ama hall of famer george barber passes at 85
It is with sad hearts that we learn of the passing of George Barber, founder of the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum. The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer was 85.
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Barber was a philanthropist, real estate developer and businessman, son of George Warren Barber Sr., who founded Barber Dairies in the 1930s. Barber Jr. began privately collecting motorcycles in the ’70s, and in 1994, established a museum to display his collection to the public. In 2003, he opened Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, where he relocated his museum.
The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame inducted Barber in 2014, in recognition of his efforts in preserving motorcycle history.
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Photo by Chris Stanford
Photo by Chris Stanford
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The American Motorcyclist Association is saddened to learn of the passing of AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer George Barber, who passed away at 85 years old.
Founder of the prestigious Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Birmingham, Ala., home to the world’s largest collection of historic motorcycles, Barber had a unique impact on the motorcycling community.
Son of George H. Barber, founder of Barber Dairy and pioneer for dairy pasteurization in the United States, the younger Barber’s love for motor vehicles started early in his life. In the 1960s, Barber raced and wrenched on his own Porsche racers with great success, claiming a large collection of wins behind the wheel.
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Barber’s interest in motorcycles began soon after, leading him to open his own museum and hire skilled workers to restore vintage motorcycles to help build his collection. At the same time, Barber operated a vintage motorcycle racing team, which raced across the United States and Europe.
In 1994, Barber’s museum gained 501(c)(3) nonprofit status and was officially named the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum.
In 2002, Barber opted to close the original location of the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, moving his collection to its current location in September 2003, an 830-acre complex that also includes a 2.38-mile road circuit.
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For his longtime preservation of motorcycle history, Barber was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2014.
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