LocostUSA.com

Early August, 2019

I'm always trying to stay 2 steps ahead of where the build is when it comes to gathering parts and doing research.. This frame is taking shape, if slowly, and I'm going to need some 'good' Berkeley bodies at some point (my body is good for mock up, but it's soooo rough). A long while ago I posted up my need for 2 bodies on the Berkeley Facebook group/ Berkeley Enthusiast Club site, and a very helpful Kevin Kalman reached out to me.. He's here on the USA east coast (I'm west coast), and we've stayed in touch over this last year.. Once my family settled into the new place, the timing finally seemed right for Kevin to ship me a few of his Berkeley bodies (at one point he had 10!).. A very sincere thank you to Kevin.. a good guy

The 10' container with 2 bodies made it here in early August.. The bodies are in pretty good shape, and are exactly what I needed.. After inspecting them, I've decided Berk #1 will be the red body (the one I sell in May 2021), and the white body will be the one I keep.. There are subtle differences between the two- mostly in the doors and cowl area..

In the big picture the bodies will temporarily live on the side of the house... I'm stepping away from the cars briefly as I have some 'honey-do' stuff to tackle this fall, but I'm aiming to get back on the Berk frame/project late December.. the red body should factor into the build around spring 2020, in just 6 months..

--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

A few more shots of scattered Berk bits.. pretty much a 1:1 plastic model


--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

Boy, that was a big find. It's hard to imagine that a guy would have 10 of those little car bodies. I wonder how many were actually brought to this country?

Cheers,

_________________
Damn! That front slip angle is way too large and the Ackerman is just a muddle.

Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5886

I first became aware of the Berkeley in 1970 when the owner of the Gas Station I went to was working on his in the shop area. He had a 2nd one foe sale, but at 6' 2", I just didn't fit. And I was not even close to having the skills to explore modifying it for me to fit.

Always loved the looks!

Love watching your progress.

_________________
Thom

Lonnie: How many of them are around? I used to know, but sitting here now I've forgotten.. I think it was that 1000 came to the States??? (Maybe someone here can weigh in if you know).. At any rate, I remember the numbers produced/imported were both quite low.. For scale in numbers, here's a group called "The Berkeley Enthusiast Club," and they have about 200 members world wide, with about 30 members here in the States (I'm one of them ).. These cars are pretty rare, but not very valuable.. if you really want one, it takes a bit of digging, but they're around.. lucky the bodies are glass, otherwise surely they'd all be gone..

BostonWill: Your memory on the size issue is dead on.. I'm 6'2" at 195, and while I do technically fit, it's not pretty... I wouldn't want to drive it for any extended length of time/distance.. ..then again, would anyone of any size want to do a marathon session in one of these? ..For my 2nd Berkeley, the one I keep, I will be stretching my available interior space in one way or another (cockpit body mod and/or a body stretch of 2 or 3 inches)..

--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

Some random local stuff..

On a recent run I was able to get close to a big piece of farm equipment, the kind you usually see way out in the field from afar (we have lots of various crops grown out here-- a very fertile area).. I don't know what this thing is called, but up close and in person it's HUGE!..

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

More random things; totally unrelated to obscure British cars...

We now live out near Pismo Beach, Ca, and I'm taking in my new digs.. No, literally, the development we're in is new construction ..watch out, I love dad jokes..

Anyway, a few pics here show an unexpected use of one of those new 'outdoor/all-weather' microwaves you've heard so much about

Also, on our site, they're using an old Diamond REO water truck.. pretty cool! Any guesses on it's age? I'm thinking late 40's? There's another piece of old-looking machinery next to it.. don't know what it's called... a 'trencher' I suspect.. again, looks old to me.. pretty cool (I love old stuff that's still in normal service)..

--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

Yeah thats an old wheel trencher, the gas company I retired from had many of them to trench in gas services, they were Barber Greenes. Some of the older ones we had did not have cabs on them. The trencher operators were just as old We had one old trencher that used to sneak a bottle on the machine with himself. There was a joke about him, that in the morning his trenches were curvy like a snake, but as the day wore on and the bottle got emptier, the trenches were straight as an arrow. Ahhhh the good old days

_________________
Perry

'If man built it, man can fix it'
"No one ever told me I couldn't do it."
"If you can't build it safe, don't build it."

Perry's Locost Super Che7enette Build
Perry's TBird Based 5.0L Super 7 L.S.O
Perry's S10 Super 7 The 3rd
Perry's 4th Build The Topolino 500 (Little Mouse) Altered
Perry's 5th Build the Super Slant 6 Super 7
Perry's Final Build the 1929 Mercedes Gazelle

I tried researching that truck, sort of... That means I Googled "Reo Truck" and looked at the pictures. The fender/headlight arrangement matched a 61 model, but that round-top cab did not. I wonder if the basic structure is older, with more modern fenders added on as replacements later in its life?

By the way, didja know that after Ransome E. Olds sold "Oldsmobile" to GM he started a second company, using his initials? Yup, sure did... They built cars and trucks. Mostly trucks...


