Destination: Barber

By Rich Taylor

George W. Barber Jr.’s father was a dynamic, self-made businessman who started out with a small local dairy in 1921. By the time he died five decades later, he’d bought up dozens of small dairies and was able to leave George Jr. the largest dairy corporation in the state of Alabama and one of the largest in the U.S.

Young George Jr. was equally energetic. He worked in the family business, but also raced Porsches and was serious enough about boating that many years later he created lavish Barber Marina on the Intracoastal Waterway just a little west of Pensacola, FL.

After his father died in 1970, George Jr. spent two decades further expanding Barber Industries. In 1988, as a hobby, he started restoring vintage cars, eventually ending up with five dozen Lotus competition cars. It’s now the largest Lotus collection in the world. Over the years, Barber added a variety of other collector cars, especially the very special Ferrari F-158 John Surtees drove to the Driver’s World Championship in 1964.

Supposedly, George Jr.’s friend Dave Hooper suggested that while there were already many world-class car museums, nobody was seriously saving motorcycles. Barber decided to concentrate on assembling the best and largest motorcycle collection in the world. Hoover got him started by donating a rare 1953 Victoria Burgmeister V-twin.

Three important things happened in 1998. Barber sold the family company to Dean Foods of Dallas, TX, founded a 501(c)(3) non-profit called Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum and inspired by loaning two dozen motorcycles from his collection to the landmark 1998 “Art of the Motorcycle” show at the Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan, bought 880 acres between Birmingham and Leeds, AL as the site for both a museum and race track. 

It took five years and a claimed $54-million, but in 2003, the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum opened in Barber Motorsports Park. The museum building is a 230,000 square foot space wrapped around a spiral ramp like Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous Guggenheim.

The Barber collection now boasts not only more than a hundred automobiles, but over 1800 two-wheelers built by 220 separate manufacturers from 22 countries during the past 150 years. There’s also a large, world-class shop to restore and maintain the collection.

Next to the museum is a 2.38 mile asphalt track with 17 turns, designed by famous international race course designer Alan Wilson. Originally from South Africa and married to Desire Wilson—the most successful woman racing driver in history—Alan Wilson has created two-dozen race tracks around the world.

Wilson’s resume includes such well-known U.S. venues as Pittsburgh International, Gingerman Raceway, Utah Motorsports Campus, Mid-America and NOLA, as well as a redesign of Mont Tremblant in Quebec. SpeedTour has raced on nearly all these tracks, and in 2025 is heading to Barber Motorsports Park, considered the best of Alan Wilson’s designs.

Barber Motorsports is special because of elevation changes, blind apexes and 45 foot wide, perfectly smooth paving. It’s a fabulous clockwise track to drive, with a challenging mix of fast and slow corners, long and short straights and three complex combinations called 5-5A-5B, 7-7A-7B and 14-14A. Turns 2-3 form an almost constant-radius 200 degree, high-speed carousel. Yee-haw!

George Barber Jr. has an offbeat sense of humor. For example, Barber Marina is decorated with sculptures of fish, logically, enough, but also life-size dinosaur statues, a replica of Stonehenge called Bamahenge and a giant sculpture of a woman swimmer showing just her head and knees that forms a navigation landmark in the Marina channel. 

At Barber Motorsports Park, there are sculptures of giant ants, giant spiders and giant dragonflies, Barber’s answer to local environmentalists who fought against the track because it would endanger local flora and fauna. The whole property is also beautifully landscaped and meticulously maintained to the point that there are regular Garden Tours featuring Barber’s exotic plant collections, highlighted by a grove of rare Hightower Willow Oaks.

Over the past two decades since the property first opened, Barber has added a variety of improvements. There’s tram that circles the track, bringing fans to a variety of different spots from which to view the action. There’s also an extension to the museum to hold additional machines.

 In 2014, he added 14 acre Barber Proving Ground with go-kart/test track, 350 foot by 150 foot wet/dry skidpad, 10,000 square foot conference center and 17,000 square feet of garage space that is now home to Mercedes-Benz Brand Immersion, Porsche Track Experience, Keith Code California Superbike School and Yamaha Champions School.    

In 2022, Barber opened the Barber Advanced Design Center to train new young industrial designers in computer-aided design techniques as well as traditional skills like drawing and clay-modeling. There’s also a 0.7 mile Vintage Motocross Course, a 7.0 mile Vehicle Off-Road Course and an Obstacle Course to challenge off-roaders and ATVs that includes things like a water crossing, 150 “rock crawl” and 45 degree off-camber trail.

George Barber Jr. is now 84, but he retains the enthusiasm of a teenager. He spends much of his time at the museum and track, overseeing everything and thinking up new ideas to buy or build. His 501(c)(3) is said to be fully-funded, meaning that the track and museum should go on forever. Of course, he’s in the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame, but the truly lasting monument to George W. Barber Jr. occupies 880 acres of Alabama countryside.