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Original Owner Sent me a Pic of the Charger R/T When New

WS23RT

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I searched for a few weeks to find the last owner of the 71 Charger R/T. I had some registration cards to go off of and the internet and got to work.

I found his wife and kids on Facebook and messaged them to no avail but in the car was a stack of receipts and one (from the 80s) had a phone number. I called and guess who picked up. Yup, the last owner.

I asked if he knew who bought it new and he replied that he did. It was awesome talking to the original owner. He had some great stories and history of the car. He still had the original radio in his garage! No paperwork though. Said he gave it to the guy he sold the car to in the early 90s.

Talking to him has helped with options on the car since I didn't find a build sheet. The pic helped too since it was taken soon after bringing it home.

Well anyway, here's the pic.
IMG_20191103_200705.jpg
 
Cool find, it's not every day that you get to call up the original owner of your car 48 years later,and have a conversation with him! Was he glad to hear that the car still exists?
 
Cool find, it's not every day that you get to call up the original owner of your car 48 years later,and have a conversation with him! Was he glad to hear that the car still exists?

He seems to be. He was apprehensive at first. Didn't understand how I was able to find him but after awhile he warmed up.
 
He seems to be. He was apprehensive at first. Didn't understand how I was able to find him but after awhile he warmed up.
I managed to track down the original buyer of my '70 GTX about 20 years ago. No photos, but he was excited that the car had survived all that time.
Took him a while to get over the fact it was now on the other side of the world, and even longer to figure how I found him. :)
 
Yes great to talk or meet original owner. Saw the ad for my Satellite in area paper. Friend said he wanted to buy another hemi. He bought it then it sat for 4 years and I bought it from him. Picture of me on left and original owner. I bought all the paper work from the time he ordered it and original window sticker.

DSC_0847.JPG
 
Cool score, a lot of us wish we could locate and talk with the original owner of our cars. I do know the location of the person I bought mine from in 83. I was the 4th owner and did not trace it back to first owner back then. It was harder to do with no internet.
 
Yes great to talk or meet original owner. Saw the ad for my Satellite in area paper. Friend said he wanted to buy another hemi. He bought it then it sat for 4 years and I bought it from him. Picture of me on left and original owner. I bought all the paper work from the time he ordered it and original window sticker.

View attachment 861904

He says he still knows the guy who bought the car from him back in the 90s. He's going to check and see what came of the paperwork.
 
I was the second owner of my old GTX. The new owner calls me regularly. Sends me pics of car shows and the whole bit. Of course I owned the car for 48 years and know all that history. Don’t know who the original owner was. It was a late night purchase back in the day - almost on a hand shake. Those days are gone.
 
cool deal
I tried to find the org. owner of my current 68 RR
(I bought it in Dec. 2005 when I lived in Rancho Murieta, Eastern Sac. County)
he's long gone, the guy I got it from was the 2nd owner
as far as I could tell
& the car was from Calif., Rio Linda sort of close to where I was living
the org. owner was a carpenter,
I pulled probably 20#'s of 16d sinker nails out that dropped down inside
of the quarter panel sides, along with a tape measure
& an old set of crumpled up leather pouches

The car was purchased in Sacramento,
Cal Worthington Chrysler Plymouth
that was as far as I got

The guy I got the car from
was pretty much worthless for any info
he did keep the stuff/org. registration & gave it to me
with all the receipts etc. from when he bought the car,
other stuff in the glove box
(unfortunately since been lost, thrown away or misplaced
in my move, back in 2007, by people/family that were helping me
)

I did talk to the daughter of the org. owner, I drove to the address
knocked on the door, figured what the hell
But;
she wasn't much help either
she said;
her dad drove the car daily, rarely left the county, even for work
she said she learned to drive in the car too
it was org. sold by them in 1999 or something close
so they had it for 30+ years
she didn't have any photos or wasn't willing to divulge any

it only had like 67k miles, when I got it from the 2nd owner

but it was rode hard & put away wet, daily
 
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Wish I could track down the original owner of my Firebird. Thankfully my uncle bought my Coronet new, so I know that history, even if it's just a 318.
 
