BIG CITY GETAWAY

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BIG CITY GETAWAY

daytrip ideas to get out of the daily grind

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 rst 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.

This beginning has now ourished 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 de ning 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.

He purchased the property outside Birmingham for 70 million dollars, cleared hundreds of acres, built an expressway in and out, and began to shape the land with select trees, incredible landscaping, and art – lots of art; something that Barber has as much passion about as motorsports.

Interestingly enough George Barber’s thoughts for his museum would be a cross between the Guggenheim art museum in New York City and a parking deck that he liked in Birmingham.

It currently has ve oors and 144,000 square feet of exhibit space, and around 650 machines on display, but they have more than that in storage and in various states of restoration.

When we arrived we met Jeff Ray, the museum’s executive director and he told us the best way to see it all was, like the Guggenheim, to take an elevator to the top oor, then follow the pull of gravity down and through this amazing motorcycle Mecca. Amazing, remarkable, awesome, mind-blowing, and staggering!

There are not enough adjectives to describe Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum to do it justice.

“These are living exhibits,” said Jeff, “which means that all of the museum’s motorcycles, even those that are over a hundred years old, can be started up and taken out for a spin. Mr. Barber wanted the museum to be utilitarian and industrial to really bring out the chrome and color of the motorcycles.”

Natural light ows through oor-to-ceiling windows to illuminate the concrete interior. In the center atrium, bikes are stacked 50 feet high in “aging racks” like ne wine.

Most of the motorcycles in the galleries are showcased on pedestals surrounded by lots of open space. Visitors can walk around the bikes and study them from many different angles, just like sculptures in an art museum. For George Barber, who views motorcycles as mechanical art, and who became passionate about them as an adult, not as a teenager, it makes perfect sense.

Jeff said that roughly 650 motorcycles (and several dozen rare cars) are

on display at any given time and they are all spotless and, most, better than anything in a showroom.

“We have a cleaning staff; we clean constantly,” said Jeff. If this is a garage, it’s the cleanest one in the world.

I knew walking around Barber that when I returned home my barn would at least be put in some semblance of order. But let’s talk a bit about some of the motorcycles Mr. Barber had on display this day. Well, almost everything from my misspent youth. Seriously there is so much here it is almost futile to start pointing out one machine or another, but… An 8-cylinder Z-1 with a hand-crafted engine – actually mating two together? Oh, yes. Craig Vetter’s Mystery Machine. A phenomenal collection of race machines from Daytona, great drag bikes, and historic motocross and dirt machines. They have a famed collection of adventure machines from the likes of Ed Culberson and others. The space here at Barber is highly utilized with stacks of pristine machines from the past running up along the walls and the elevator.

Brough Superior, Vincent, and other iconic motorcycles are all represented.

There is also a ne collection of race cars, exotic machines from the past, and art…lots of art everywhere.

Stupendous!

At the far window, we could see the Indy Series holding practice on the very alluring road course. (How do we get on this for a few laps?)

The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum has built two bridges that allow museum visitors to walk a bit of the grounds and cross over the track in two sections. The bridges have transparent oors installed so we could see the Indy cars blasting by as they passed beneath.

As you can tell by these words; we were more than blown away and we bet you will be too.

The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum could be the #1 moto destination in the United States, I mean North America….

No! The Western Hemisphere or the galaxy as we know it.

Heck, if George Barber could get JPL to bring Perseverance back from Mars he would have that on display too!

Plan your ride and ride your plan to the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Birmingham, Alabama - you will be so glad you did. ,