City: Birmingham, AL

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (205) 699-7275

Address: 6040 Barber Motorsports Pkwy.

Description: Like the adjacent Barber Motorsports Park, the vintage museum is a product of Birmingham native and dairy magnate George Barber. A former race-car driver himself, Barber began collecting and restoring classic motorcycles in the 1980s. He opened a small museum in 1995 in Birmingham’s Southside that displayed 325 vintage motorcycles from around the world—though his total collection was more than 500. Needing more space to house his collection, the museum relocated to its new home at the Barber Motorsports Park in 2003. There a museum more fitting to the extensive collection displays about 700 motorcycles at a time in a dramatic, open design that makes viewing something of an event itself. Children and adults alike who are fascinated by motorcycles will enjoy the restoration facilities, which are walled with glass so visitors can watch the work in progress. The collection now has more than 1,200 vintage and modern motorcycles—one of the largest collections of its type in the world—as well as an equally impressive array of Lotus race cars. More than 200 different manufacturers from 20 countries are represented.