Coldplugs - Berkeley Sportscars

Berkeley racing in the US was an amateur endeavor, and is generally not well documented. On a national level, US sports car racing in the Berkeley era was dominated and organized by one club, the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). Racing results were seldom reported in newspapers, and remaining information often covers the first few finishers only. On a local level, clubs such as the Long Island Sports Car Association (LISCA) organized races at Lime Rock and elsewhere, and the competitors and results of those events are even less well documented.

For a while (starting about 1955) cars were classified by engine displacement but in the late fifties, the club switched to performance-based classes to help make the racing more interesting. In addition, there were two broad categories, "Production" and "Modified". Berkeleys ran in several classes over the years. The earliest years of Berkeley production found them in class J-Production ("JP") or K-Production. In later years, they moved up to H-Production, partly because they got faster and partly because the SCCA wanted to avoid races with only one or two cars per class.


This race was held at Palm Springs. Number 217 is Jim Fox, shown here dicing with Art Snyder. I think this is one of the best Berkeley racing photos I've seen.	This is probably the same event as at left, with Fox and Snyder still mixing it up. Berkeleys cornered well, even though they did so on three wheels when pushed hard. It's hard to believe there weren't more wheel and tire failures at the outside front wheels.

This shot was taken at the legendary Riverside race course, probably on 10 December 1958. Jim Fox, driving the local distributor's 3 cylinder car, is hotly pursued by a Lotus Eleven.	An amazing picture! How many times did 5 Berkeleys appear in one race in he US? Taken at Pomona in February of 1958. All 5 cars were apparently 2 cylinder 328cc, running in class J Production. The drivers are: #9 - Art Snyder #217 - Jim Fox #82 - Harry Nicol #71 - Maxwell Gordon #13 - Bruce Tegner

Pomona - Harry Nicol bobbles a bit while Fox leaves the area.	Harry seems to have recovered quickly after scattering some hay. Notice that none of these cars had roll bars - of questionable value in a Berkeley anyway since there's not much to mount one on.

Pomona still - Fox and Nicol, still going at it.	Here's Jim at the Santa Barbara May 31st & June 1st 1958 event.The car appears to have a headrest here.
The pictures in "The California Crowd" are from Jim Fox's collection - thank you for allowing us to use them.


What a fantastic rig! This is Joel's 3 cylinder about 1962. Here, the car is in primer and has pretty much all its road gear. Joel had raced a Sprite before buying the Berkeley, and eventually moved to Formula Vee.	This is the same car about 1963. See the Berkeleys Today page for a current picture. Joel was in the US Army when he raced this car.

This was taken at Courtland AFB, an airport course known for its lack of shade and abrasive surfaces. The car behind the Berk is an Elva with a Porsche engine in front and rear wheel drive(!).	By late 1963, the car was red and the bumper uprights and other road gear were removed. Engine modifications to improve breathing helped in the performance department.
For more detailed pictures of this car, please see Evolution of a Racing Berkeley - A Scrapbook	Berkeley racing secrets! Click on the image to see the checklist Joel used before a race. [Joel - Thank you!]


John owned the "Front Wheel Drive Auto Museum" near Denver and often raced his Honda powered Berkeley in vintage races during the eighties. The front fenders have been altered, and they look pretty good. The headlight buckets were made from old paint cans.	The same car, shown here with a different, but still non-stock windshield and without the rollbar. The door seams were later glassed in, along with some other modifications to improve rigidity.

After John rolled the Berkeley, fortunately without injury to himself, he sent the car to his friend Jerry Vinson in Kansas City for repair. This picture was taken after the repairs, and shows covered headlights similar to those on a stock car. The door is still glassed in. Nice trailer.	The Honda CB400F with its six speed transmission has been in place for ages. This shows the tilt-forward nose added after the accident. This shot makes me wonder why Biggleswade didn't make 'em like this.


Jim Fox in his 328cc Berkeley - These were the days of "Race on Sunday, drive on Monday". His car was the Los Angeles show car. To jazz it up a bit for the show, the distributor chromed the wheels and drums, and had a gold colored Naugahyde interior made. It is probably also pictured here in a publicity photo. Steve McQueen, eat your heart out! "Believe it or not, I traded a Jaguar XK120 and cash for my Berkeley and never regretted it."	Jim at Pomona with a Zagato bodied Fiat-Abarth behind. Probably taken in February of 1958. "One of the first problems I had with mine were spider cracks in the fiberglass on the front fenders. This was caused by the fact that the upper mount for the front shocks was an L bracket that would bend up into the fender. We fixed this problem by welding gussets on to the L brackets to reinforce them. Another problem was with the tabs on the wheels where they mounted to the brake drum. These would develop cracks and we had to weld large washers on to reinforce them. All in all they were great little cars and I really enjoyed mine.

