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Berkeley

Also known as Berkeley Sports, Berkeley T60, Berkeley B95

A caravan maker’s answer to the quiet winter months: a glass-fibre sports car with no separate chassis, a motorcycle engine across the nose driving the front wheels, and, at the end, a three-wheeled version you could drive on a motorcycle licence.

Red open two-seater with a show card on its screen, parked on grass beside a blue Berkeley
A red 1958 Berkeley SE328 at a rally, 2019.Photo: Andrew Bone from Weymouth, England, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

The spec plate

Berkeley

SE328 Sports · Biggleswade

Built
1956–⁠1960October 1956 to December 1960
Country
BritainHitchin Street, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire
Maker
Berkeley Coachworks Ltd, later Berkeley Cars LtdCharles Panter’s caravan firm; designed by Lawrie Bond
Engine
328 cc Excelsior Talisman two-stroke twinSE328; also a 322 cc Anzani twin, a 492 cc Excelsior triple and 692 cc Royal Enfield twins
Power
18 bhpAbout 13.4 kW; 50 bhp in the B105
Length
3,112 mm1,270 mm wide, 1,105 mm high
Weight
295 kgThe Weiner museum’s figure for the SE328; 274 kg for the first SA322
Seats
22 + 2 in the Foursome and the T60/4
Wheels
4Front-wheel drive; the T60 has two wheels at the front and one at the back
Price new
£574SE328, with £152 tax, April 1957
Production
about 4,100All types; about 1,800 of them three-wheeled T60s
Survives
A few hundredKnown worldwide; no register count published
Top speed
100km/h100 km/h62.1 mph in an SE328; the B105 reputedly passed 100 mph

How big is it?

True proportion

3.11 m

It is 142 mm longer than a Fiat 500, about 1.8 adults laid end to end.

  • 1.27 m wide
  • 295 kg: about four adults
  • Three main glass-fibre mouldings, no separate chassis
Drawn at true proportion. The track is 3.6 metres long; the adult stands at the same scale. The Peel P50 is the smallest production car, on every page for comparison.

The story

History

Charles Panter’s Berkeley Coachworks of Biggleswade, in Bedfordshire, built caravans, and was said to be one of the largest caravan makers in Europe. Caravans sell in the spring and summer, and Panter wanted something to fill the rest of the year.12 The firm already knew how to mould glass fibre. In 1956 he teamed up with Lawrie Bond, the designer of the Bond Minicar and one of the outsiders who shaped the British microcar (see the designers).12

something good enough to win World 750cc races... but cheap, safe, easily repairable and pretty.

The aim Panter and Bond set themselves in 1956, as English Wikipedia records it.1

Prototypes ran round Biggleswade in the late summer of 1956: two, registered RMJ 395 and RMJ 946, by one account, or three by the Weiner museum’s.12 In September Stirling Moss drove one at Goodwood. The car was announced the same month and shown to the public at the London Motor Show at Earls Court in October.12

Its construction was unusual for a small car of its day. The body was a glass-fibre monocoque, made of three main mouldings, a floor “punt”, a nose and a tail, stiffened with aluminium, with no separate chassis.123 A two-stroke motorcycle engine sat across the front and drove the front wheels by chain.123 English Wikipedia points out that the car went on sale a year before the Lotus Elite, another glass-fibre monocoque, and the club calls its engine and drive layout unique at the time, three years before the Mini.13 The first doors had forward-sloping front edges, so they hinged upwards and swung shut by themselves, and a fuel gauge cost extra.1

More and more engine

The first SA322 had a 322 cc British Anzani twin of 15 bhp, and only 163 were built before supply, performance and reliability problems ended it in January 1957.123 The SE328 that replaced it used the 328 cc Excelsior Talisman twin, 18 bhp, and about 1,259 were made. The Motor tested one in April 1957: 100 km/h (62.1 mph), 0–50 mph in 30.6 seconds and 58.3 miles per gallon, for £574 including £152 of purchase tax.1 Export cars had separate headlamps, and a De Luxe had twin carburettors and a rev counter.1

