The Fairbairn’s spectacular ‘Car Barn’
Original Partner in RM and eight-time Pebble Beach Winner
Automobile historian and specialist Mike Fairbairn stands proudly in his 'Car Barn'. The Mike & Wendy Fairbairn Collection of Automobiles, Motorbikes and Advertising comes to Miller & Miller on June 14.
On a warm July day 38 years ago Mike and Wendy Fairbairn were driving to the Detroit Zoo with their three young children in tow. A few hours into their trip, enroute from Toronto, a fanbelt began to protest and squeal. Little did any of the Fairbairns realize the fanbelt was the herald of a bright future to come. It announced the beginning of building the largest collector car auction and restoration shop in the world.
Along the way, the couple would also create their own extraordinary collection of collector cars, Japanese motorbikes, rare advertising and antiques, all of which are now on display in a facility near their home known as the ‘Car Barn’. The Barn includes a period-decorated street scape, a gas station, pharmacy, post office, bar and barber shop.
A glimpse inside the Fairbairns’ ‘Car Barn’
Everything in the ‘Car Barn’ in Chatham, Ontario will now be sold onsite during Miller & Miller’s Automobiles, Motorbikes, & Advertising auction June 14, 2025 (presented live and online).
“We tell people the Car Barn was 45 years of collecting cars and antiques, which became the theme of our lives,” says Wendy.
Mike and Wendy have lived a fortunate life many people can only imagine. Sound decision-making guided by a blend of intelligence and confidence made them into the accomplished business leaders and astute collectors they are known for.
Mike and Wendy Fairbairn are pictured above with one of their beloved Packards.
As the saying goes, ‘how you do one thing is how you do everything’, and the cars, motorbikes and automobilia in their collection are further evidence of this. Each item represents a curated choice, selected for their historical value or impressive provenance.
When Mike and Wendy set out that morning, they had no idea about the foundational changes in their lives that lay ahead. Prior to this brief trip the couple was in the process of purchasing a GM dealership in southern Alberta, another car-oriented life but with a very different focus.
At the time Mike already had a highly-successful career in the emerging field of personal computing. Right out of university he began his career at IBM and quickly demonstrated a knack for sales. He was convinced there were greater opportunities in the personal computer world, and left IBM to start a computer retail chain called The Answer. Two years later he was able to sell it. He continued to expand his career in the computer business, eventually becoming the Canadian sales manager of one of Canada’s large personal computer chains.
Mike always loved cars and had bought and sold several while in university, making enough profit to pay for his education. Over the years he proved he was a shrewd businessman and exceptional salesman. With a growing family, the timing seemed right to settle into owning and operating a safe and solid dealership.
Fate, however, had a different plan for the young family. After listening to the fan belt squeal for over an hour, they decided to have it repaired in London and cancel the family’s plans to visit the zoo. This did, however, allow for a quick stop in Chatham so Mike could visit a long-time friend, Rob Myers.
Mike and Rob had bought and sold cars back and forth for several years and what was supposed to be a quick stop turned into a three-hour visit.
Towards the end of the visit, Mike recalls, “I told Rob I was looking at a GM dealership and he looked at me and said, ‘You don’t want new cars - you want old cars and I’m looking for a partner’.”
So began the tale of the three RM partners, which would span nearly four decades.
Rob Myers had started the business, building and restoring ‘60s cars and muscle cars in his father’s garage, but wanted more. Dan Warrener, although based in Chatham, was away months at a time working on pipelines. However, he was also skilled at organization and logistics. Mike, who had bought, built, and sold businesses all his life brought those concrete business skills and his salesmanship to the partners.
The three RM Partners: Rob Myers (left), Mike Fairbairn (center), and Dan Warrener (right).
The partnership was a blend of complementary skills, their stages in life and the winds of fate. For the Fairbairns, it was definitely a gamble - a far cry from the stable plan they were pursuing as GM dealers. It had the distinct feel of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Wendy remembers saying to Mike, “Okay, let’s give it a shot. Sometimes you have to take a leap”.
As the business grew and the partners started dealing in increasingly high-end cars they began taking more and more cars in trade. In no time they would be sending dozens of cars at a time to auctions like the Kruse Auburn Fall Sale. They soon realized that buying and selling cars was a lot more profitable than restoring them and with the volume of cars they were sending to auctions, they decided to buy their own auction.
With a focus now on buying and selling cars, the business exploded over the ensuing decades. RM quickly swallowed up smaller “disorganized” auction businesses in Toronto, Detroit, and Monterrey, California. “We can do a lot better than they were doing,” Mike said.
