Barker Chris

Chris Barker was part of the last intake of Student Apprentices at Rootes Motors, and after graduation from Loughborough University in 1973, he became a development engineer with Chrysler UK.

Moving to helicopter design and development, he became Chief Designer for the Lynx, and then the Merlin helicopter. Chris still has the Sunbeam Alpine he bought in 1973, and in 2002, it was joined by a 1926 Model T Ford. He answers technical questions on the Sunbeam Alpine OC Forum, and is the Archivist of the Model T Ford Register of Great Britain. In recent years he has also restored machinery in his local Victorian ’twineworks,’ and installed a 1927 16-litre oil engine to power it.