In October 1957 a third cylinder was added to the Excelsior’s modular design, and the 492 cc SE492 gave 30 bhp, four speeds and about 129 km/h (80 mph). The heat of the triple made reliability worse.13 It became the Twosome in 1958, beside a four-seat Foursome of which about 20 were made.13 At that year’s Earls Court show Motor Sport counted the Berkeley among the modern cyclecars, a breed it said refused to lie down.4 From the Geneva show of March 1959 came the four-stroke B95 and B105, with 692 cc Royal Enfield twins of 40 and 50 bhp, a taller bonnet and a grille. The B105 could reputedly pass 161 km/h (100 mph); about 178 of the two were built.13

Three wheels, and a licence loophole

The best seller had only three wheels. The T60, launched in September 1959, kept the 328 cc twin and the front-wheel drive, put the single rear wheel on a trailing arm, and gained a fourth forward speed.15 As a three-wheeler it could be driven on a motorcycle licence and paid less tax, and about 1,800 were made, more than any other Berkeley.13 It cost £399 19s 11d with purchase tax.5 The Motor Cycle tested one in October 1959 and found the accelerator too close to the brake, the seat thin and the rear suspension bottoming with a passenger aboard. It never felt like a three-wheeler.5

No matter what antics I performed there was never any indication that I was driving a three-wheeler.

David Dixon, road test of the Berkeley T60, The Motor Cycle, 15 October 1959.5

Giant-killers

The club claims the little Berkeleys beat every handicapper they met, and at Goodwood on 14 June 1958 one did: Ashby’s 328 cc car won the final five-lap handicap at the BARC members’ meeting at 94.4 km/h (58.68 mph), a result Motor Sport said the handicappers had virtually handed him before the start.36 That summer a works-supported team of six SE328s, Pat Moss among the drivers, ran in the Liège–Brescia–Liège rally for cars up to 500 cc. They led as far as Slovenia, but climbing slowly in the heat exposed them, and none finished.1 Motor Sport blamed overheating and seized engines; not a single British car completed the course.7 In Italy Count Giovanni Lurani ran a team of 492 cc cars, with his own hardtops, in the 750 cc GT class. More on these in racing and rallying.1

The end

Late in 1960 the caravan market collapsed. The banks were unsympathetic and credit was tight, and on 12 December 1960 Berkeley went into liquidation; the workforce was laid off before Christmas.13 An attempt to sell the business to Sharp’s Commercials, the makers of the Bond, came to nothing.18 The Bandit, a steel-chassis sports car designed by John Tojeiro around a 997 cc Ford Anglia engine, would have cost £798; it came too late, and only two prototypes were built.13 The Weiner museum blames the Austin-Healey Sprite for the end, but the club and English Wikipedia put it down to money.913 The works were later used by Kayser Bondor to make women’s underwear, and were demolished in 2002.18

Finned two-cylinder engine with two carburettors and a mesh grille ahead of it
The 328 cc Excelsior twin lies across the nose and drives the front wheels.Photo: ocean yamaha, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Cream three-wheeler seen from behind on grass, chrome exhaust under the tail
A 1960 T60 from behind: one rear wheel, and a motorcycle licence was enough.Photo: Steve Glover, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr
Red open sports car with a vertical-bar grille, on a purple show carpet
A red 1960 Berkeley B95 with its grille and separate headlamps.Photo: Andrew Bone from Weymouth, England, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Row of small open sports cars in blue, red and yellow on grass, a navy one with rally plates in front
A line-up of Berkeleys at a rally in 2019.Photo: Andrew Bone from Weymouth, England, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Pictures

More photographs, old and new

The car 13

  • Orange open two-seater with a placard on its screen, beside a red fire-brigade cart. Opens a larger view

    1 An orange 1957 Berkeley 328 in the vintage-car museum at Geraldine, New Zealand.

  • Blue open two-seater on a lawn with palm trees behind, a man seated inside. Opens a larger view

    2 A blue 1958 Berkeley at a concours in the United States, 2011.

  • A tiny red sports car with faired-in headlamps, a mesh grille and a cream hardtop on a purple show carpet. Opens a larger view

    3 Red Berkeley Sports with a cream hardtop, RMJ 946, from the front quarter at the Classic Motor Show, NEC Birmingham, in November 2018.

