May have located the original owner
01-01-2018, 11:57 AM
#21
Safety Car
I owned and restored a 57 red fuel injection car in 1977-80. Sold it to a good friend in 1982, who moved to San Diego. I lost track of the car after that.
Ron from La Vern, MN cold called me 6-29-13 and said he found my name inside the kick panel on an old business card. His cousin knows me and my current contact info. I sent him all my individual photos and history on 7-23-13. The car has been re-restored and is back being driven and enjoyed.
Ron from La Vern, MN cold called me 6-29-13 and said he found my name inside the kick panel on an old business card. His cousin knows me and my current contact info. I sent him all my individual photos and history on 7-23-13. The car has been re-restored and is back being driven and enjoyed.
01-01-2018, 12:08 PM
#22
Team Owner
I spent the first year after buying my SWC trying to find the original owner. Long story short, I contacted the guy who bought it new in 1963 with an email. At first he was wondering who the hell I was, but after I explained, he gave me a number to call and he were fast friends. Turned out he had the original owners manual and a bunch of dealer paper that he just sent me, gratis. Later he sent more docs and pics, including the canceled check he bought the car with! Last year he came up this way (far from home) and we went for dinner and I took him for a ride in his old car. It was awesome.
My opinion would be not to just drop in unannounced. Many people don’t like family doing that, let alone a stranger. An email or a note gives the guy a chance to digest it all and figure out what he thinks and wants to say, without pressure. Then you can have a great time when you do meet.
My opinion would be not to just drop in unannounced. Many people don’t like family doing that, let alone a stranger. An email or a note gives the guy a chance to digest it all and figure out what he thinks and wants to say, without pressure. Then you can have a great time when you do meet.
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vettebuyer6369 (01-05-2018)
01-01-2018, 04:18 PM
#24
Drifting
Thread Starter
You can never guess a stranger's reaction from your instincts and certainly not rom your best wishes of how you would like someone to react.
Call first, do not surprise someone in case the reaction is unexpectedly bad.
Many (most?) may welcome the outreach, but some may not. You never know what someone else's experiences taught them.
Call first, do not surprise someone in case the reaction is unexpectedly bad.
Many (most?) may welcome the outreach, but some may not. You never know what someone else's experiences taught them.
My daughter also said, "What if he's crazy". Which also crosses my mind and he thinks he was "cheated" out of insurance money or something like that.
I hope he is still old fashion and has a land line which would be easier to track down. Tracking down his cell phone will take me more effort.
I've been on both ends of these. A current owner of a 67 Big block coupe I owned years ago called me. I was thrilled and gave him all the info he was seeking. I was not successful at all when I tracked down and called the original owner of a 98 Corvette that I owned.
All you can do is call them and hope that they sense your enthusiasm and are willing to see the car or at least speak with you. Good luck.
All you can do is call them and hope that they sense your enthusiasm and are willing to see the car or at least speak with you. Good luck.
I had the great fortune with a 1965 Vert I bought in October. Had no luck in getting any previous owner information from a classic car place in Ohio. They would just say it was a 2 owner CA car most of it's life.
Got to digging around in the car and under the passenger seat was an old insurance card with an owner's name and address in Reno. Googled the information and was able to locate a phone number to try. Called it and left a message. Best move I could have done.
The older gentleman was very receptive in talking about the car.
Highlights of the conversation:
1. Owned the car since it was two years old
2. Bought from a college kid that was given the car as a graduation gift and dogged it for two years
3. Replaced the engine with burnt valves with a 350 in the early 70s
4. Mileage is close to correct at 55K since the speedo broke in 2016.
He was most happy to talk about the car and it is fun to at least get a nice surprise and find out some things you were told were true rather than just a sales pitch.......
If you can't locate a phone number but have the address....write a short note and include your phone number and email. Could be worth a shot.
Good luck!
Got to digging around in the car and under the passenger seat was an old insurance card with an owner's name and address in Reno. Googled the information and was able to locate a phone number to try. Called it and left a message. Best move I could have done.
The older gentleman was very receptive in talking about the car.
Highlights of the conversation:
1. Owned the car since it was two years old
2. Bought from a college kid that was given the car as a graduation gift and dogged it for two years
3. Replaced the engine with burnt valves with a 350 in the early 70s
4. Mileage is close to correct at 55K since the speedo broke in 2016.
He was most happy to talk about the car and it is fun to at least get a nice surprise and find out some things you were told were true rather than just a sales pitch.......
If you can't locate a phone number but have the address....write a short note and include your phone number and email. Could be worth a shot.
Good luck!
