The message <a04310101b62e61a210da@[10.0.1.13]>
from "Jeffrey H. Boatright" <jboatri@emory.edu> contains these words:
> I'm watching Speedvisions's Legends of Motors Sports, "BRSCC 1957"
> and one of the featured races at the Brands Hatch August Bank Holiday
> races was a type-specific race of what the announcer called "the
> supercharged lawnmower race" comprised entirely of a car called a
> Barkely (sp?). They look a lot like a spridget front end and frogeye
> rear end.
> Has anyone ever heard of these cars?
Oh, yes, Jeff, but I'm afraid that it's "two nations divided by a common
language" time again! You have the pronunciation perfect, but the spelling
wrong - it's Berkeley (cue most of the list saying "how could that have
possibly sounded like Barkely?")
The Berkeley was a Lawrie Bond design, which speaks highly in itself.
They originally had a 322cc (that's cc, not ci ...) Anzani engine, which
was later replaced by a 328cc Excelsior, a 492cc Excelsior, and a 692cc
Royal Enfield (and I'm currently typing this about four hundred yards from
the former RE factory). It was produced in both 3 and 4 wheel versions.
My records show that the 3-wheeled 328cc version sold over 2,500 units
in 1959-60, the four-wheeled verions having sold 2000 in total.
Production stopped at the very beginning of 1961, I believe. There are quite
a lot still running in the UK, many of them having been retro-fitted with the
complete engine/transmission/subframe from a BMC Mini. Some years
ago a UK firm re-started production of the car with the Mini engine, but I
don't know if they are still available.
best regards,
Bob
--
Liege - the last great British sports car.
http://www.ashford-perf.com/Liege and
http://www.egroups.com/group/Liege-Car-Club
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