  • Orange-red open two-seater on grass among modern cars, seen from the front left. Opens a larger view

    4 A red 1958 Berkeley SE328 at Astley Park, Chorley, 2017.

  • Yellow open two-seater parked on grass beside a red one, other small cars behind. Opens a larger view

    5 A yellow 1958 Berkeley SE328 in a rally line-up, 2019.

8 more picturesFewer pictures
  • White open two-seater on a brick floor in a museum, seen from the front left. Opens a larger view

    6 A white 1959 Berkeley Sports SE328 at the Lane Motor Museum, Nashville.

  • Cream open two-seater on tarmac seen from the front right, an information board beside. Opens a larger view

    7 A cream 1958 Berkeley with the 492 cc three-cylinder engine, at a show.

  • Red open two-seater in side view on gravel, another red Berkeley parked behind. Opens a larger view

    8 A 1956 Berkeley SA322, chassis 10, RFH 512, in profile in 2013.

  • Blue open two-seater from behind on a lawn, a chrome luggage rack on the tail. Opens a larger view

    9 The rear of a blue 1958 Berkeley Sports with its boot rack, photographed in 2011.

  • Rear three-quarter view of a small red sports car with a cream hardtop, round tail lamps and chrome hubcaps. Opens a larger view

    10 Red Berkeley Sports RMJ 946 from behind, its cream hardtop and rounded tail, at the Classic Motor Show, NEC Birmingham, in November 2018.

  • Red open two-seater seen from behind on a gravel yard. Opens a larger view

    11 The rear of SA322 RFH 512, the first Berkeley model.

  • White open two-seater from behind beside an information stand on a brick floor. Opens a larger view

    12 The rear of a 1959 Berkeley SE328 at the Lane Motor Museum, Nashville, in 2009.

  • Red open two-seater seen from the front with a mesh grille and round headlamps, a shed behind. Opens a larger view

    13 Berkeley SA322 chassis 10 head-on, with its 1956 registration RFH 512.

The car: SE492 7

  • White open two-seater on grass seen from the front right, a pale Isetta behind. Opens a larger view

    14 A white 492 cc Berkeley at the Sibbertoft Classic Car Meeting, 2010.

  • White open two-seater with chrome bumper bars, seen from the front right on grass. Opens a larger view

    15 A white 1959 Berkeley SE492 at a show, 2007.

  • Red open two-seater on a grey museum floor behind a rope, seen from the front right. Opens a larger view

    16 A red Berkeley SE492 in the UMMC Museum of Automotive Technology, Russia.

  • Red open two-seater in profile in a bright hall with arched windows, a caption board before it. Opens a larger view

    17 A Berkeley SE492 in profile among the displays of the UMMC Museum of Automotive Technology, Verkhnyaya Pyshma, Russia, in 2024.

  • White open two-seater with red seats seen from behind on a lawn. Opens a larger view

    18 The rear of a white 1959 Berkeley SE492 at a show, 2007.

  • Red open two-seater from the rear left in a museum, other small cars in the background. Opens a larger view

    19 The rear of a Berkeley SE492 at the UMMC Museum of Automotive Technology, Verkhnyaya Pyshma, Russia, in 2023.

  • Front of a red sports car with a wide wire-mesh grille and two headlamps, a museum label below. Opens a larger view

    20 A Berkeley SE492 head-on at the UMMC Museum of Automotive Technology, Verkhnyaya Pyshma, Russia, in 2023, with its mesh grille and faired headlamps.

