John Barber

John David Barber (22 July 1929 - 4 February 2015): British racing driver from Little Marlow, Buckinghamshire who after school joined the family fishmonger business in Billingsgate. He started competing in 1951 initially in hillclimbs but then on circuits with his Cooper-JAP before purchasing a Formula 2 Cooper-Bristol Mk1 for the 1952 season. He won a minor Libre race at Snetterton but crashed the car badly at season's end. At the start of 1953 Barber travelled to Argentina to compete in the Formula One Grand Prix there with a works Cooper T23, in which he came in eighth seven laps down.

This was his only Formula 1 World Championship race. He also competed in a Formula Libre race in Buenos Aires and finished 12th. While racing a Golding-Cooper in the British Empire Trophy on the Isle of Man, he was involved in an accident which killed another driver, James Neilson. Although it quickly became clear Barber was not at fault, he didn't race much after that, finally finishing in 1957. After his motor racing career came to an end, Barber retired to live on a boat in the Mediterranean.