Here’s baT Auction Success Story: The Amazing Mazie
BaT member Chuckles83 passed an important automotive tradition to his youngest daughter with this 1978 Triumph Spitfire, which he won from StevenAJ in a March 2025 BaT auction:
As a former Michigan State Spartan, it was hard watching my youngest set her heart on Ann Arbor for college. And when it became clear that off-campus housing necessitated a motor vehicle, I knew what I had to do.
I drove a 1971 MGB, finished in Bracken, around East Lansing in my college days, and the car garnered a great deal of attention. I set my mind to share (i.e. vicariously relive ) that experience with my daughter. After weeks of searching BaT for a car finished in yellow (or Maize, as they call it in Ann Arbor), I came across this smart little 1978 Triumph Spitfire being sold out of Maryland.
Thanks to the scatter plot graph that tracks recent sales, I realized my bids needed to be competitive enough to win. After securing the winning bid, I broke the news to my wife. Working with Phil and Jeremy at Car Finders of Maryland couldn’t have been easier, and the vehicle arrived a week or so after the deal closed.
Registering the Spitfire at the DMV was a bit of a challenge. The 20-something-year-old clerk and her supervisor had never heard of this make or model (maybe it’s a Detroit thing) and consulted a 40-year-old reference manual to properly gauge the weight so they could tabulate the licensing fee.
After all that, my youngest came home that summer to her own highly visible classic with the appropriate vanity plate. After three months’ worth of summer shakedown driving, it can now be seen out and about in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with the service work handled by Illi’s Garage.
If you have a Success Story about a car you’ve bought or sold on BaT, please send a few lines and pictures (or a video) to community.content@bringatrailer.com, and we’ll send you a $50 credit to the BaT Gear Store when your story posts to the site.
We love to hear from satisfied BaT buyers and sellers, and a Success Story feature is a great addition to any car’s history when you’re ready to sell.