I spent the first year after buying my SWC trying to find the original owner. Long story short, I contacted the guy who bought it new in 1963 with an email. At first he was wondering who the hell I was, but after I explained, he gave me a number to call and he were fast friends. Turned out he had the original owners manual and a bunch of dealer paper that he just sent me, gratis. Later he sent more docs and pics, including the canceled check he bought the car with! Last year he came up this way (far from home) and we went for dinner and I took him for a ride in his old car. It was awesome.
My opinion would be not to just drop in unannounced. Many people don’t like family doing that, let alone a stranger. An email or a note gives the guy a chance to digest it all and figure out what he thinks and wants to say, without pressure. Then you can have a great time when you do meet.
My opinion would be not to just drop in unannounced. Many people don’t like family doing that, let alone a stranger. An email or a note gives the guy a chance to digest it all and figure out what he thinks and wants to say, without pressure. Then you can have a great time when you do meet.
I owned and restored a 57 red fuel injection car in 1977-80. Sold it to a good friend in 1982, who moved to San Diego. I lost track of the car after that.
Ron from La Vern, MN cold called me 6-29-13 and said he found my name inside the kick panel on an old business card. His cousin knows me and my current contact info. I sent him all my individual photos and history on 7-23-13. The car has been re-restored and is back being driven and enjoyed.
Ron from La Vern, MN cold called me 6-29-13 and said he found my name inside the kick panel on an old business card. His cousin knows me and my current contact info. I sent him all my individual photos and history on 7-23-13. The car has been re-restored and is back being driven and enjoyed.
Thanks everyone for your advice and I'll do the initial contact via phone (assuming I can also track that down).
If he is receptive to being contacted and there is anything interesting to share I'll repost.
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01-01-2018, 05:39 PM
#25
Melting Slicks
I contacted the original owner of my 67 about 15 years ago and have been exchanging Christmas cards since. He has a picture of the car the day he he picked it up along with the owners card and patch framed over his desk, he did send me a great picture of it 
and has put my name and address on the back of it for his daughter to send to me when he passes. He told me not to hold my breath as he plans to live a long life. Go for it.
and has put my name and address on the back of it for his daughter to send to me when he passes. He told me not to hold my breath as he plans to live a long life. Go for it.
01-01-2018, 06:42 PM
#26
Racer
Located the original owner of my 1966 coupe, and decided to make an initial contact via email. Good thing, his reply was "NOT INTERESTED"!
01-01-2018, 07:38 PM
#28
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Not creepy at all. Fellow car guys always drop by when my car is outside or I'm working on any of my old ones. It's like a club, everyone welcome........except that one guy! 
01-01-2018, 08:26 PM
#29
Drifting
I am the 5th owner of my ’67 convertible that I bought from a dealer as an unfinished project in 2016. Said dealer told me that they knew nothing about the car’s history except for a photocopy of the Florida title showing the name for the 3rd owner. Along with the unfinished project were a lot of parts in boxes and one of those boxes was a new convertible top with a UPS label affixed to it. That UPS label had a name of the 3rd owner and a phone number on it. When I called the phone number, the 3rd owner was none too happy to hear from me, asked how I got his phone number. When I told him I got it from a UPS label, he calmed down a bit, but still ended the call quickly because he was at work and would call me back in the coming days. After a month passed with no call back, I decided to make one last attempt to contact him. This time, he had time to talk and gave me information about the 2nd owner (who I have subsequently spoken with) and more importantly, sent me a flash drive with 300 pictures/videos of the frame off restoration he started as well as electronic copies of the receipts for the parts he purchased for the restoration.
To make a long story short, contacting a previous owner can be very beneficial and rewarding. In my case, the detailed knowledge I gained about work that was previously performed by the 3rd owner has been very helpful to me as I work to complete the restoration and the car history information I learned from the 2nd/3rd owners has enhanced my ownership experience.
To make a long story short, contacting a previous owner can be very beneficial and rewarding. In my case, the detailed knowledge I gained about work that was previously performed by the 3rd owner has been very helpful to me as I work to complete the restoration and the car history information I learned from the 2nd/3rd owners has enhanced my ownership experience.
Last edited by AkrHack; 01-01-2018 at 08:33 PM.
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jimgessner (01-02-2018)
01-04-2018, 11:27 PM
#30
Safety Car
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The P.O. could tell me little about the 65 I just purchased last August, including its history. Later I noticed a Tri-City Corvette club sticker on the windshield so I googled it and sent an email to it’s president to find out if anybody had any information about the car.
He was a wealth of information and quite familiar with the car because he and a local resto shop restored it in 2002. Answered a ton of questions I had and even sent a printed article about it from a local car magazine!
He was a wealth of information and quite familiar with the car because he and a local resto shop restored it in 2002. Answered a ton of questions I had and even sent a printed article about it from a local car magazine!
