BACKROADS • JULY 2021
Page 16
Frontline Eurosports presents
BIG CITY GETAWAY BARBER VINTAGE MOTORSPORTS MUSEUM
6040 BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARKWAY, BIRMINGHAM, AL 205-699-7275 • www.barbermuseum.org If there has ever been one place in the world of motorcycles that we had not been to, and knew we needed to get to, it is here. Located just outside Birmingham, Alabama, this museum is far more than just that. It is an institution, a place that deftly mixes our dreams and our memories. For riders like myself, it delights and makes me both happy and introspective at the same time. For those of you who might know what I am talking about let me introduce you to the Greatest Motorcycle Collection in the World - The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum. Created and built by George H. Barber, the museum and adjoining 16-turn, 2.38-mile road course lay on a stunning 880 acres that are more park-like than any track I have ever seen. The museum and track had its beginning years back when George Barber was racing Porsches in the 1960s. Barber did not just race. He won. A lot! He held an impressive track record—63 first place wins. In the late ‘80s he rediscovered his love of motorsports and began to restore classic cars. At one point he thought of opening the World’s Greatest Auto Museum – but that had been done and, following the advice of long-time friend Dave Hooper, he began to collect motorcycles.
daytrip ideas to get out of the daily grind This beginning has now flourished into the largest collection of twowheel machinery on the planet – and that is from the folks at Guinness World Records. In 1995 Barber opened a museum in Birmingham, but it was a call from New York’s Guggenheim Museum in 1998 that was a defining moment for George and the Barber Museum. He sent 21 of his motorcycles to exhibit at the original New York show, “The Art of the Motorcycle.”
The thrill of the New York exhibit sparked a much bigger dream for Barber. “We can do this in Birmingham!” he maintained. Barber set out to create a one-ofa-kind, world-class facility. Going even further, he imagined a road course as well where the “living museum” quality of the collection could be demonstrated.
