Barber Motor Museum
Discussion
I've just come back from a trip across the Southern states of America, 10 guys, 5 Mustangs and a whole load of fun. However I thought I'd share with you this truly unbelievable place I stumbled over after a recommendation from a barman.
The Barber Motorcycle Musuem. (Mods please don't move this to biker banter). So long story but Mr Barber is a petrolhead who races Porsches for quite a few years but when his dad died he had to take over the family dairy business. Fast forward 20 years and it is the largest supplier of milk and ice-cream to the Southern United States. Having no family to leave it to and still being a major petrol head he essentially did what we would all do if we had enough cash. He sold the lot and set up the Barber Motor Foundation charity and he didn't do things by halves!!
First up he set up a racing team. That's all good but there's nothing like racing your own team on your own track is there? So he built a custom designed 2.3 mile race track. A race track so good that it was inspected twice as a possible venue for the US Grand Prix. He then decided he wanted a collection attached to the track but quickly realised that 1,000 cars would take up 10 acres of warehouses and so he changed his mind to bikes.
He then built a truly stunning building, I don't think the pictures do it justice but on the inside it is incredible. It comprises of 4 floors of displays and 1 restoration floor which exits straight onto the track. They told me 98% of all the vehicles are 2 hours away from being thrashed around the track (remove silicon from break lines, clean and fill fuel tanks etc). He has 1,300 bikes and about 750 of them are on display. He then has an eclectic group of other items dotted around from Chris Boardman's Lotus bike to F1 cars and, a true highlight, the largest collection of Lotus race cars anywhere in the world. He has more Lotus race cars than Lotus themselves and has even loaned his cars to them when they need to do research!!
Enjoy...
A small part of one of the 5 floors
The mental Britten motorbike
A bike ridden from Nazi Germany to the UK, 1 of only 3 in the world
Racetrack out the window (random trackday going on with MX-5's to Nascars!)
Easyrider
More DAytona racebikes than you know what to do with
Vintage
To modern classic
Stunning building on an impressive scale
Random pretty things dotted about
I bet this wants out on the track
1959 Lotus 17
1960 Lotus Type 18F1
A few F1 cars including Piquet's Camel and Jonny Herbert's Lotus
More Lotus race cars than you knnow what to do with
Earliest ever Lotus cars
Some more
And some more
A John Surtees race car
Now these are truly special. What we have here is John Surtees 1964 F1 winning Ferrari 158 and an MV Augusta he also won the World Motorcycle CHampionship on. He has been to the museum himself last year and thrashed both round the track!! Anyone care to guess what they are worth?
Acouple of the race team's Radicals and some 4 seat F1 rep car
And what's this hiding in the resto area having just come from or about to go to the track...
This place is in Birmingham, Alabama and was a real highlight of my trip. The cost to get into this place of automotive art? Just under a tenner. What an incredible place.
The Barber Motorcycle Musuem. (Mods please don't move this to biker banter). So long story but Mr Barber is a petrolhead who races Porsches for quite a few years but when his dad died he had to take over the family dairy business. Fast forward 20 years and it is the largest supplier of milk and ice-cream to the Southern United States. Having no family to leave it to and still being a major petrol head he essentially did what we would all do if we had enough cash. He sold the lot and set up the Barber Motor Foundation charity and he didn't do things by halves!!
First up he set up a racing team. That's all good but there's nothing like racing your own team on your own track is there? So he built a custom designed 2.3 mile race track. A race track so good that it was inspected twice as a possible venue for the US Grand Prix. He then decided he wanted a collection attached to the track but quickly realised that 1,000 cars would take up 10 acres of warehouses and so he changed his mind to bikes.
He then built a truly stunning building, I don't think the pictures do it justice but on the inside it is incredible. It comprises of 4 floors of displays and 1 restoration floor which exits straight onto the track. They told me 98% of all the vehicles are 2 hours away from being thrashed around the track (remove silicon from break lines, clean and fill fuel tanks etc). He has 1,300 bikes and about 750 of them are on display. He then has an eclectic group of other items dotted around from Chris Boardman's Lotus bike to F1 cars and, a true highlight, the largest collection of Lotus race cars anywhere in the world. He has more Lotus race cars than Lotus themselves and has even loaned his cars to them when they need to do research!!
Enjoy...
A small part of one of the 5 floors
The mental Britten motorbike
A bike ridden from Nazi Germany to the UK, 1 of only 3 in the world
Racetrack out the window (random trackday going on with MX-5's to Nascars!)
Easyrider
More DAytona racebikes than you know what to do with
Vintage
To modern classic
Stunning building on an impressive scale
Random pretty things dotted about
I bet this wants out on the track
1959 Lotus 17
1960 Lotus Type 18F1
A few F1 cars including Piquet's Camel and Jonny Herbert's Lotus
More Lotus race cars than you knnow what to do with
Earliest ever Lotus cars
Some more
And some more
A John Surtees race car
Now these are truly special. What we have here is John Surtees 1964 F1 winning Ferrari 158 and an MV Augusta he also won the World Motorcycle CHampionship on. He has been to the museum himself last year and thrashed both round the track!! Anyone care to guess what they are worth?
Acouple of the race team's Radicals and some 4 seat F1 rep car
And what's this hiding in the resto area having just come from or about to go to the track...
This place is in Birmingham, Alabama and was a real highlight of my trip. The cost to get into this place of automotive art? Just under a tenner. What an incredible place.
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