost still sense the warm night air wafting past as we rolled along, basically three little four-wheel motorcycles.

Bill ... was the ace tuner, Clark was the entrepreneur and I was just a hanger-on called a service manager. But the fact is I could never get my Excelsior to run right. It ran-on all the time, I shredded the composition drive sprocket on frequent occasions, but loved talking about it.

In addition to being no mechanic, I was no race driver either. But the three of us trundled up to Put-in-Bay and raced. I have the distinction of winning a trophy for coming in third in class. The fact that there were only three of us in the class and that it was the smallest and slowest and that I was dead last in the entire race, cut no ice. Got my trophy, baby!

...as I think about it, probably one of the neatest memories of all was of those three Berkeleys buzzing through rural Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky.

Ted W.

Yup, I owned a Berkeley B-95....My buddy Bob and I bought it cheap (in pieces). Bob was a mechanic who worked for Candy Poole in his shop down in Glastonbury, CT., and the plan was to put the Berk together and I'd race it.....thus, "Scuderia Shoestring" was born. The B-95 raced in F-Production and was completely outclassed in F, but , what the heck we didn't know any better.

Building and "racing" my Berk was quite an adventure. We built the thing in Bob's garage (no heat, no electricity).....put in long hours, and subsisted on tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches (that's all his new bride, Mary, knew how to cook).....We rebuilt the Royal Enema 700cc engine (cleaned the engine in my bathtub....Bob didn't want to risk his new marriage.....my wife loved that!) Put the chassis and suspension back together....all without benefit of any instructions or shop manual. Hell, who needs sissy stuff like that!

Finally got the thing back together, and trundled off to SCCA Driver's School at Lime Rock.

First time I ever drove that little sucker was when I drove it out onto the track.

John, that thing had to be the squirrelest, most dangerous piece of automotive turd ever foisted off on an unsuspecting public. When you went down a straightaway, it wandered all over the place.....when you lifted off going into a corner, it would dart to one side....and as soon as you touched the brakes, it would dart to the other. And.....there was no way to tell which way it was going to go. Coming out of the corner, as soon as you got on the gas it would torque steer to the inside of the corner.

After a few laps, the other drivers tended to give me a w-i-d-e berth......hey, I thought I was doing great. Passing cars right and left......actually they were driving into ditches to get outta my way. After a while, the carburetor fell off......the bolts holding it on actually all vibrated off.

Later, the Chief Instructor, Charlie Rainville (remember him....The RainGod? He was Chief Steward at a lot of the New England Region races), told me. "I'll give you credit for today's school......but don't ever bring that thing back here again!" A couple of weeks later I bought a beat-up Morgan +4 and continued driver's school in that.

About a year later, my wife and I bought a house and the Berk ended up in the back yard......used, as I recall, as a flower planter.

Sooooo.....the legend goes that on certain dark, moonless nights, the residents of Lime Rock, CT, hear the ghost of a small car circulating around the track in a most erratic manner......

Now you know what that ghostly car is.....

Have fun and may The Prince of Darkness never reign on your parade...

Jim B.

[Note the rare photo of the elusive Ghost Berkeley]

Frank Cornell owned a Berkeley (S-E492 Serial 391 - where is it today?) in Connecticut and fortunately saved a few photos from the era.


This is Bob Cihi's 492, with its nicely styled body modifications. Also note the wheel covers.	Bob used front mounted Ford Pinto (internal) hood hinges and a remotely operated hood latch. The exhaust pipe exited just ahead of the rear wheel.

Bob's sketches for the body - pretty good artist.	Many of these photos were taken at the East Coast Berkeley Meet held at Bob Cihi's house in Connecticut on 15 May, 1982.

Howard Morrison in his RHD Royal Enfield powered car.	I think this is the B95 belonging to Mike Church. These attracted attention even back then.

Dennis Bush of New York with his 492, July 1970. Cool spoiler. The car had a Panhard 2 cyl engine.	Nat Stevens takes advantage of his Berk's small size. Undated, probably early 80's.