JD (My Initals Ain't Pronounce-able) Kemp

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JD, father of Quinn, Son of a... Build Log
Quinn the Slotus:Ford 302 Powered, Mallock-Inspired, Tube Frame, Hillclimb Special
"Gonzo and friends: Last night must have been quite a night. Camelot moments, mechanical marvels, Rustoleum launches, flying squirrels, fru-fru tea cuppers, V8 envy, Ensure catch cans -- and it wasn't even a full moon." -- SeattleTom

To have the name "Diamond REO" on the hood, it would have to be 1967 or later. That is when Diamond T and REO merged. I just saw a 1969 REO sales brochure with that rounded cab. What seems to be unique is the headlights/fender are set back from the grille a bit. Either that or the grille/hood is extended.

_________________
Chuck.

“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

Visit my ongoing MGB Rustoration log: over HERE

Or my Wankel powered Locost log : over HERE

And don't forget my Cushman Truckster resto Locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17766

Interesting... So my searching for "Reo" might have been a bit too narrow.

I also noted the "long" nose on that truck, that's part of why I wondered if the fenders were replacements. There are several pictures on the interwebz of Reo trucks with similar fenders/hood/grill arrangements, so maybe factory original after all.

Cool old truck either way!

JDK

_________________
JD, father of Quinn, Son of a... Build Log
Quinn the Slotus:Ford 302 Powered, Mallock-Inspired, Tube Frame, Hillclimb Special
"Gonzo and friends: Last night must have been quite a night. Camelot moments, mechanical marvels, Rustoleum launches, flying squirrels, fru-fru tea cuppers, V8 envy, Ensure catch cans -- and it wasn't even a full moon." -- SeattleTom

Hey Lonnie.. did some digging and asking around and here's what I've learned... In round numbers, about 4200 Berkeleys were made (1956-1960) in a few different configurations.. most were the 4-wheel versions (like mine), and the other most popular version was the Berkeley 3-wheeler.. (I do not think any 3-wheelers were officially imported to the US, but it is believed that maybe 10 have now made it over)

Looks like about 2200-ish 4-wheelers were made, and 1800-ish 3 wheelers... The numbers don't exactly add up, but to round things off, about 4000 cars were made, with slightly more than half of them made with 4 wheels..

How many made it to the US? The internet says about 1/4 made it here, or about 800 to 1000 were imported into the US..

So how many remain in the US today? how many globally? It's anyone's guess really, but most who know about such things guess that about 80-ish Berkeleys are left in the states, and there are likely 300-400 Berkeley's in an shape, in any configuration worldwide

--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

Those numbers are bigger than I would have assumed. Still, it's a pretty rare vehicle.

Thanks for the follow-up.

Cheers,

_________________
Damn! That front slip angle is way too large and the Ackerman is just a muddle.

Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5886

Update: December 11, 2019

Several car/build related developments lately.. my old Honda N600 build was top of mind this last month as it was selected to go to SEMA (November 2019)... the story of how that happened is on my build log here: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=14452&start=630

Almost a year ago, in early 2019, progress on this Berkeley build came to a grinding halt when I got into a fender-bender with my Volvo 1800 (build is here: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309 ) ...at that point, the Volvo got all of the attention (repair/repaint/returned to daily service), and the Berkeleys haven't been touched since (save one week last July, 2019).. Also, in the interim, we moved and got new jobs, and life's been out of balance ever since..

Last month, this site (locostusa) had an issue with data loss... basically pictures from the last 2 years were lost for everyone here .. this didn't much affect my stagnant old Honda build, but it's knocked a huge hole into the Volvo 1800 build, and it virtually wiped out all of the pics on this Berk build..

So moving forward.. I've caught the Honda build back up (the easiest one).. I'll next go after catching this Berkeley build back up by replacing old missing pics the best I can, and posting the current status on the car.. Finally, I'm dreading it, but I'll then go back and replace all of the missing Volvo pics.. this will take awhile...

In January 2020 (next month), I'm putting a huge focus on this Berkeley build.. I haven't really 'made' anything for almost a year (the Volvo's been all R&R), and my obsessive personality hasn't had a passion over which to obsess for too long.. I have not been a pleasant person.. I know myself well enough to know that I NEED to go back into the garage and engage in a creative build..

So the Volvo 1800 continues to be the daily driver, and big ideas and plans are in queue for my tiniest of builds- the Berkeley.. life goes on

--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

December 8, 2019

Our new home is close to the CA coast where they build houses on small lots.. I don't have much storage here, so I have to be deliberate as to how/where things go.. Then again, it's not a normal thing to try and store 3 cars on one's side/rear yard

So I now have 3 separate Berkeley bodies.. the white one is nice, as is the red one... the blue-ish one is in very bad shape, and has up to now served as my mock-up body.. The plan is to build/sell the red car first, then I'll build the white car for myself, then if I'm feeling really ambitious, perhaps I'll turn the blue body into a small Berkeley trailer...

Berk Frame #1 is seen on the table in the garage, as well as donor bike #2 (red).. at this point I've got too much stuff in too little space.. I'll move the ATV and donor bike out of the garage/workspace over the next few weeks to prepare for the upcoming work planned on Berk frame #1 on the table..

Over the next month I intend to fab up motor mounts and get accurate measurements to have the axles and driveshaft modded to the needed lengths..

--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com