BERKELEY. The little Berkeleys were far from conventional, however much they may have looked like sc
Introduced in the autumn of 1956, the car comprised three main glass-reinforced polyester resin mouldings (nose, pontoon under-section and tail), bolted together and reinforced with alloy mem-bers; there was no chassis as such, merely a steel subframe linking engine, transmission and bulkheads. Suspension was independent at the front, using motor cycle type coil springs and dampers, with swing axles at the rear. Outwardly the body changed little in its life of under five years; wider doors came after a year, as did flamboyant wheel trims, while the oval grille gave way to a large square aper-ture; a hard top was added to the range in 1957, and a few four seaters were made in 1958-59. The first 163 cars had an air-cooled 322cc British Anzani two-stroke twin, but its 15bhp was hardly adequate, even for this car's 280kg unladen weight, nor was a similar 328cc Excelsior. In 1957, therefore, a three-cylinder air-cooled Excelsior of 492cc and 30bhp took its place, mounted transversely ahead of the centre-line of the front wheels, and this propelled the car to 130kph (80mph). Finally, in the B105, a tuned 692cc Royal Enfield four-stroke was fitted, to give a daunting 145kph (90mph) maximum speed. Drive was car-ried to the gearbox and differential by chains. The assemblage was a little temperamental, and drivers had to learn its quirks as well as endure vibration and noise, but there was normally-safe handling and flat cornering, while acceleration matched top speed. The little Berkeleys offered economy and ex-hilaration, but they were too far outside the motoring mainstream to enjoy any lasting success and the company faded away at the end of 1960.
Specification ( / 958) Engine: Excelsior two-stroke straight-three; 58 x 62mm, 492cc; three Amal carburettors; 30bhp at 5000rpm. Gearbox: four-speed manual (three-speed on some early cars). Chassis: metal-braced plastics unitary; front suspension independent by driveshafts, wishbones and coil spring/damper units; rear suspension independent by swing axles and coil spring/damper units; four-wheel drum brakes. Dimensions: wheelbase 174cm/68.iin; front track 108cm/42+in; rear track 107cm/42in.