They then set their sights on Europe and what started with one auction at the Ferrari factory in Modina, Italy soon evolved into many auctions throughout the EU.
RM became a rising star in the collector car world. They stayed true to their roots, continuing to offer both a top-tier restoration shop that produced concours-quality restorations for international competitions, while becoming the largest collector car auction house in the world. Their North American auction house division alone would generate more than $100 million in annual sales.
In 2015, RM sold a minority share of its business to Sotheby’s and the new business became known as RM Sotheby’s. There is now a network of 80 offices in 40 countries.
With so many achievements to look back on Mike says one accomplishment stands out above all the rest.
RM has won ‘Best of Show’ at the Pebble Beach Concours D'Elegance in California eight times between 2001 and 2023. The Pebble Beach Concours is the premiere celebration of the automobile, which attracts entries from all over the world. The event itself is by invite only, and only 300 cars are allowed to compete in any given year.
RM restored these eight show-winning cars for the clients who owned them, making RM winners too. “Winning Best of Show requires two things,” explains Mike, “a singularly important car, either a one-off or a highly-desirable one with notable owner history, combined with a superlative, best-in-world quality restoration. It takes six judges a half hour to examine each candidate.”
The above 1924 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A F. Ramseier & Cie Worblaufen Cabriolet was restored by RM for the 2015 Pebble Beach Concours. It won Best of Show. Source.
The above 1933 Delage D8S Roadster was restored by RM for the 2010 Pebble Beach Concours. It won Best of Show. Source.
RM also hosts the RM Sotheby’s Monterey auction at Pebble Beach, California which attracts only the best of the best of today’s modern sports cars. These vehicles are truly in a class of their own. A spectacular example is a Ferrari GTO which recently sold by RM and commanded a whopping $48 million USD hammer-price.
The above 1962 Ferrari 330 LM / 250 GTO by Scaglietti sold for $48 million USD (hammer-price) at a recent RM Sotheby’s auction. Source.
Jim Miller was a legendary antiques and classic car dealer, as well as father to Ethan and Justin Miller, co-owners of Miller & Miller Auctions. Jim took pride in knowing Rob, Dan and Mike from their earliest years in the business and they counted each other as friends.
In 2004, Mr. Miller wrote a congratulatory letter to RM on their 25th anniversary, which was published in the company magazine. He wrote that Rob Myers had come knocking on his door a few years earlier and he’d known “instinctively this was someone I would be seeing again”. They had talked about classic cars, made a handshake deal and a lasting friendship was formed. “In an era where longevity is measured in minutes, not quarter centuries, I would like to congratulate the entire RM organization. True world class leaders,” Jim wrote.
“We’ve known Jim and his wife Marlene forever,” says Wendy. “In fact, a lot of what’s in our Car Barn originally came from Jim.”
Wendy Fairbairn is pictured above with the 1914 Packard Model 1-38 Runabout offered as lot 237 in the upcoming sale.
A complete list what Mike and Wendy have for sale would be beyond the scope of this brief introduction, but some of the highlights of their vehicles in the sale include a 1973 Pontiac Firebird TransAm Super-Duty 455 (Lot 226), a 1914 Packard 1-48 (Lot 237), a 1966 Jaguar E-type XKE 4.2 Series 1 Roadster (Lot 163) and a 1970 Chevrolet Corvette 454 convertible (Lot 224).
The auction will also feature automotive memorabilia including a McColl-Frontenac Red Indian five-foot porcelain dealer sign (Lot 142), a rare double-visible gas pump by Canadian Vulcanizer (London, Ontario), restored in McColl-Frontenac Red Indian (Lot 144) and the impressive Brunswick-Collender ‘Delmonte’ four pillar bar back (Lot 83) with the period-appropriate Burroughs & Watts billiards table (Lot 92).
Both Mike and Wendy are now semi-retired and have plans to travel, spend more time with family and pursue their hobbies. They’ve worked hard all their lives and now would like to enjoy what they have worked for.
It’s been a journey like no other for the Fairbairns, who clearly understand that sometimes the smallest turn of events can have the biggest impact.
“If that fan belt hadn’t broken, things would have been very different,” says Wendy. “It’s as simple as that.”
With files from various sources.
Auction Details:
AUTOMOBILES, MOTORBIKES & ADVERTISING
The Mike & Wendy Fairbairn Collection
Live & Online Event
June 14, 2025 | 9am EST
29 Forsyth Street, Chatham, Ontario
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