A Savvy Collector Thins the Herd: Six Vehicles Offered at No Reserve

Tim Suddard, a longtime car enthusiast, racer, and collector, can afford to collect better stuff since the two magazines he owns, Grassroots Motorsports and Classic Motorsports, are doing surprisingly well in this era of declining print. Each is targeted at a specific audience, which seems to appreciate stories that appear on actual paper. Of course, each publication also has an active website, mandatory these days.

Tim has semi-retired and turned the reins over to son Tom, who fully inherited Dad’s car gene. This leaves Tim time to wrench on his cars during the week and drive them on the weekends with his wife, Margie.

Tim and Tom have decided to thin the herd a bit, perhaps to help pay for Tim’s recently acquired toy, which is referred to in prancing horse circles as a starter Ferrari, a Dino 308 GT4, much like the one owned and well-documented by Hagerty Editor-In-Chief Larry Webster, except that Suddard’s Ferrari runs.

The Suddards are selling five cars and one motorcycle, and they’re doing it on Hagerty Marketplace, at no reserve, with bidding ending on February 18, which is a week from Tuesday. Here’s what they are selling, along with the story that goes with each vehicle.

The car: 2005 Mazda Miata. If the answer to most any what-should-I-buy question is “Miata,” this one is of a different stripe. If you can’t tell from the Harbor Freight Badland 5000 winch and big light bar on the nose, the three-inch lift, the air snorkel, the Hard Dog roll bar, and the trunk-mounted spare—as in mounted on the trunk, not in it—this Mazda is built for off-road in general, the Gambler 500 race series in particular. The engine is an NB 142-horsepower, 1.8-liter four-cylinder with a six-speed manual transmission. The stripes, reportedly, are removable.

The story: Tom says the idea for the car came years ago at The Mitty—the show-and-shine-and-race event held at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta each April, with the 47th iteration coming up—when they drove one of the early Porsche off-road conversions. “I always wanted one but never had time to go off-script with it, as that’s not really the core of our market. But then during Covid, we were all stuck at home. We built this car, and had a lot of fun with it.”

The car: 1984 Volkswagen Rabbit GTI with a Callaway turbocharger. This GTI was acquired in mostly original condition and already had the potent Stage II Callaway Turbo kit that was supposedly good for wringing 186 horsepower out of the 1.8-liter four-cylinder, originally rated at 90 horsepower. Since then, the car has received myriad new parts and upgrades, including a fuel-injection rebuild and new wheel bearings, fuel pump, brakes, shift linkage, fuel tank, and a Techtonics exhaust. It’s very clean, inside and out.

The story: The magazine staff did a writeup of a nearly-identical car and liked it so much they agreed that if one popped up for sale, they should add it to the flock. “A reader saw the story and invited us to his ranch in Montana to see it,” Tim recalls. “Original paint, original interior, but the turbo was broken on it. So we put a turbo back on it, cleaned it up and had some fun with it. But it’s kind of an in-between car for the magazines, too new for Classic, too old for Grassroots.” Also, living in steamy Florida, air conditioning is not recommended for use with the Callaway turbo, “so that was a problem.” Hopefully the car will go to a cooler clime, or at least to a buyer who likes driving with the windows down.

The car: 1969 Triumph TR6. A rust-free, garage-find California car when acquired, the TR6 was restored as a project featured in Classic Motorsports magazine. The 2.5-liter straight-six engine was rebuilt with a little added compression, a meatier camshaft, and SU carburetors. A Moss five-speed conversion kit uses a Toyota Supra transmission. The car rides on the original wire wheels, shod with Vredestein Sprint Classics. The tan canvas top is new, as are a lot of other parts and general updates. Was much loved and well-traveled in its 15-odd years as part of the family.

The story: Asked which vehicle he’ll miss the most, Tim says, “That TR6 is a damn good car. The problem is, and admittedly this is a first-world problem,” storage is an issue. “You know how it is—cars just follow you home, or a reader calls and says, ‘Have I got a deal for you …’ There’s nothing wrong with that TR6, but next to the ’65 Corvette, or the Ferrari I just bought, or the Alfa Spider that Tom and I drove cross-country, it doesn’t shine quite as bright as it once did. But for a guy who wants a TR6, it’s probably one of the nicest ones on the planet.”

The car: 1965 Mercedes-Benz 220 SE Coupe. Powered by a mechanically fuel-injected 2.2-liter inline-six with a four-speed manual transmission, this dignified-looking survivor is largely original. It could use a few new parts and some elbow grease, such as reupholstering the seats and refinishing the wood used in the interior. “Brakes and other mechanicals could use maintenance,” says the listing.

The story: This lovely Mercedes is just one more case of Projectus Interruptus; a good idea that was overshadowed by other projects. Tim’s thesis was to swap out the 2.2-liter engine for a newer, more robust powerplant, and he even scored “a modern twin-cam, fuel injected, M110 2.8-liter engine from a 1979 European 280SL,” which is included with the sale if the buyer wants it. The bigger engine is already attached to a four-speed manual transmission. Also included with the sale: an uninstalled Behr air conditioner, along with “a trunk full of various parts for the car.” Think of this Mercedes as a project-in-a-box. “Those are very nice-riding, -driving, and even -handling cars, but they were underpowered,” Tim says. “It’s a 3200-pound car with 120 horsepower.” As they were deciding how to proceed, “a bunch of other projects came into play.”

The motorcycle: 1975 Honda CB400F. It’s powered by a 408cc inline-four-cylinder engine, with a six-speed transmission. The odometer shows 16,000 miles, which is believed to be original. Within the last 200 miles, the Honda has gotten new Koni shocks, a new performance exhaust, new K&N air filters, and new Shinko Golden Boy tires. The front brake was rebuilt and the carbs were re-jetted.

The story: Tim bought the Honda in 1999, a cherry example of one of the industry’s original sportbikes. Soon after, they did a magazine cover story that compared a Triumph motorcycle to a Triumph car. The company loaned them the Bonneville motorcycle, and Tim liked it so much he bought it from them, and since then, the little Honda has mostly just sat. “I bought that 25 years ago for $1200,” Tim says, but both he and Tom are six feet tall. “It’s a fantastic bike for a smaller rider. I was going to keep it for when friends came over, but I just don’t have any friends.”

The car: 1959 Triumph TR3A. Selling as a true project, this TR3A has a 2.0-liter inline-four and a four-speed manual transmission. The car has been sitting for a long period, and it’s likely the engine and transmission could use a rebuild. Both are out of the car. The Triumph is mostly disassembled, and the body was being prepared for a paint job. There are plenty of new parts, from the grille to the gas tank, illustrated in the photos.

The story: “It was a project car I dragged home,” Tim says. Packed with projects, he passed it on to a friend, who says he won’t be able to get to it due to illness. “Life changes, and you gotta do what you gotta do,” so Tim is selling it for him—”trying to help a buddy out.” The car has been blasted and a lot of powder-coating has been done. When completed, a ’59 Triumph TR3A would be a welcome, and expensive, addition to most any collection.