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I got the original radio in the mail from him today. It was a pleasant surprise to find the original photo affixed to the top in the box.
20191109_174022.jpg
 
My 1st car (at 15) was my across the street neighbor's 70 VW Karman Ghia. He was always on time doing maintenance, oil and filter changes, etc. It didn't take long for me to put a "Stinger" exhaust on it, after all, it was a sporty looking car.
After about a year, and with a good friend from high school as an inspiration (he had a really tricked out Beetle that he autocrossed and the damn thing was quick in a straight line too) I was going to get a local VW only shop to rework the engine for performance. My dad (of all people) suggested that I get a muscle car, and I found a stock 71 Charger R/T 440 4bbl SlapStick auto, open (yuk) 8 3/4 3.23. It had AC, power steering and front disc brakes, and the only paint issue was a partially primered front fender from a parking lot boo-boo from the original owner (who I met) whose wife drove it all the time. I managed to take out the front gravel pan. It ran like crap. New points, plugs, and spark plug wires and BINGO! Ran great. It was great being 16, starting my senior year of high school, 1978-79, and having THIS!
Screenshot_2017-06-19-11-16-04.png

And now I have this. Yes, I like yellow and black:
20191019_191015.jpg
 
My 1st car (at 15) was my across the street neighbor's 70 VW Karman Ghia. He was always on time doing maintenance, oil and filter changes, etc. It didn't take long for me to put a "Stinger" exhaust on it, after all, it was a sporty looking car.
After about a year, and with a good friend from high school as an inspiration (he had a really tricked out Beetle that he autocrossed and the damn thing was quick in a straight line too) I was going to get a local VW only shop to rework the engine for performance. My dad (of all people) suggested that I get a muscle car, and I found a stock 71 Charger R/T 440 4bbl SlapStick auto, open (yuk) 8 3/4 3.23. It had AC, power steering and front disc brakes, and the only paint issue was a partially primered front fender from a parking lot boo-boo from the original owner (who I met) whose wife drove it all the time. I managed to take out the front gravel pan. It ran like crap. New points, plugs, and spark plug wires and BINGO! Ran great. It was great being 16, starting my senior year of high school, 1978-79, and having THIS!
View attachment 863060
And now I have this. Yes, I like yellow and black:
View attachment 863062

I like yellow too. :)
 
I searched for a few weeks to find the last owner of the 71 Charger R/T. I had some registration cards to go off of and the internet and got to work.

I found his wife and kids on Facebook and messaged them to no avail but in the car was a stack of receipts and one (from the 80s) had a phone number. I called and guess who picked up. Yup, the last owner.

I asked if he knew who bought it new and he replied that he did. It was awesome talking to the original owner. He had some great stories and history of the car. He still had the original radio in his garage! No paperwork though. Said he gave it to the guy he sold the car to in the early 90s.

Talking to him has helped with options on the car since I didn't find a build sheet. The pic helped too since it was taken soon after bringing it home.

Well anyway, here's the pic.
View attachment 861902
Love the slots! Hope you are keeping them!
 
My 1st car (at 15) was my across the street neighbor's 70 VW Karman Ghia. He was always on time doing maintenance, oil and filter changes, etc. It didn't take long for me to put a "Stinger" exhaust on it, after all, it was a sporty looking car.
After about a year, and with a good friend from high school as an inspiration (he had a really tricked out Beetle that he autocrossed and the damn thing was quick in a straight line too) I was going to get a local VW only shop to rework the engine for performance. My dad (of all people) suggested that I get a muscle car, and I found a stock 71 Charger R/T 440 4bbl SlapStick auto, open (yuk) 8 3/4 3.23. It had AC, power steering and front disc brakes, and the only paint issue was a partially primered front fender from a parking lot boo-boo from the original owner (who I met) whose wife drove it all the time. I managed to take out the front gravel pan. It ran like crap. New points, plugs, and spark plug wires and BINGO! Ran great. It was great being 16, starting my senior year of high school, 1978-79, and having THIS!
View attachment 863060
And now I have this. Yes, I like yellow and black:
View attachment 863062

Nice cars!
 
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