An old ‘friend’ returns to Tommy’s
Tommy Thompson of Tommy’s Motorsports sits on the 1982 Suzuki four-wheel all-terrain vehicle that was the first one of its type he ever sold 40 years ago. He recently got it back after it showed up for sale on Facebook. Looking on are Jeremy Cross, left, and Jeremiah Thompson, Tommy’s son. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
The Clinton motorcycle and all-terrain vehicle store, which got its start more than 50 years ago when Tommy Thompson opened his first location in Huntsville, now has on display the first four-wheel ATV that Thompson sold 40 years ago.
It was the first one sold out of the first shipment of 12 of the Suzuki LT125 ATVs that Thompson received in 1982 when the four-wheelers were first introduced, he said.
“When we ordered them, I didn’t really think anyone would buy them,” Thompson said at the store last week. “But we sold all 12 of them the first week.”
Jeremy Cross, an inventory manager at the Clinton store, said he found the Suzuki LT125 on Facebook Marketplace, and contacted the seller in Winfield. The machine had been sitting in a shed for several years.
After some investigation, he found out it was the first one sold by Thompson, which was verified by checking the ATV’s serial number against Tommy’s records.
“I got it last spring,” Cross said. “We brought it here, took it apart, got it running, bought some paint and tires, a new seat, and put new stickers on it. Then we surprised Tommy with it.”
Helping out was Tommy’s son Jeremiah Thompson, who is now a partner in the dealership.
“I’m a history guy, so I thought the historical aspect was pretty cool,” Cross said of the ATV.
It’s now available for visitors to the dealership to see, on the store’s lower level.
It even has a sign attached to it, giving its history.
Still, Tommy said he might sell it again if the right offer came along.