And now! In this corner! From Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, England… weighing in at 605 lb… the 1958 Berkeley SE328! This particular SE328 hails from Hubbard, Ohio in the Eastern flatlands of that fine state. The listing here on craigslist.org, asks a mere $5000 for this featherweight contender. Thanks to reader Patrick S. for spotting this pint-sized plaything.
If I’m not mistaken, this is a home-made fuel cell, a box of gas if you will, riding conveniently beside you where you can pop off the cap and see how much go-juice is sloshing around. You could even keep additional containers of fuel within easy reach for an on-the-go refill. Brilliant! Just don’t confuse them with your Snapple when you wet your whistle.
While the chop-saw presumably does not come with the sale, we’ll assume this box of parts does. It’s also the closest look at the engine in the listing. Anyone hoping this micro-blaster was powered by a 3.28L or 2.8L engine may be disappointed to know that an air-cooled two-cylinder motorcycle engine displacing 328 cubic centimeters provided power, to the tune of 18 polite and eternally optimistic horsepower.
Speaking of optimism, much of the sweep of the 120 MPH speedometer has likely gone unused as wikipedia.org reports a top speed of 70 MPH. All joking aside, check out this immaculate SE328 at rmsothebys.com for a peek at a perfectly restored specimen showing off the little Berkeley’s handsome design. If you’re thinking about dropping $10,000 on a customized golf cart for your place in the Hamptons, consider this fetching roadster as a cheeky alternative. At one-fourth the weight of a Prius and ten times the cuteness, this Berkeley certainly deserves half a chance of becoming someone’s Beach Car. Unlike the Prius, this SE328’s manufacturing energy is fully amortized, so buying it is an economical Earth-friendly choice. Will you make the sensible choice to buy this micro-roadster?
Its a good car to help cut back on smoking 🚬😂
Seriously a lil dangerous and small for me
🔥🔥🚭💣🔥💀
But 3 more and turn your small 2 car garage into a 4 car!
That is the original fuel tank. It fits on a shelf up against the firewall in the engine compartment. The Berkeley is a rare/low production number British sports car from the 1950’s with less than 100 in this country.
I owned one of the SE328’s in the late ’60’s and currently have a (larger engined) SE492.
Just plain cool!
Nice write up Todd! You seem kind of frisky today. Have an amorous morning? (Lol)
$5000. for this car, makes the one at Sothebys for $23000. a real deal
Price dropped to $ 4500 ! Way too cute, and likely too small for a guy like me. And I want to know how this got to 70 mph, when my ’57 Fiat 500 couldn’t. Or maybe it could, downhill with a tailwind !
I have a 1956 328 twin with no motor or trans. I am trying to convert with 1982 Honda Goldwing, just trying to figure out reverse. twin rail frame etc building own front end and midget rear making twin side rail frame motor cycle air shocks Any thoughts?
Are you thinking the 1000cc, or larger engine? I’m not sure the car is capable of safely handling this kind of power. I have a friend who put a 400cc 4-cylinder Honda in his SE328 and it is a very quick little vehicle. There have also been some Mini-engined (’60’s vintage engine) conversions in England and they took some extensive work — remember you have to be able to support all this weight, and be able to stop too.