A life with vehicles...
Educated at King Henry VIII School and Lanchester College in Coventry, Barrie commenced his 50-year auto-industry career as an indentured apprentice at Jaguar from 1959-64. Leaving Jaguar in 1968, he went on to play key roles in the creation of the Leyland National bus, the Reliant Robin, the DeLorean and the Sinclair C5. He then founded the project management business de Montfort and worked in Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, China, India and Iran (within a total of 50 countries) for governments and vehicle manufacturers, and undertook interim management roles for the British Department of Trade & Industry, the Ministry of Industry of the Government of the Republic of Indonesia, Lotus, Lamborghini and Land Rover, amongst others. His attempts to save the MG brand from Chinese ownership and to resurrect the Smart Roadster as the MG Midget and later the AC Ace are just part of the many episodes recorded in his book, 45+ Years Without John DeLorean the prequel/sequel to his successful John Z, the DeLorean & Me - tales from an insider, published in 2015. Barrie is a Freeman of the City of Coventry, honorary president of The Reliant Motor Club and a proud member of the Jaguar eXes, an association of former-apprentices. Barrie also appears in the 2019 motion picture documentary, Framing John DeLorean.
