I've traced the ownership of my 67 L79 Coupe thru Chico, California, back to Apple Valley, Minnesota, in 1982...I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Minnesota Motor Vehicle Dept doesn't retain records beyond seven years so the trail's gone cold. I've got an ad coming up in the next Driveline, but that seems like a long shot. Are there other sources for tracking the VIN back to the original owner? Any help on researching ownership would be appreciated...
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Re: Researching my C2's Past Life...
Try one of the C2 registries:
WWW.C2REGISTRY.ORG
or
www.63-67corvette.com
Good luck
MichaelMichael Westenberg
#46144
'65 rally red convertible + flip flop interior
'99 torch red coupe + light oak interior -
Re: Researching my C2's Past Life...
Michael...I did a quick check of the sites and my VIN wasn't listed, but it gives me a couple of places to register seeking info...thanks for the help. PeteComment
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Re: Researching my C2's Past Life...
My experience has been that most cars stayed somewhat in the same general area up until they became collector items and began getting sold across country.
If you have it back to MN in 1982, the odds are good it having been in that general area in the previous years. The general area could be as much as 100 miles away, though, depending on the cities around and so on.
This isn't 100% of course. Military moves, college moves, company moves and so on could relocate owners far away. Also, by '82, Bloomington did have their auction going strong for about 5 years and so it is quite possible that the car came from far away.
My first shot would be to research the Apple Valley area, and see what type of area. Since it is on the outskirts of Minneapolis - St. Paul, the odds of it being in that area are very good. Big city, lots of opportunity to have buyers/sellers during its life, unlike a small town of 500 people about 100 miles from nearest big town.
Fire off an ad or two, check on local Corvette clubs, find people into Corvettes back in '82, and find out who might remember the car.
Good luck.Comment
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Re: Researching my C2's Past Life...
Appreciate the insight Chris, I'll follow up on it...Thanks, PeteComment
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Re: Researching my C2's Past Life...
Peter,
I feel your pain. I've been trying to do the same thing with my 1966. So far, I've traced its ownership history back to 1975. Since 1975 there have been ten owners including me!!! Who knows how many there could be between 1966 and 1975? I've been fortunate to speak to all nine other owners, and they've provided me with some great stories, documents, photos and one even had the original owners manual he took out of the car in 1981. He was kind enough to return it to my car.
The point I'm making is not to give up looking. The search can be frustrating at times, but it's also part of the fun when you find another owner. My greatest success in finding people has come from prior owners. Most have remembered who they bought the car from, and who they sold it to. Old documents and service records that came with the car have been very helpful. There are services on the internet, that for a fee, will provide you with current information and whereabouts for just about anyone, including their prior addresses. So, if you have an old document with a prior owner's name and address on it, you might have your first clue. Some services will even provide you with a current phone number.
If you think you found someone, my best advice is to mail a letter first. What I've done with pretty good success is to mail a letter to the prior owner introducing myself, with a simple explanation of what I'm doing (looking for ownership history) and providing all my contact information. Most people have responded. Those who have not responded have received follow up telephone calls from me. Those people all say they received my letter and were meaning to call. Having received the letter first at least gives them a chance to know I'm legit and not just some crank caller or a tele-marketer.
Where I ran into trouble was when I learned the guy who bought my car in 1975 purchased it from a used car lot which is no longer in business. As you already know, most state DMVs only keep records for approximately 5 - 7 years. I'm now turning my attention to "car club" guys in the area where I think my car started out. I actually got one really good lead this way. I've also had a few prior owners join in the hunt when they found out what I'm doing. I ran an ad in the Driveline, but got no responses. I'll tell you what others have told me, "Don't quit." Good luck.
Jim C.Comment
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Re: Researching my C2's Past Life...
Jim...Thanks for the detailed response. I'm still amazed that the people on this site are so willing to share their time, insight and experience with similar obstacles in the restoration process...I was going to say problems, but with these cars there are only challenges, never problems...it's definitely an obsession. Following your suggestion, I had the Minnesota license tag from 1982 so paid for a search for the owner...there were no dates associated with the info, but it traced the known addresses over the years. He moved from Apple Valley to Chico, CA and then back to Apple Valley...probably to attend Chico State...that explains how the prior owner in Chico found the car. The search also gave me his current address in Apple Valley. I like your approach of giving someone a heads up in the mail before calling, so the next step is a letter.
Searching out the car's past life is an interesting process...thanks again Jim...and to Michael for the C2 registry info... and Chris for insights on the migratory habits of the beast...my search results confirmed your experience Chris. I'll update you all as the search continues. PeteComment
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Re: Researching my C2's Past Life...
The rare beasts seemed to travel more than the average ones. Also, the very expensive cars seemed to travel through auctions, dealers, and collectors. A friend had a '69 435 hp years ago. It left the area completely to go to Colorado when the 435 hp cars went big in the '80s. Other friends regular Corvettes circulated around the general area for years, usually within 75 miles. Most of them stayed in a smaller radius.
The '67 400 hp coupe I found on ebay a few months ago had stayed in the St. Louis area for something like 35 years I found out. Yet several others I have found on eBay travel across the country in the last few years, which I attribute to the world wide market via the Internet now. Several of those had remained in the same general area though for long periods of time.
Exceptions seem to be California and Florida. People seem to move to those two states the most, and cars go with them.Comment
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Re: Researching my C2's Past Life...
The best cars to find are out of Canada because of GM of Canada's record keeping.
I know I found my '70 in British Columbia Canada on the internet.I bought directly from the owner.We spoke for 6 months before I was comfortable with him. He sent photos and I bought it sight unseen.Well kept nice clean excellently running car.
$45 gets you documentation in your name from GM of Canada.
You can also contact the Nationwide Insurance company ICBC and for a fee they can track and provide all of the ownerships of the vehicle.
GregComment
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