Late Monday, Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum announced the passing of its founder, George W. Barber, Jr.
"He built more than an organization—he built a community. We are grateful for his vision and leadership, and we will share additional information in the days ahead," a post on their social media page read.
The Barber Motorsports Museum website details the story of Barber's early career and how he parlayed his love of cars and racing into the nation’s premier racetrack and museum.
A profile by Motorcycle.com described Barber's early career, "His father George H. Barber founded the Barber Pure Milk Co. family business in 1921, then purchased dozens of small independent dairies in the 1940s-’60s in making the renamed Barber’s Dairy company Alabama’s largest milk producer, while also helping establish U.S. standards for milk pasteurisation. George W. Barber took over running the business on his father’s death in 1970, then eventually sold it in 1997 to Dean Foods of Dallas, Texas, before Walmart began threatening its viability," the article says.
“We can do this in Birmingham!” Barber said in 1999, according to the museum’s timeline, explaining that, “Barber set out to create a one-of-a-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.”
The museum boasts that it is home to over 1,800 motorcycles spanning more than 100 years of production. In April 2014, Barber was officially recognized by Guinness World Records as having the world’s largest motorcycle collection.
"How does George W. Barber feel about the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum 30 years on after he started collecting bikes?" Motorcycle.com asked Barber, "Is there anything that he’d have liked to have done differently in creating it?
“I’d like to have done it faster, that’s all! But other than that, no. It’s a dream come true – it really is. The Guinness Book of World Records says it’s the World’s largest motorcycle museum. I’m delighted to be a part of creating that,” Barber replied.
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