Dan Clarke's car, probably a very early 328 based on the hood hinge locations.	Someone did a nice job here.

I was really happy to see these 4 shots. This is #349 which I owned in the early sixties and repurchased several years ago. Owned by Robert Elovich when these were taken.	This is the only picture I've seen of the back of the car, and I now know what style of taillight the car had. Click here for photos of the car today, and here for one from an earlier time.

Robert Elovich also owned this 492, serial 86. This is one of the very early 3 cylinder cars when they still had the outside door hinges and short doors.	#86 again. This car survives today.

I wonder how many of these doors survived - note the outside door handles.	Thanks to Frank Cornell for the photos in this section.

"I came close to buying a Berkeley while stationed at RAF Chicksands ( near the Berkeley factory in Biggleswade) in 1959. Expectant fatherhood changed my plans, however. Some 40 years later, I finally bought a Mazda Miata - to scratch the itch started by the Berkeley.

I got a ride from Bedford to RAF Chicksands with a buddy in his Berkeley. I thought we'd die as he flew through a sharp ninety degree turn at a hamlet called Cotton End. I don't know if a Lotus 7 could have done it any better. I was truly amazed. An unforgettable drive.

I'll never forget Mr. Katz, who sold Berkeleys at my base. He was about 6' 2", 240 lbs or so, barrel chested, with thick hair and a full red beard. It was amazing to watch Mr. Katz climb in and out of the tiny Berkeley - top up or down. It was also amazing to go for a test drive with him at the wheel!!

My wife and I sometimes describe colorful characters as "befitting a Toby Jug," and Mr. Katz's likeness would make a jolly nice Toby Jug." - BN

This car spent much of its time on various Air Force bases. Here, it's shown with a couple of good-looking guys, Dave (foreground) and his brother Mike. They look like they're ready to jump into the Berk and head out for some fun. Their father, Mac, had a Buick that outweighed the Berk by some 5,000 lbs - I presume it's the Buick bumper we see at the left. Taken at Forbes AFB, Base Housing, Topeka, Kansas, circa 1959. I wonder how many Berks have DoD stickers on them today.

"One of my lasting pleasures is recalling our back-country, winter drives in the Berk. I'd take one of the kids and we'd go "zooming" over the snow-crusted roads where other cars only dreamed of driving. It was like riding a motorized bob sled. As I mentioned before, there were no undercarriage protrusions to get hung up; it was front wheel drive, independent suspension (canted wheels), and, what the hell, if it got stuck, we'd pick it up and move it back onto the road."

"With all the hype over hybrids, price of gas, etc. it might be time to bring back the Berk. I got an honest 60 MPG (cruising--that is when I could travel 60 miles without a breakdown). Top speed was also sixty (pushing it). Did I mention that my Berk was mail-ordered and delivered by truck to my home?"

"I received the citation in the mail because the police couldn't pursue me due to deep snow, ice, etc. The roads were all closed, but of course that didn't stop the Berk."

"My worst mishap was losing my car in the desert near El Paso. I'd parked it between sand dunes and went searching for arrowheads. Afterwards, I couldn't find it and had to walk home--an event that stills inspires gales of laughter among those who remember. We found it the next day by searching while standing in the back of a pickup truck."

"If you look closely, my Berk is behind all those kids. They really loved the little car, I suppose because it was closer to their size than other vehicles."

The Berkeley was light green, and purchased by mail-order from Dave Fawcett's Imported Cars in Lubbock, TX.


Don Mowrer bought Berkeley S-E492 #189 back in 1964. It's particularly interesting because it's one of the early 3 cylinders with outside hinges. Don later created what was probably the first US Berkeley newsletter. The car was sold new in 1958 by Prichard Motors in New York City.	Here's a later shot of the same car. It now has front bumperettes and a racing windshield. [Alice, we're not in Biggleswade any more.]