The car: B95 / B105 4

  • Red open sports car with its bonnet raised on a dark show carpet, a caption stand beside. Opens a larger view

    21 A red 1960 Berkeley B105 at the NEC Classic Motor Show, 2017.

  • Dark green sports car with its front-hinged bonnet up, a white one alongside on grass. Opens a larger view

    22 A green B95 or B105 with its bonnet raised beside a white sister car, 2019.

  • Red open sports car with a chrome boot rack seen from behind on a show carpet. Opens a larger view

    23 The rear of a 1960 Berkeley B95, photographed in 2016.

  • Navy and olive-green open sports cars with grilles parked on grass, visitors behind. Opens a larger view

    24 Two Berkeley B95 or B105 sports cars side by side, 2019.

The car: T60 15

  • Dark green three-wheeler with a black hood, seen from the front right on grass. Opens a larger view

    25 A dark green Berkeley T60 with its hood up at the Burley show, 2012.

  • Blue open three-wheeler on grass beside a wood-framed estate car. Opens a larger view

    26 A blue 1959 Berkeley T60 from the front three-quarter at the Cheshire Steam Fair in 2013.

  • Dark green open three-wheeler on a pale floor, seen close from the front right. Opens a larger view

    27 A green 1959 Berkeley T60 at the Moretonhampstead Motor Museum.

  • Turquoise three-wheeler with a black hood parked in a car park, seen from the front left. Opens a larger view

    28 A turquoise 1960 Berkeley T60 with its hood up, 2022.

  • Pale blue open three-wheeler on artificial grass among picnic props, seen from the front right. Opens a larger view

    29 A pale blue 1960 Berkeley T60 at the Bubble Car Museum, Lincolnshire.

10 more picturesFewer pictures
  • Red open three-wheeler with a display card on its screen, on grass by a pale blue car. Opens a larger view

    30 A red 1960 Berkeley T60 at the Lincolnshire Steam Rally.

  • Cream open three-wheeler on grass, seen from the front right, red cars behind. Opens a larger view

    31 A cream 1960 Berkeley T60 at a show, 2017.

  • Green three-wheeler with a fixed hardtop on grass, seen from the front left. Opens a larger view

    32 A green 1960 Berkeley T60 with its factory hardtop, 2019.

  • Bright blue three-wheeler with its whole nose tilted up on grass, other cars behind. Opens a larger view

    33 A light blue Berkeley T60 with its front-hinged bonnet raised, 2021.

  • Pale green three-wheeler with a cream hardtop on artificial grass behind a rope. Opens a larger view

    34 A pale green Berkeley T60 with a cream hardtop on display.

  • Dark green three-wheeler with a black fabric hood in side view on grass. Opens a larger view

    35 A dark green Berkeley T60 with its hood up, at the Burley show, 2012.

  • Blue three-wheeler from the rear on grass, its single rear wheel tucked under the tail. Opens a larger view

    36 A blue Berkeley T60 at the Cheshire Steam Fair, 2013, showing its single rear wheel.

  • Turquoise three-wheeler from behind in a car park, a black hood over the cockpit. Opens a larger view

    37 The rear of a turquoise 1960 Berkeley T60 with its hood up, photographed in 2022.

  • Scuffed blue three-wheeler covered in signatures and race numbers on a car trailer, men behind. Opens a larger view

    38 The battered racing T60 144 UYS on its trailer at the Aldham Old Time Rally, 2019.

  • Bare, battered blue three-wheeler body next to a complete green one on grass, tents behind. Opens a larger view

    39 A T60 project shell beside a restored T60.

Inside and details 10

  • White two-spoke steering wheel and round dials on a blue and yellow dashboard. Opens a larger view

    40 The dashboard of a blue 1958 Berkeley, with its white steering wheel.

  • A red dashboard with four round dials and a thin black steering wheel, a gear lever rising from the floor. Opens a larger view

    41 Dashboard and floor gear lever of the red Berkeley Sports RMJ 946 at the Classic Motor Show, NEC Birmingham, in November 2018.

  • Cream two-spoke steering wheel, a single round speedometer and a grey bench in a white body. Opens a larger view

    42 The cockpit of a 1959 Berkeley SE328 at the Lane Motor Museum, Nashville, in 2009, with its two-spoke wheel and bench.

  • Wood-rimmed steering wheel and a row of round dials on a red dashboard. Opens a larger view

    43 The cockpit of a Berkeley SE492 at the UMMC Museum of Automotive Technology, Verkhnyaya Pyshma, Russia, in 2023, with its wood-rim wheel.

