Driving a fast car: Oscar Barbara passes his lifelong love of performance automobiles on to another generation

South Florida CEO, Nov, 2004 by Angie Torres Moure

To Oscar Barbara automobiles, were an avocation, an obsession he developed from an early age. "Cars were a way of life for the family," says the 44 year-old real estate developer, whose Miami home is an homage to vintage and performance autos.

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As a boy, Barbara ambled through his father's Miami car lot and followed him to auctions. Lured by the speed and design of exotic cars, the young Barbara, like thousands of boys growing up during the 1970s, longed to own a red and white Ford Torino like the one driven on the popular cop show Starsky & Hutch. When one appeared outside his father's showroom, Barbara was sure it was an early birthday gift. "Then I learned that it was there to be sold," he recalls. The disappointment became an enduring life lesson. "You have to be disappointed sometimes to realize life is not easy," he says. "It's there, but you've got to make it happen. It's not going to fall on your lap."

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He decided to make it happen. Now the president of both Quantum Homes and the Builders Association of South Florida, the son of Cuban emigres says he is driven to achieve his dreams, no matter how far-fetched they may seem. Working since the age of 11, Barbara was a newspaper delivery boy, clothing store clerk, boat rental attendant, and worked in general aviation, before he became a successful developer.

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The first car he bought was a 1977 Chevrolet Vega. By his mid-20s he had saved up enough money to buy his first "weekend car," a BMW. "I used to spend four hours washing and cleaning and waxing it, just like a show car," he says. Today, Barbara's leisure time is spent behind the wheel of a high-performance Mercedes SLR McLaren, a souped-up version of the 1950's Mercedes 300 SLR Coupe. His other day car is a Mercedes Maybach--a rare, ultra-luxury model named after that carmaker's pioneering engineer. Barbara rounds out his collection with two Ferraris, a Porsche, and a Land Rover.

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His dreams met and exceeded, Barbara says he pursues his passion for cars and boating, sharing both passions with his wife and children. His teenage son has inherited his father's love of motorsports. When his son was young, the two bonded over pedal cars, go-carts, and go-peds, Barbara says. As his son grew older, the toys grew "a bit faster and a little more sophisticated. Now we'll sit and look at car magazines together, and do what guys do: look at the wheels, the motors, performance. My wife doesn't understand what we're doing but we understand it perfectly."

One passion the entire family shares is a love for the ocean. "I was boating since I was born. My mother went into labor with me while she was at the beach, so I feel like the water and I are one," Barbara says. "I felt that if I could own a 25-foot open fisherman that I would have reached the top." That open fisherman can fit inside the 82-foot Sunseeker motor yacht he now owns and uses to sail his family on excursions to the Caribbean islands of the Bahamas and St. Barts.

"Whenever friends ask me if they should buy a boat, my answer is always this: Boats take a lot of work, they cost money, but if it does for you what it's done for this family, then it's priceless," he says. "Boating unites the family."

Indeed, the sea is a common denominator for Barbara. He loves to fish, dive and if jumping from bridges into rivers is considered a water sport, he has done that as well. "Life is an adventure," says Barbara, who says his daredevil impulses are more in check now. "I have more responsibilities now: my family, and my business. I am older, and I can't kid myself."