Read more stories of acts of kindness in the November/December 2025 feature.
Jim Barrow was a local legend in the British car scene, having once owned the former Tri-State Imports, an MG dealership in Newburgh, Indiana, as well as being a respected mechanic and go-to expert on the classic cars.
“A guru,” says longtime friend Dave Mullen, a member of the Southern Indiana Regional British Car Club, which Barrow helped organize in 1995; he also served as its first president. “Anybody had a question, or needed to borrow a tool, all they had to do was ask him.”
Before Barrow passed away in January 2016, he had been methodically restoring his own MG, a beloved 1953 TD. Jim’s daughter Julie Barrow says her father bought it new in 1954 and enjoyed working on it over the years and taking it out for drives. “I’ve known that car my whole life,” she says.
Jim Barrow never got to finish his labor of love. As he was in the last stages of restoring the open two-seat sports car, his health declined “to the point where he couldn’t work on it anymore,” Julie says. He moved into Atria, a senior living community in Newburgh, and the dark green beauty sat untouched in his garage. That’s when a few other car lovers decided to step up.
Mullen, along with fellow SIR BRIT members Vince Anderson and Ray Graham, worked to finish their friend’s project. “We wanted to get that car running,” Graham says.
The men loaded the MG onto a trailer and took it to Graham’s garage in Newburgh to complete the restoration. Barrow had already finished larger parts of the work, including putting in a five-speed transmission and having the engine rebuilt. Mullen helped him get the fenders back on. What remained was finishing the interior. Anderson says the trio installed new seats, carpeting, door panels and trim pieces — all items that Barrow had already ordered and had on hand.
After a few months of elbow grease, the friends completed their mission. They arranged to pick up Barrow, treat him to his favorite restaurant — Bob Evans, which closed this September — and then drive him around in his fully restored car. “He was overjoyed,” Mullen says.
All three agree it was worth the time they spent finishing Barrow’s work just to see his reaction. It was, they mention, the least they could do for someone who selflessly shared his knowledge, tools, and experience with club members for more than two decades. They also paid forward his legacy to daughter Julie, who now owns the restored MG TD.
“He was excited to see that his car was done and to go for a drive,” Anderson says, adding that there was a catch: Barrow no longer had a driver’s license, so he was resigned to the passenger seat. Recalls Anderson, “I’ll always remember him saying, ‘I don’t understand why the hell you won’t let me drive my own car.’”