Hourglass Field, near San Diego. It's hard to judge Berkeley handling by race pictures. You can often tell if a car tended to oversteer or understeer just by looking at photographs but Berkeleys seem to live by their own laws of physics.	Another shot at Hourglass Field. Click on the image above and look at the attitude of the Berk here, especially the inside rear wheel. Rear wheel adhesion appears to be good, even though the camber changes are dramatic, to put it mildly, and the outside wheel does all the work. The TD trailing looks enormous.

"Of course the the roll bar on a Berkeley was a joke with only the fiberglass belly pan to mount to. I did bolt a plate to the belly pan to mount the roll bar to but realistically it would have just torn out a bigger piece of fiberglass if I rolled over. I kept a seat belt fastened on the passenger side so I could grab it and stay tucked inside the body if I ever rolled over." Jim at Santa Barbara in 1958.	"The fairing covering the the roll bar is one of the headlight fairings that was mounted on the front fender to raise the headlights to legal height. They had been removed when the car was customized up for the L A Auto Show. I got them with the car and designed the roll bar to fit the fairing."

Jim and a couple of other Berkeley racers participated in this 1958 event in Hawaii. [Our thanks to Jim Fox for providing these pictures.]	"I shared the "Hard Luck" trophy that week with Bill Krause. He broke a half shaft on his D Jaguar in the race and I melted a piston in practice and another one in the race."


This is Ted Jayne's 492 at Watkins Glen on 26 September, 1959. Photo by J. Eells Kelly and shown here compliments of the BARC Boys website. The car survives, and is being restored by Ted's son Doug. Click here for photos of the restoration in process. [Thanks to Dave Nicholas]	Ted standing next to his Berkeley. The car was purchased from Stoddard Imported Cars in Willoughby, OH - Chuck Stoddard was very active racing Porsches in this era and was a major parts supplier in the US. Click here for more info and an image of the original invoice. Photo courtesy of Doug Jayne

This photo was probably taken at Cumberland in May of 1960. The small smiling face was the emblem Ted used for his "Funny Face Auto Racing Team". Three other Berkeleys raced the day this was taken. Photo courtesy of Doug Jayne	The headrest and cockpit cover were molded in Fiberglass sprayed using a chopper gun. It looks very professionally done. Photo courtesy of Doug Jayne

Ted's son, Doug, is restoring the car. It looks to me like the trailer shown in the photo above this one has survived, also. Photo courtesy of Doug Jayne


Bill started racing in the fifties and hasn't stopped. Here he is in 1959 - checking chain tension maybe?	At an autocross in Richmond VA, 1959.

Just before the start, probably at Marlboro on 3 May, 1959. Bill is in #134, flanked by Ed Wright in his #137 Berkeley and Ralph Senlar in his Bandini-SAAB. [Thanks to Nick England for the details. See his excellent site at www.virhistory.com.]	Bill and Ronnie Owens with Ronnie's car. This shot evokes the era well - homemade trailers, Sears coveralls soaked in boric acid for flame proofing, and Pabst Blue Ribbon. This was probably taken after a six hour race at Marlborough. 1958.

The following was contributed by Sam's son (Also Sam) - be sure to look at his website. Impressive!

"My father, Sam Moses, was the 1958 SCCA national champion in I Modified, in a Berkeley. It was the first time Berkeleys had ever appeared at an SCCA race, and the SCCA obliged the little cars with a class just for them.

That summer, my dad and two of his buddies from Altoona, Pennsylvania, thought it would be fun to buy Berkeleys. He had raced an AC Bristol until then, so it was just a lark. When the cars arrived from England, they turned out to be nifty little handlers, so the boys decided to enter them in the last SCCA race of the year, the 11th Annual Watkins Glen Grand Prix on September 20, 1958. All it took was three cars to make a class, and they were three. In the race, my dad's two buddies DNF'd (probably broken chains), and Dad spun. It was one of his favorite stories, how he found himself stalled in the middle of the last turn (now the first turn), backwards at the bottom of the hill in the tiny fiberglass car, watching the horde bear down on him!

But he finished the race, in 28th place out of 29 finishers. As the only driver to score any points in IM that year, he was declared the national champion. He's in the SCCA record books alongside Bob Holbert (my hero at the time) in a Porsche RS, in F Modified.

However, he soon came back to his senses. He returned to Watkins Glen in 1959 in B Production Corvette."

[Sam, thank you]


This car was purchased new by Milton Schaefer in Buffalo from Rochford Harmon of AHR Sportcars in March of 1958 and traded in to Millard Ripley Motors in Ithaca, NY about five months later. Milton was a member of a 15 driver team in the Buffalo area called the "Ecurie Pips".	This picture and the one to the left are from from a relay race at Harewood Acres, Jarvis, Ontario Canada on 5/10/1958. The car ran as part of the 3 car "Swarm of Bees" team. The Berkeley team was given a 33 lap advantage over the fastest cars team (with a pair of V8 powered specials), a 13 lap advantage over a team of MG TD's, and so on. An accident involving one of the Berkeleys ended this valiant effort.

