Tire School and Concours with Kim Barnes of Michelin Vintage

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In BaT Podcast Episode 84 Alex interviews the overwhelmingly knowledgeable Kim Barnes, who is the business development manager for vintage tire fitments at Michelin as well as a concours judge, car and motorcycle collector, and all-around friend of BaT. They talk about her love of cars as a child of the '60s and '70s, stemming in no small part from the split-window Corvette driven by her aptly named second-grade teacher, Miss Passion; keeping an AMC Gremlin trading card for decades until finally acquiring the real thing; starting a Schwinn bicycle restoration business in her mother's townhouse at the age of 12; daily driving an MGB GT for 350k miles; the highly effective, at least for one teenager, automotive product placement in Charlie's Angels; starting out on the auto show circuit at 16; being forced to take Home Ec instead of auto shop in school; the importance of mentoring young people; meeting her husband on a blind date predicated only by their mutual car enthusiasm; her path to her dream job at Michelin; fightin' words about stock vs modified tire sizes; a deep, deep dive into the various ranges of classic tires offered by Michelin; a simplified explanation of the main difference between bias-ply and radial tires; getting into concours judging via her own restored Sunbeam Alpine; tracking her Buell Thunderbolt; and skipping right to the top of the 964 heap.

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The full episode is linked above—or you can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Links for other titles/listings discussed in this episode:

45:44 fireboltgirl user page

46:40 Le Mans–Style 1957 Triumph TR3

49:02 1972 Saab Sonett III

49:08 Supercharged 1958 Austin-Healey Bugeye Sprite 5-Speed

49:45 ZZ427-Powered 1973 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible 4-Speed

49:53 Unrestored 1964 Sunbeam Tiger Mk I

Got questions for the BaT staff or suggestions for our next guest? Don’t hesitate to let us know! Write in to [e-mail] and we’ll do our best to address them.