Mike Barefield grew up in Columbus, Georgia surrounded by the automotive world from a young age. His father managed a large auto parts supply business that serviced nearby Fort Benning. He studied at Auburn University and received a degree in industrial engineering, then entered a long career in the field. He has been passionate about British cars from a young age and owned several over the years
Mike moved several times around the southeast in career relocations as he climbed the corporate ladder. He came to Greenville from Charleston in 1995 with a collection of unfinished car projects that included an Austin Healy BJ 6. After a good year in 1996 a company bonus helped pay for a 1974 TR6 he spotted in an ad that had his name all over it!
He worked on theTR6 and after a time had it on the road and drove it on many great trips with FBCC for the next 25 years. He was a willing accomplice in a serious group of road trippers within FBCC that became known as the Beastie Boys. This included Bill Manning, Tim Strickland, Butch White along with Mike. They would take off exploring new roads, and a 3-day weekend excursion might stretch into the following week. Sometimes successfully, sometimes not so much. Wives were not amused. One memorable breakdown was repaired when they fashioned a fuel pump diaphragm out of a latex glove and then made it home. Sometimes these drives were very sedate excursions, other times a wheel might come off or a car went down a ravine. 30-amp fuses became a required part of “go home bags” since wiring would melt before they failed. In 2025 he sold the TR6 to a friend John Swenson, on the condition that he join the FBCC and take it on many more FBCC road trips.
Mike has been an integral part of the club from his first years. He was club president in 1998 and was a lynchpin in organizing the EURO car show. He served as club treasurer for many years and assisted with membership contact. He has participated in many car events locally and at premier venues such as Amelia Island and Hilton Head Concours. He was very involved for a while in SCCA H production racing in his modified MG Midget, competing on tracks all over the southeast.
Although he is no longer racing, Mike continues to be very active in club events and assisting in technical programs at our garage. He continues with a painstaking restoration of a 1948 Chevy coupe that is his pride and joy.
Mike, second from the left.