The Berkeley Coachwork Company of Biggleswade was England’s top manufacturer of trailers in the 1950s. Company topper Charles Panter decided to expand the business’s line and introduced a diminutive economy sports car, designed by Laurie Bond, at the 1956 London Motor Show. These little cars from Berkeley had many unique design features. They were constructed as a fiberglass monocoque with aluminum reinforcements, were front-wheel drive and employed a transversely mounted engine.
The first production sports car, known as the SA 322 (also known as the B60) was powered by a 322-cc Anzani two-cylinder, two-stroke engine, which cranked out 15 bhp. The later SE 328 (also known as the B65) used the “more potent” 328-cc Excelsior Talisman two-cylinder, two-stroke, which produced 18 bhp. The “B” numbering system for each model indicated the car’s top speed. Berkeley built both three-wheeled vehicles and four-wheeled sports cars.
According to most marque experts, somewhere between 2,000 and 2,500 four-wheeled Berkeley sports cars were built between 1956 and 1961. Most were strictly driven on the streets but a few made their way onto racing circuits by virtue of their excellent braking, superior road holding, and the ease with which they could be tossed about. One such Berkeley was SE 328, chassis number 739.
Milton Schaefer of Buffalo, New York, was a well-known dentist, a talented mechanic, and a sensible racer. According to his lifelong friend Bob Deull, “Milt and I had a lot of fun together. He had a great sense of humor both at and away from the races.” Schaefer purchased his Berkeley from AHR Sports Cars of
Buffalo, New York, on March 17, 1958. He modified the seat to fit his 6’6” frame, installed a roll bar and was off to the races.
The car’s first outing was at the Harewood Acres Races in Ontario, Canada. The race organizers had arranged for an interesting event: a four-hour, handicap relay race. Schaefer entered his car as part of a team of three 328-cc Berkeleys known as “Swarm of B’s.” The team (Schaefer, Fred Caruso and Gary Stone) was given 34 credit laps, a substantial handicap due in no small part to the three engine displacements which totaled less than one liter! Unfortunately, Stone flipped his car on lap 60 and put the team out of contention, finishing 26th overall. Schaefer’s next outing came at The Lake Erie Invitational at Dunkirk, New York. Race reports suggest that Schaefer was the enthusiastic back-marker of the event.
Schaefer traded the Berkeley to Millard Ripley of Ripley Motors in August of 1958. From there, the car went missing until John Bourke found an unidentified Berkeley, minus engine, in a field near Titusville, Florida, in October 2003. The car then passed through several hands (Shay Williams, Glen Deimond, and David Bennett). Each owner was enthusiastic about the unrestored relic, but none knew its origins.
Mark Schoenlein of Perrysburg, Ohio, is a Berkeley enthusiast to the extreme. Although he bought his first B-car just five years ago, he has now owned a dozen examples. When he learned in early 2004 that Berkeley buddy David Bennett of Franklin, Pennsylvania, had bought a pile of cars, Schoenlein and his wife decided to pay him a visit. Inside the garage of Bennett’s aunt, Schoenlein found several Berkeleys stored on their sides, leaning up against one another. He took a couple of photographs, and he and his wife headed back home. Later as he examined the photos, Schoenlein realized that one of the cars seemed very familiar. Where had he seen it before? Of course, where else, the Internet. Schoenlein recalled Bill Barkley’s postings of Bob Deull’s photos of Schaefer racing a Berkeley in 1958. Schoenlein contacted Barkley who put him in touch with Deull.
Deull examined the photos of the car in its current condition (the car had retained its original paint scheme and unique roll bar) and was able to confirm that it was indeed Schaefer’s old racing Berkeley. Schoenlein quickly made a deal with Bennett, picked up the Berkeley, and successfully completed the 200-mile transport home with the tiny car riding inside a van! He then went to work researching the car’s lineage. Schoenlein has spoken to every known owner of the car (other than Schaefer who has passed on). He has corresponded with Schaefer’s widow who still had the original Bill of Sale from 1958. He has even found Ripley, the dealer who traded Schaefer a Sprite for the Berkeley in 1958.
Schoenlein is currently restoring the car and plans to have it on display at the Canadian Motorsport Museum in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Harewood Acres Races. If you have any information about this interesting car, please contact Schoenlein at Mark.Schoenlein@us.o-i.com
Do you know of a Hidden Treasure. If so, send your photos and stories to Mark at mbrinker@sportscardigest.com
