Finding the history on your vehicle, what did you do?

[PlymCrazy]

Dusty was his nickname, the car's name is dusty and it fits because it constantly gets dusty sittin in the garage! Not former owner, the original owner, big difference!

Yes, huge difference. I apologize for my poor choice in words

 

[PlymCrazy]

I am fortunate to know the history of my Charger back to 1978. About 41 of those years I have owned it. Recently, a previous owner sent me the bill of sale from when he purchased it from a Chrysler dealership in 1978. interesting to see it was on a Chrysler dealership's lot then. I welcomed the piece of history. Kudos to D.M.

D.M?

 

[oldbee]

Yeah, but do you remember all of its history?

Sometimes it gets a little foggy!!!

 

[Mopars & Missiles]

Sometimes it gets a little foggy!!!

Same here.

 

[oldbee]

I can vividly remember when I threw away the build sheets. Behind htr core & under rear seat! THE worst year of my life!!!

 

[turbine68rt]

I can vividly remember when I threw away the build sheets. Behind htr core & under rear seat! THE worst year of my life!!!

 

[PlymCrazy]

I can vividly remember when I threw away the build sheets. Behind htr core & under rear seat! THE worst year of my life!!!

Ouch! But look at the bright side. Those of us that don’t have our build sheets typically have no clue who seen them last nor where they went. In your case YOU know who seen them last and YOU know where they went. Hope you get at least some solace from that! LOL

 

[Mopars & Missiles]

I can vividly remember when I threw away the build sheets. Behind htr core & under rear seat! THE worst year of my life!!!

I remember when/how I found mine too! After storing the car in the barn for nearly 20 years waiting to be able to one day restore it, that time came and I got the car out of the barn. I thought, hey, I should look to see if there's a build sheet in the car. So, I looked and pretty soon I found it, or at least pieces of it. The mice used it for a nice cozy nest in the glovebox.

This dumb arse should have looked for the build sheet 20 years earlier BEFORE putting the car in the barn.

 

[PlymCrazy]

I remember when/how I found mine too! After storing the car in the barn for nearly 20 years waiting to be able to one day restore it, that time came and I got the car out of the barn. I thought, hey, I should look to see if there's a build sheet in the car. So, I looked and pretty soon I found it, or at least pieces of it. The mice used it for a nice cozy nest in the glovebox.

This dumb arse should have looked for the build sheet 20 years earlier BEFORE putting the car in the barn.

TBH I haven’t searched for mine yet. Definitely getting the itch to with all this talk about it.

 

[mrhemi]

D.M?

D.M. are the initials of the previous owner who sent me the bill of sale. Keeping his name private as I have never seen him turn up on any of the forums.

 

[PlymCrazy]

D.M. are the initials of the previous owner who sent me the bill of sale. Keeping his name private as I have never seen him turn up on any of the forums.

Thanks for the clarification. Wise decision.

 

[patrick66]

Mine was easy, as I bought mine through my brother-in-law from the original owner in 1980 in Denver. It was bought new at Skyline Dodge in January 1966. The OO was in the process of moving to NOLA, so the CertiCard has his Louisiana address on it. He moved back to Denver a few years later. My B-I-L had the car for about 11 months while I was in Alaska, and then I picked it up when I PCSd back in 1981.

I have an '01 Ram 1500 that I bought off the original owner, as well, back in February '22. They bought it in Memphis, TN.

My '69 D300 cab and chassis came from CA and lived near the Bay Area wine country for 20 years, then sunny and dry southern NM for 31 years. Two previous owners before me.

My '66 Imperial is a little fuzzy. It supposedly was bought new in Colorado, but there is no documentation to that effect, and the CertiCard and owner's manual were both missing. Prior to me, it was in a small collection in St. Louis. The owner died, and his wife inherited the car and a dozen other cars. The Imperial was her favorite, so she kept that car. She died eight years ago, and her son (who was living in OK at the time) inherited it and sold it to me.

Guess I've been pretty fortunate in having all that history on my current vehicles.

 

[cosgig]

My car came through the nephew of the original owner, although the guy that found it for me wouldn’t put me in touch with the nephew because he flipped it to me and didn’t want me to know how much he made on the deal. It didn’t take me long to go through the envelope that came with the car and find an old registration in the original owners name. I drove by his house, asked the neighbors if he still lived there….he did, and stopped one day when he happened to be home. Luckiest day of my life, as we’ve become friends, and I get to hear all about the nuances of the car through his eyes. I took the car over when I got it on the road and we spent the day beating on it, and I insisted that he at least drive it again, even tho he was now 75 years old. The smile on his face in this picture pretty much says it all! Best day I’ve had in this hobby!

 

[sam dupont]

Mine was ordered by a lady school teacher. 1966 Charger, big block 4 speed with no power options except windows. I pulled the Certicard and can't find it. I would love to meet her if she is still with us. Must be quite a gal.

 

[68BabyBlue]

I know more of the history on a GTX I have been chasing for 50 years than the current owners. No substitute for having been there back in the day. My dad and I took the attached picture in 1971, documented dealer installed stuff I knew no one would believe down the road, especially the trailer towing package, which was removed when the car was sold the first time. Car has all the desired documents, but they only tell part of the story. No substitute for an old guy who was part of the journey.

 

[Skytrooper]

Yeah, I got nothing but a good offer to buy. Not being Mopar saavy (I had owned several trucks), I dove on it. After I had gotten it, the PO sent me pictures of when it was rear ended and said that they had used a Charger SE to fix it. He passed away within a week of sending me the pics, so I have nothing really to go on. And, as you have probably seen here at FBBO, the firewall and radiator core do not match the VIN. What a lucky bastard I am...right ?

I have it for sale, but no serious takers. It is getting close to keeping it (not what I want to do) or cutting it up. I can make my whole car price back and then some on the parts.

 

[69 Charger]

I would rather not have people contact me about my old cars, so I give them all the same benefit. I will only use records that come with the car to research further. It's amazing what you can find via internet search, public records, and now social media.

Since you are a member of the old car fraternity, and since most of us are interested in the former history of their car (generally meaning the ownership history), and since resources to allow learning that history are scarce -- why would you object to some later owner wanting to contact you as the former owner? Why not share what you know?

 

[69 Charger]

Yeah, but do you remember all of its history?

Well, for my '69 Charger, yes, I do. Besides being the only owner (and truly, the only driver) the car has ever had, I've maintained a detailed maintenance and trip log book for it since new. When the time comes, I'll be happy to pass that along to the next owner.

 

[68BabyBlue]

Sharing the early history of my GTX with the previous owner led to him selling the car to me after 28 years of ownership.

 

[Big Bad Dad]

I bought a nice 74 Charger from the brother of the original owner in 1989. I sold the car at the Mopar Nats in 1994. Last year, I was contacted via Facebook by the current owner. He found my info in the receipts folder I had let go with the car. He even e mailed me a picture of the car that had been taken a year or so after I sold it. It was pretty cool to communicate with him, and tell him the story of the car from where it originally came from, and even the original owners name. (now deceased) The car was originally a 318 automatic, and is now a 440 - 4 speed. The color has been changed since then, and for all I know, the new owner may even be here on FBBO. Here is the old picture he sent me of the car from shortly after I sold it: