Barber Recognized by Guinness as World’s Largest Motorcycle Museum

Guinness World Records has officially recognized the Barber Motorsports Museum as the world’s largest motorcycle museum in the world. The 144,000-square-foot, five-story museum is home to nearly 1400 motorcycles, of which about 700 are on exhibit. We’ve featured the Barber Museum before, and are completely blown away each time we step foot within its doors. It’s simply awe-inspiring.

The museum opened in its current location at the 830-acre Barber Motorsports Park in 2003. George Barber, Alabama native and third-generation owner of Barber Dairies, began collecting motorcycles 24 years ago. The Barber Museum is a Not For Profit Foundation and is considered the largest philanthropic project taken on by an individual in the history of Alabama.

The destination, often referred to as the “Augusta of Motorsports,” has brought in over $1.17 billion to Alabama during the past decade. Barber says he hopes the Guinness recognition will help the museum continue to add value by driving additional tourism to the state.

The museum’s executive director, Jeff Ray, says the framed certificate from Guinness will be displayed in the lobby of the Barber Museum. Ray says he had chosen to announce the Barber Museum’s new Guinness title today, during the 2014 Honda Indy Car Grand Prix of Alabama, as a way of highlighting the racing event and the museum.

According to London, England-based Guinness World Records Ltd, “The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum houses the world’s largest collection of vintage and contemporary motorcycles. The 1,398 unique exhibits are displayed over 144,000 sq-ft, in a five-story building set in the 830-acre Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, as verified on 19 March 2014.”

By Dennis Chung