  • Red sports car with its bonnet open showing the twin-cylinder engine. Opens a larger view

    44 The engine bay of a red 1960 Berkeley B105 at the Classic Motor Show, NEC Birmingham, in 2017.

5 more picturesFewer pictures
  • Two-cylinder engine with black and silver castings inside a green engine bay. Opens a larger view

    45 The 692 cc Royal Enfield twin in a Berkeley B95 or B105.

  • A finned three-cylinder engine with three carburettors next to a black fuel tank inside a red glass-fibre body. Opens a larger view

    46 Three-cylinder Excelsior engine beside the fuel tank of the red Berkeley Sports RMJ 946 at the Classic Motor Show, NEC Birmingham, in November 2018.

  • Finned three-cylinder engine with three carburettors inside a white engine bay. Opens a larger view

    47 The 492 cc Excelsior three-cylinder engine in a 1959 SE492.

  • Round enamel badge with a large B and the word Berkeley on red paint. Opens a larger view

    48 The enamelled Berkeley B badge on the red body of a Berkeley, photographed in 2010.

  • Engine and wiring seen from above inside an open red glass-fibre bonnet. Opens a larger view

    49 The 322 cc British Anzani twin under the rear-hinged bonnet of a Berkeley SA322 in 2013.

Inside and details: T60 5

  • Row of round chrome dials and a white steering wheel in a green dashboard. Opens a larger view

    50 The dashboard and steering wheel of a green 1960 Berkeley T60, photographed in 2019.

  • Wood-rimmed steering wheel with drilled spokes in front of a turquoise dashboard and round dials. Opens a larger view

    51 The dashboard and drilled-spoke steering wheel of a turquoise 1960 Berkeley T60, photographed in 2022.

  • Blue three-wheeler with race number 77 on a trailer, engine exposed at the front. Opens a larger view

    52 The racing T60 144 UYS on its trailer with its bonnet off, 2024.

  • Engine and battery inside a turquoise glass-fibre bay with the bonnet raised. Opens a larger view

    53 The engine bay of a turquoise 1960 Berkeley T60, photographed in 2022.

  • Weathered blue and orange glass-fibre body shell with no wheels or engine, on grass. Opens a larger view

    54 A bare Berkeley T60 body shell on the grass, 2019.

Picture credits (54)
  1. 1 Mr Thinktank (cropped by Mr.choppers), CC BY 2.0
  2. 2 Rex Gray from Southern California, CC BY 2.0
  3. 3 Vauxford, CC BY-SA 4.0
  4. 4 SG2012, CC BY 2.0
  5. 5 Andrew Bone from Weymouth, England, CC BY 2.0
  6. 6 dave_7, CC BY 2.0
  7. 7 Brian Snelson, CC BY 2.0
  8. 8 Glachlan, CC BY-SA 3.0
  9. 9 Rex Gray from Southern California, CC BY 2.0
  10. 10 Vauxford, CC BY-SA 4.0
  11. 11 Glachlan, CC BY-SA 3.0
  12. 12 dave_7, CC BY 2.0
  13. 13 Glachlan, CC BY-SA 3.0
  14. 14 Mick from England, CC BY 2.0
  15. 15 dave_7 from Airdrie, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0
  16. 16 Vyacheslav Bukharov, CC BY-SA 4.0
  17. 17 MBH, CC BY 4.0
  18. 18 dave_7 from Airdrie, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0
  19. 19 Vyacheslav Bukharov, CC BY-SA 4.0
  20. 20 Vyacheslav Bukharov, CC BY-SA 4.0
  21. 21 andreboeni, CC BY 2.0
  22. 22 Andrew Bone from Weymouth, England, CC BY 2.0
  23. 23 Andrew Bone from Weymouth, England, CC BY 2.0
  24. 24 Andrew Bone from Weymouth, England, CC BY 2.0
  25. 25 SG2012, CC BY 2.0
  26. 26 SG2012, CC BY 2.0
  27. 27 kitmasterbloke, CC BY 2.0
  28. 28 Andrew Bone, CC BY 2.0
  29. 29 MrWalkr, CC BY-SA 4.0
  30. 30 Steve Knight, CC BY 2.0
  31. 31 Steve Glover, CC BY 2.0
  32. 32 Andrew Bone from Weymouth, England, CC BY 2.0
  33. 33 Calreyn88, CC BY-SA 4.0
  34. 34 Calreyn88, CC BY-SA 4.0
  35. 35 SG2012, CC BY 2.0
  36. 36 SG2012, CC BY 2.0
  37. 37 Andrew Bone, CC BY 2.0
  38. 38 kitmasterbloke, CC BY 2.0
  39. 39 Andrew Bone from Weymouth, England, CC BY 2.0
  40. 40 Rex Gray from Southern California, CC BY 2.0
  41. 41 andreboeni, CC BY 2.0
  42. 42 dave_7, CC BY 2.0
  43. 43 Vyacheslav Bukharov, CC BY-SA 4.0
  44. 44 andreboeni, CC BY 2.0
  45. 45 Andrew Bone from Weymouth, England, CC BY 2.0
  46. 46 andreboeni, CC BY 2.0
  47. 47 dave_7 from Lethbridge, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0
  48. 48 Buch-t, Public domain
  49. 49 Glachlan, CC BY-SA 3.0
  50. 50 Andrew Bone from Weymouth, England, CC BY 2.0
  51. 51 Andrew Bone, CC BY 2.0
  52. 52 Steve Knight, CC BY 2.0
  53. 53 Andrew Bone, CC BY 2.0
  54. 54 Andrew Bone from Weymouth, England, CC BY 2.0

