Some cars are just so strange that you can’t help but be intrigued by them. The Berkeley three-wheeler is one of those cars and we are excited to see another one of these great little cars hit the market. A few months back we found a museum quality T60/4 for sale and we were sure it was going to be a long time before we would see another one. Well someone just pulled this 1960 Berkeley T60 out of storage in Griffin, Georgia and have listed it on eBay. With a current bid of $3,500 and no reserve, it will be interesting to see where this one goes.
This Berkeley is in need of some work, but it does run. Most of the work this T60 needs is cosmetic, but it’s going to involve some extensive fiberglass repair to get this car’s body looking as good as new. We can’t tell what color this car was originally, but green always looks good on these. The 328 cc Excelsior Talisman engine appears to be the original, but it could probably use a tune up. Most of the parts needed can be found at Kip Motor Company and we are sure they would be willing to give advice.
This car’s interior might look like its missing most of its parts, but these cars didn’t have much of an interior to begin with. Carpet and door panels added weight, so Berkeley didn’t offer either. The seats are included in the sale, but they need to be recovered. The cost of restoring any car is high, but one this small and stripped down shouldn’t be terribly expensive. The question is, is there anyone out there who would even want to restore one of these?
We really love the look of these little 3-wheelers, especially with the hard top on. There weren’t many of these cars that made it state side, so parts availability and support are low. Restoring this car will be a labor of love for someone, but from what we have heard these are very fun to drive so maybe the project will pay off in the end.
On parts support… the majority of the parts on T60’s are shared with the more conventional four wheeler 328s… the majority of which came to the US.Though T60’s themselves are rare here, they are the most common model built and parts and cars are relatively easy to find in the UK… not to mention exceptional club support.So not as easy as a Mustang or Corvair to support, but not as difficult as some other marques.I’ve only seen one other T60 hardtop stateside… one I owned. These are fairly rare even in the UK.If you think this is a basket case, you should see some of the ones I’ve had! ;-) IMO the asking price is very reasonable on this…Bill
I wish I was crazy enough to get that.There’s a motorcycle shop in town that could no doubt get it running very well.I’d love to drive it down to the monthly gallery walk.I found a road test that said it was 300 pounds in 1960A calculator says that was $800.
“So not as easy as a Mustang or Corvair to support, but not as difficult as some other marques.”First time I ever saw someone say a Corvair was easy to get parts for! LMAO
Could it be that Sean meant “Corvette?”
I’ve owned about 150 cars… nothing has been as easy/cheap to restore and run and/or even race as a Corvair. Except for some high performance bits, virtually everything is readily available (and did I mention cheap?) through a small but vigorous vendor community and a very active club.
I’ver seen one with a GSX-R engine… but it was the 4 wheeler.
@Bill- My first car was a ’66 Corsa convertible that I owned between 1993 and 1995. Before the Internet was big, it was kinda difficult to get parts, especially out in the “sticks” that was Temecula back then. I agree, nowadays it’s much easier to get par
The Ebay link goes to the Ferrari 308GT4 auction. I can’t find the Berkeley on Ebay when I search. Anyone know what’s happened to it?
Oops, sorry about that. We have updated the link to point to the correct auction. Thanks for catching that.
Tres Cool!! I wish I were at a place where I could go for this.I’ve always loved the oddball.