Marque: Berkley - Company History & Models - Cars By Brand
Berkley
As an alternative to ‘mainstream’ models, what about a compact sports car built in relatively small numbers, which is guaranteed to draw a crowd wherever you go? Just turned 50, surviving Berkeleys are rare but are revered for their sporty looks (rather like an E-Type Jag in miniature) and commendable performance; they are also great fun to own, and asking prices are affordable. The Biggleswade-based…
Berkley Caterham
PRICE: £600 - £3000
Fast Facts
- Produced:
From 1973 - Bodywork:
Open two-seater sports - Engine:
Overhead valve, in-line four-cylinder. 1691cc, 135bhp - 0-60 mph:
5.5+ sec - Top Speed:
115+ mph - MPG:
20-25+ mpg
T h e r e ’s nothing else quite like them… Harking back to the days of sports motoring undertaken purely for the fun of it, the Caterham Seven is built with pure driving pleasure in mind. By 1973 the Kent company had long been involved with the Lotus concern, which produced the ultra-lightweight, strictly two-seater Seven, but with the arrival of Value Added Tax and other problems, production rights for the model were passed to Caterham Cars. Engines used have included a variety of Ford units (from cross-flow Kent to C o sworth BDA), Rover K Series and twin-cam 2-litre Vauxhall types (producing 175 bhp in HPC form). The l atest Seven CSR relies on Cosworthdeveloped 2.3-litre Ford Duratec power (200 or 260 bhp), and features a revised spaceframe plus an independent rear. Although changed over the decades the Seven’s character remains: it’s the closet thing to a real racer on the road.
Berkley Delorean DMC-12
PRICE: USA imports: £5000 - £15,000+.; RHD: Deloreans fetch up to £25,000; A1, perhaps £30,000
Fast Facts
- Produced:
1981-83 - Bodywork:
Two-door coupé - Engine:
Overhead valve, V6 2849cc, U.K. tune, 160bhp; U.S. tune, 130bhp - 0-60 mph:
8 sec - Top Speed:
130 mph - MPG:
21-30
Destined for classic stat u s from the outset, and made famous by films including ‘Back to the Future’ and ‘The Wedding Singer’, Deloreans are individualistic and fun to ow n . They are also much cheaper and easier to live with than many would have you believe, too. Production started in 1981 in Northern Ireland, but the model gained notoriety when discontinued prematurely, taking a g r e at deal of British taxpayers’ money with it… The futuristic two-seat e r bodywork, with ‘gull-wing’ doors, is of brushed, 304 grade stainless steel outer shell, and clothes a rear-mounted V6 2849cc Pe u g e o t / R e n a u l t / Volvo engine, plus an ahead of its time interior. Deloreans are well-equipped, with electrically operated window s , air con, central locking, and a four speaker stereo system. Virtually all are left hand drive and in silver. Not particularly quick, it feels like a more refined, cosier Lotus.