Variants

Ten models in four years

The Berkeley range
VariantYearsWhat differsHow many
SA322 SportsOct 1956 – Jan 1957322 cc British Anzani twin, 15 bhp; column change163
SE328 SportsJan 1957 – Apr 1958328 cc Excelsior Talisman twin, 18 bhp; a De Luxe with twin carburettorsAbout 1,259
SE492 Sports, later TwosomeOct 1957 – Mar 1959492 cc Excelsior triple, 30 bhp, four speedsAbout 666
Foursome1958–⁠1959Longer and wider 2 + 2 on a 78 in wheelbaseAbout 20, or fewer
B95 and B105Mar 1959 – Dec 1960692 cc Royal Enfield four-stroke twin, 40 or 50 bhp; grille and separate headlampsAbout 178
QB95 and QB1051959Foursome-size body with the four-stroke enginesAt least two; none thought to survive
T60Sept 1959 – Dec 1960Three wheels, two at the front; 328 cc twin, four speeds and reverseAbout 1,800
T60/4Oct – Dec 1960Two child seats in a new rear mouldingAbout 50, or 40
B65Sept – Dec 1960Late SE492 body with the 328 cc engineFewer than 20
Bandit1960Steel chassis, 997 cc Ford engine, front disc brakes; designed by John TojeiroTwo prototypes

Specification

The SE328 Sports of 1957 unless noted

Engine and drive

EngineExcelsior Talisman two-stroke twin, 328 cc (58 × 62 mm), mounted across the car15
Power18 bhp123
GearboxAlbion, three speeds and reverse12Four speeds from the SE492, and in the T60
DriveBy chain to the front wheels23
StarterSiba Dynastart, 12 V23

Body and chassis

BodyGlass-fibre monocoque in three main mouldings, reinforced with aluminium123
SuspensionIndependent: wishbones and Girling coil-damper units at the front, swing axles at the back12
BrakesGirling hydraulic, 7 in drums1
Tyres5.20 × 122
T60 rearA single wheel on a trailing arm15

Dimensions

Length3,112 mm (122.5 in)13,124 mm by the Weiner museum; 3,175 mm for the B95 and B105; 3,277 mm for the T60 by the museum
Width1,270 mm (50 in)12
Height1,105 mm (43.5 in)1
Weight295 kg2274 kg for the SA322 in 1956; 402 kg for the B95 and B105; 346 kg for the T60 as tested

Performance and running

Top speed100 km/h (62.1 mph), tested by The Motor, 19571About 129 km/h (80 mph) for the SE492; over 161 km/h (100 mph) reputedly for the B105
Acceleration0–50 mph in 30.6 s1
Consumption58.3 mpg tested1
Price new£574 with £152 tax (April 1957); about US$1,600 in the USA1£659 for the B95 in 1959; £399 19s 11d for the T60

How many were built?