Here's the Berk at the Dunkirk, NY airport on 6/1/1958 at the Lake Erie Invitational. The car survives!	Click here or on the image above for some interesting history and documents pertaining to the Harewood Acres race.


Rita Wetzel's Berkeley is possibly the only car in factory race configuration to make it to the States. The visible mods all seem to relate to getting air through the car easily. The car was purchased at Jarrard Motors in Pensacola in 1958. Fortunately, the car survives.	This picture was taken in 1961 or 62. Today, not many race cars are registered for road use - note the Florida license plate. Also interesting are the two different style taillights.

Note the Sun tachometer and air exit vents. She called it the "Micerati".	This is a picture of Rita taken in 1954. No, the car isn't a Berkeley - I think it's a Siata but that's just a guess. She wrote in a letter that she started racing in 1959, in an Austin-Healey. That makes this photo a bit of a mystery.

Various & Sundry Others - Some from outside the US but interesting nevertheless, some that we'd like more info on, and some shamelessly stolen from public domain sources.


This picture and the one to the right show UDY412, which was raced in western Australia. The car appears to be an early 2 cylinder car - note that the hood is hinged at the rear. Photo courtesy of Terry McGrath	The way it was.... I'll try to get more information about this car. Photo courtesy of Terry McGrath

The shot above is from the 1959 "Motorspeed" Issue of Sports Review magazine. It shows two Berkeleys on the starting line at the Nassau Speedweek event. Lady Greta Oaks is in the nearest car - she was an accomplished equestrienne and also raced Austin Healeys. The car in the background has a full width rear bumper - odd for a Berkeley.	This is reportedly the first SCCA driving school held at Mid-Ohio. The first car is a Berkeley (who?), the third is an XK-120 or XK-140 Jag, and the fourth may be an Alfa.

All I know at this point is "Cumberland" 5/59. Probably lined up for tech inspection. I think Gus Andrey's 500TRC Ferrari is behind Ellsworth Hall Jr.'s Berkeley.	Forbes Howard's car at Road America in September of 1957. Photo from Sports Car, the SCCA magazine.

Malcolm Wright, 8 June 1958, in Texas (Lubbock Airport?). This was not a quiet exhaust system - I doubt that people passed him on the right more than once! He drove the car to 17 class wins in 17 starts. Sports Car photo. Malcolm bought the car in April of 1958 from Carroll Shelby Sports Cars in Dallas. He later drove a red B105 to five first overall finishes, a second, and a third in a total of seven races.	George Metzger in May of 1958 at New Smyrna Beach. The accompanying article described it as the "shrieking little Berkeley". Photo by Ted Davison.

We're not sure where this was taken - race records imply Pomona or Santa Barbara - but I'll go out on a limb and say Riverside for now. Just a guess based on the tires and a correction would be welcome. [Thanks to Mark Mollet for help with this.]

Roland Chatham's Berkeley - the photo was actually taken by his wife.	An unidentified Berkeley at a 1959 hillclimb event at Giants Despair. (This is the oldest motor racing event still running, and celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2006. Can anyone shed some light on the car, driver, and date? [Photo courtesy of Dave Nicholas]


This B105 was prepared and raced by Auto Imports Pty Ltd of Sydney, run by Paul Samuels. The car had an alloy headrest, racing windshield, louvered hood, and a rigid tonneau cover. The car is now owned by Dave McBride - click here for current photos.
[Photos of #63, the "Le Mans" Berkeley, courtesy of Dave McBride]


UDY-412 raced in western Australia - I've seen this car before but just can't place it. Appears to be an S-E 328. Anyone?	Nice shot, with the Berkeley looking almost "Healey-sized". [Photos of UDY-412 courtesy of Terry McGrath

	The description shown at the left was included in an SCCA newsletter of March, 1957. It is taken almost entirely from marketing information - the text is identical to this brochure. The picture shows two very early cars, with the stalk mounted headlights. It's interesting that the photo caption suggests fairing the lights into the fenders (as Berkeley later did) since this probably would have made the cars illegal for production class racing under SCCA rules of the era. Below is a list of cars the club deemed eligible for production racing in 1957.


Nate Brogan ran a Berkeley at Waterford Hills, near Detroit, about 1965. The car, shown here, was powered by an Aerial Square Four. Nate later raced a Lotus Eleven. (Wow! - seems like a dream engine for a Berkeley...)	"Having had a Berkley Roadster back in Denver, it seemed like a good idea to race one. It wasn’t. It was in a modified class and a hopeless situation. Luckily, the problem was solved when I rolled it at the end of the straight and totaled it."


Elkhart Lake - Waverly Parris won his class and sent a new J-Production record in August of 1959. He received a $300 discount on the new car purchase price by committing to race it. The car entered the US via Canada on a Flying Tiger cargo place.	Waverly is shown here at Raliegh, MO in 1959. At one race there, the steward suggested that race numbers be painted on the belly pan because he saw it so often. The crew were known to use beer to cool the engine after it overheated. Ah, those were the days....