The Barley Motor Car Company was founded by Alfred C. Barley and moved its operations from Streator, Illinois to Kalamazoo in 1917. Barley purchased the Michigan Buggy Company’s plant on Pitcher St in the Edison neighborhood in Kalamazoo and relocated the company’s operations to the area. The company began producing “The Roamer” in 1916, which Barley promoted as “America’s Smartest Car”. The Roamer imitated the popular British Rolls Royce in its design, and was viewed by many as a luxury sports car. The Roamer reached peak popularity in the early 1920s, both setting speed records and escorting President Taft when he visited Kalamazoo in 1921.

When marketing The Roamer, the company emphasized the individualism people could express by owning the car. It was highly customizable, seen as elegant, and meant for those who “discriminate” in their purchases. Contrary to mass-produced cars of the period, The Roamer was specifically designed to each individual consumer. This specificity would ultimately spell the end of production of The Roamer in 1928.

The Roamer produced and sold fewer cars at the end of the 1920s. The primary reason for this was the success of mass-produced vehicles compared to customer designed vehicles that Barley specialized in. The Roamer was expensive and time consuming to build, so there was very little consumer demand for the car from average people. Because of this, in addition to other factors like corporate consolidation and otherwise poor management, the company sold its last Roamer in 1928.