Every figure, with its source

About 4,100 builtAbout 4,100 of all types, a total that the model-by-model chassis-number counts add up to almost exactly.

  1. about 4,100Berkeleys of all types, 1956–⁠1960One source

    Covello’s Standard Catalog of Imported Cars, via English Wikipedia1

  2. around 2,500four-wheeled BerkeleysOne source

    Berkeley Enthusiasts’ Club3

  3. about 2,290four-wheelers, adding up the per-model countsOne source

    Robson’s A–Z of British Cars, by chassis numbers, via English Wikipedia1

  4. about 1,800T60 three-wheelersOne source

    Robson, via English Wikipedia1

  5. 2,500T60sUnconfirmed

    Weiner museum panel, which gives the same figure for its SE3289

  • Two sources agreetwo good sources give the figure
  • One sourcea good source, alone
  • Unconfirmeda lead only, not yet checked

Famous for

Three points

  1. No chassis

    The early cars were glass-fibre monocoques, moulded by a caravan firm.

  2. Front-wheel drive, 1956

    A transverse motorcycle engine drove the front wheels three years before the Mini.

  3. Three wheels, sports car

    The T60 handled like a sports car and could be driven on a motorcycle licence.

Racing and records

Goodwood and beyond

94km/h · 5 laps

At the BARC members’ meeting at Goodwood on 14 June 1958, Ashby’s 328 cc Berkeley won the final five-lap handicap.6

94.4 km/h
Ashby’s average, 58.68 mph.6
Sept 1956
Stirling Moss tries a pre-launch car at Goodwood.12
Six cars
entered by the works in the 1958 Liège–Brescia–Liège; all retired.17
750 cc GT
the class Count Lurani’s 492 cc team raced in Italy.1

Survivors and collecting

Today

A few hundred Berkeleys are known to survive worldwide.1 The Berkeley Enthusiasts’ Club looks after them and publishes a monthly Bulletin.110 The cars outlived their maker in other ways: by 1991 a firm in Syston, Leicestershire, was making new bodies from the original moulds, and by 1993 complete T60 replicas; New Zealand had its Ibis Berkeley in the late 1980s; and in 2020 a revived Berkeley Coachworks announced a modern Bandit, which was delayed in 2021.1

The Weiner museum had an SE328 and a T60. The T60, chassis T60919, sold for US$13,800 when the collection was auctioned in February 2013.2911

Sources

Numbered as in the text

Sources are given as plain text; the links are on the Credits page.

  1. English Wikipedia, Berkeley Cars, read in full on 7 October 2026. Used as a lead; it cites Robson, A–Z of British Cars 1945–⁠1980 (2006); Covello, Standard Catalog of Imported Cars (2002); Wotherspoon, Lawrie Bond – the man and the marque (1993); and The Motor, 3 April 1957.
  2. Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum, “1958 Berkeley B65”, tour page (2002), read in full.
  3. Berkeley Enthusiasts’ Club, “Berkeley Models”, archived 8 October 2007, read in full.
  4. “Earls Court Impressions”, Motor Sport, November 1958, p. 46.
  5. David Dixon, “Road Impressions of New Models: Berkeley three-wheeler”, The Motor Cycle, 15 October 1959, p. 344, read in a transcription on 3wheelers.com (archived).
  6. “B.A.R.C. Members’ Goodwood Meeting (June 14th)”, Motor Sport, July 1958, p. 24.
  7. “Matters of Moment”, Motor Sport, September 1958, on the Liège–Brescia–Liège rally.
  8. Grace’s Guide, “Berkeley Cars”, read in full; it cites Collins and Stratton, British Car Factories from 1896 (1993).
  9. Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum, “1960 Berkeley T‑60”, tour page (2002), read in full.
  10. Berkeley Enthusiasts’ Club website (index of Bulletin issues, 2017–⁠2022).
  11. RM Auctions, the Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum sale, Madison, Georgia, February 2013, lot 640, “1960 Berkeley T60”.