01-05-2018, 08:25 AM
#31
Instructor
My experience was good, yours may not be
I located what I hoped was a previous owner's first initial and last name on the radio chassis of my '65 when I removed it for repair. The last name was not a common one, at least not in the South, so I did a Google search and came up with about 25 individuals with that initial/surname combination across the Midwest. I wrote a letter to each, included a photo and other identifying info of the car along w/ my contact info. I received cordial responses from about half of the contacts but none of them had owned the car. I gave up the search. Then, about 3 or 4 years later I got a phone call out of the blue from the gentleman who bought the car in 1970 and was the second owner. My original letter had been tossed into their "I'll get to it later bin" and forgotten. During some clutter cleaning he found it and contacted me by phone. He was glad to hear about the car and provided me with the Bill of Sale from 1970 along w/ photos and other documentation including his racing history of the car. He also provided with with the third owner's name/address. That contact went south in a hurry even though we both had a mutual acquaintance. Bottom line - my suggestion is to approach the prior owner with caution and hope for a good result. Some people just don't want to be bothered. That's why privacy laws exist.
01-05-2018, 09:19 AM
#32
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It jogged them apparently as they dropped in the mail a title history on the car back to 1975, along with more details on the car in the time they owned it 30 years back.
Sometimes you get a snowball rolling.
01-05-2018, 09:40 AM
#33
Drifting
I contacted the second owner of my current c1 not much info from him , and after many years looking I found the current owners of our families 1954 corvette they were very happy , and I will say collectively we will be putting together a article for on solid ground all about the 54 .
01-05-2018, 10:57 AM
#34
Drifting
Digging into his marital history/status, number of kids, age....and posting the info on the 'net....I agree with your daughter, it's creepy. What's that info got to do with his experience with your car?
But hopefully he doesn't think it's creepy when you arrive at his door! Good luck!
But hopefully he doesn't think it's creepy when you arrive at his door! Good luck!
01-05-2018, 05:44 PM
#35
Drifting
Thread Starter
Digging into his marital history/status, number of kids, age....and posting the info on the 'net....I agree with your daughter, it's creepy. What's that info got to do with his experience with your car?
But hopefully he doesn't think it's creepy when you arrive at his door! Good luck!
But hopefully he doesn't think it's creepy when you arrive at his door! Good luck!
With the suggestion of others, and the more I think about it, I'll be contacting him by phone first instead of in person. I now have his phone number and will reach out to him.
01-05-2018, 05:57 PM
#36
I spent the first year after buying my SWC trying to find the original owner. Long story short, I contacted the guy who bought it new in 1963 with an email. At first he was wondering who the hell I was, but after I explained, he gave me a number to call and he were fast friends. Turned out he had the original owners manual and a bunch of dealer paper that he just sent me, gratis. Later he sent more docs and pics, including the canceled check he bought the car with! Last year he came up this way (far from home) and we went for dinner and I took him for a ride in his old car. It was awesome.
My opinion would be not to just drop in unannounced. Many people don’t like family doing that, let alone a stranger. An email or a note gives the guy a chance to digest it all and figure out what he thinks and wants to say, without pressure. Then you can have a great time when you do meet.
My opinion would be not to just drop in unannounced. Many people don’t like family doing that, let alone a stranger. An email or a note gives the guy a chance to digest it all and figure out what he thinks and wants to say, without pressure. Then you can have a great time when you do meet.
02-01-2018, 05:50 PM
#37
Advanced
That additional information was only incidental during my investigation to locate him. Although it does provide a comfort level that he has what appears to be a regular life. I also wanted to make sure I wasn't contacting someone I really shouldn't be contacting in the first place.
With the suggestion of others, and the more I think about it, I'll be contacting him by phone first instead of in person. I now have his phone number and will reach out to him.
With the suggestion of others, and the more I think about it, I'll be contacting him by phone first instead of in person. I now have his phone number and will reach out to him.
02-02-2018, 11:29 AM
#38
Team Owner
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St. Jude Donor '05
maybe dropping something in the mail?
I wouldnt want anyone just showing up at my house knowing they tracked me down. He will contact you if interested
Everyones different I suppose once Im done with a car i dont want to see it again..dont care.
I wouldnt want anyone just showing up at my house knowing they tracked me down. He will contact you if interested
Everyones different I suppose once Im done with a car i dont want to see it again..dont care.
02-04-2018, 03:36 PM
#39
Instructor
I found the Address and phone # of the person I got my car from 30 years later. I called him and we talked for 1/2 hour about the car. He said he would look for pictures of the car when he had it and sent them to me. He never did. I sent him an e-mail with a picture of the car now but he didn't respond.