Who is the first owner of my '94 corvette?

[Randy C.]

I have a '94 Corvette and I'm looking for leads that might take me to its first owner. I'm throwing this in the pot here just in case someone might recognize the story on this car.

This Corvette was a fairly early production car (build date 9/8/1993) and was billed to Ken Ware Chevrolet in North Bend, OR. It's a nicely optioned coupe, arctic white with black leather interior, 6-spd manual, both tops, adjustable suspension, Bose sound system, and so forth (see ad on page 87 of the NOV-DEC 2012 Driveline). The new sticker price on it was almost $43K, according to the NCM documents. From this point to when the 2nd owner bought the car, I have no history, and that's the person(s) and story I am seeking.

The second owner lived in Hiouchi, CA (about 10 miles inland on Highway 199 from Crescent City, CA) and bought the car from Coast Auto at 1312 Northcrest Drive in Crescent City (still there today) in June 1995. It had 31K miles on it at that time. The second owner kept the car until the summer of 2009, when it was sold, at about 67K miles, to my brother in Gasquet, CA (a few more miles inland from Hiouchi on Hwy 199). My brother passed away in early 2012 and now I have the car.

The second owner said Coast Auto stated the first owner bought the car to take it on one of the Corvette reunion caravans to Bowling Green in 1994. The second owner also had the impression from Coast Auto that the first owner bought a new Corvette every two years.

I have pretty much verified that the current CA license plate on the car (3LQU155) was issued new to the car on March 22, 1994, thanks to a couple of members at this site who are keen on CA license plate issue dates.

I understand Coast Auto in Crescent City has another lot in Brookings, OR, about 25 miles north of Crescent City. Also, Coast Auto is a used car sales business. I don't know what, if any, affiliation they might have with any Chevrolet dealership.

The reason I'm asking if anyone has any info is that this Corvette is pretty darn nice and clean. It's been garaged for nearly all of its life and somehow made it nicely through the wet southern Oregon/Northern California coastal weather. I still need to detail the car but it is essentially all original and everything works as it should. I drove it from Crescent City to Olympia, WA, last August and was amazed that it got over 28mpg (premium fuel; I now use the non-ethanol premium that I can get here in Olympia). And I'm not a manual transmission person (I can kill almost anything in first gear!), but I was amazed at how smoothly this car shifted. When I now drive my '71 Corvette automatic coupe, I keep expecting that it should shift to another higher gear, but third gear (and 16-17mpg) is as high as it will go! There is just so much improvement in performance between the '71 and the '94 models that they can't even be compared.

Anyway, thanks for hearing me out. I understand I've got about a one in a million chance of getting a "hit", but it's worth the try.

Randy C.0815121523.jpg

[Randy C.]

Re: Who is the first owner of my '94 corvette?

I should add that, in this Corvette's first 21 months with its first owner, the car somehow managed to make its way from North Bend, OR, in September 1993, to Crescent City, CA, before or by June 1995, a distance of only 136 miles. In June 1995, it had 31K miles on it when the second owner bought it in Crescent City. It stayed in the Crescent City area until I brought it to Washington State in August 2012, at just under 69K miles.

I'm speculating here, but with its CA plate that was issued on March 22, 1994, it makes me wonder if a very Northern California customer bought this car in Oregon in September 1993, put an Oregon plate on it for 6 months, and then changed the plate to CA in March 1994. I seem to recall, in perhaps the not-to-distant past, that CA buyers would come to Oregon to buy their cars (no sales tax), hold onto them for 6 months, and then re-license them in CA. There was something in the CA laws that said if you brought in a car to license in CA that you had owned for more than 6 months, you didn't have to pay the CA sales tax, or something along that line. Just pure speculation, based on the build date of the car (9/8/93) and the issue date on the CA plate (3/22/94).

I'd say there is a high likelihood that the first owner of the car lived in either extreme northern coastal CA or on the southern OR coast. I'm also speculating that this car was ordered for a particular person because it is rather highly optioned. I might be wrong on that one but I'm thinking common sense would dictate that a highly optioned (yet base engine) Corvette (with a nearly $43K sticker price new) wouldn't be ordered to sit on the showroom floor.

Just a few more tidbits to chew on, again hoping that something might spark a memory!

Randy C.

[Russ S.]

Re: Who is the first owner of my '94 corvette?

Have you run a car fax on it? I found my 85 that way.

[Randy C.]

Re: Who is the first owner of my '94 corvette?

Thanks for the heads-up, Russ! I ran a carfax this morning and found out my '94 Corvette was first titled in Oregon (even got the title number), at the motor vehicle department in Brookings, on 10/29/93. It was registered as a "lease vehicle". About 16.5 months later, it was re-titled in CA at the Motor Vehicle Dept in Crescent City on 3/20/1995 with just under 28K miles on the odometer, but it doesn't show up as a lease vehicle at that point. The 3/20/95 date tells me the license plate I described above must have been issued in March 1995 instead of March 1994. My Corvette appears to have been a "lease vehicle" for a period of 16.5 months, and then perhaps sat on the lot at Coast Auto in Crescent City for about 3 months before the second owner bought it in June 1995.

My next step now will be to go to the State of Oregon Dept. of Motor Vehicles to see if they will show me the name of the leasing company. I know they will show the name of the owner if the car is owned by a GM Division or a dealer but I don't know if they will show the name of the leasing company. And what would be real interesting is if I were eventually able to discover the name of the person that actually leased this Corvette!

Thanks again, Russ!

Randy C.

[Russ S.]

Re: Who is the first owner of my '94 corvette?

That's great Randal. Glad I was able to be of assistance. I suspect that Oregon will show you the name of the lease co. as I got the records from them for my 66 that was in oregon back in the 70s. It showed the names of dealers and GMAC.

[Randy C.]

Re: Who is the first owner of my '94 corvette?

Well, the most recent bit of info I received came in yesterday from the Oregon Department of Transportation Driver and Motor Vehicles Services. Their documentation shows that this Corvette received its "Certificate of Origin For a Vehicle" at Ken Ware Chevrolet in North Bend, OR, on 9/22/93. Then, the Corvette was set up as a lease car by GMAC in Eugene, OR, with an Oregon license plate number of "TKT 709" on 10/11/93, showing only 10 miles on the odometer at that time. From the CARFAX report, it appears the lessor lived in or near Brookings, OR (on the coast, down by the California border), as the title was issued on 10/29/93, through the Oregon Motor Vehicle Department in Brookings. About a year and a half later this Corvette moved into or near Crescent City, CA and was licensed/titled there on 3/20/95, according to the CARFAX report. All else is as described previously.

Although it's a long shot, I'll try to find out who the lessor was when I am down that way next time (I have relatives in the Crescent City area). Although it's not absolutely important to know who it was, I'd sure like that person/those people to know that they took pretty good care of this Corvette and it has stayed that way over nearly 20 years now.

I hate to have to sell this car (so clean, nearly all original, un-hit, etc.) but it's just not in my sights right now. My dream car is really a 2008 Z06. In fact, I'm fully prepared to have a Z06 right now. The only thing I need is around $55K to make it happen!

Thanks again everyone for your help.

Randy C.