Finding the original owner
- Thread starter gerjamr
- Start date
I'll tell my story again...briefly... 
Back in 2000 or thereabouts, I was trying to track down the original owner of the '70 GTX I had recently bought and started restoring. I had found (and actually knew) the previous 3 owners to me, and gained some valuable info, as well as anecdotal stories about the cars' history. Street racing and burnouts were abundant....even one in the forecourt of a gas station.
The guy who imported my GTX returned to New Zealand with his American bride, and they lived here for around 18 months. During that time, 'Des' campaigned the car at one of our local drag strips, and set a couple of records with it. It became well known due to it's colour and graphics...as well as being a regular at the strip. The car subsequently changed hands to an animal of a guy in the way he treated the car.....tore off the wheels, replaced with slots, big headers and a tunnel ram, fibreglass front end, and yet more gaudy graphics for an Indian restaurant who he probably 'leaned on' for sponsorship funds. Alan was his name (now deceased) and he went to school with my father. My Grandmother knew his mother, and recalled many unsavory encounters with her. Anyway, a small-time dope dealer, he eventually tired of the 'X' and traded for a split window Vette.
Next came Barry, who was an up & coming drag racer....before the GTX he raced a full sized van with a Ford V8 BB....not that competitive, but a beast nonetheless. Barry at least had the gumption to gather all the parts he could and keep them together with the car. The GTX now sported a coat of black paint, and still with a tunnel ram and huge scoop, the engine screamed around the countryside with a set of 4.56's out the back. Some of those trips were up to 200 miles long - towing a trailer to the now abandoned Thunderpark Dragstrip. I found an article published just last month about the place...
Anyway, Barry had the car long enough to get himself into a heap of trouble with street racing, big burnouts and women of dubious character....somehow managing to avoid the law every time. He was the lucky one.
Along came Dave, the previous owner to me. Dave copped the lot. He put the car back together and re-painted it in Alfa Romeo red, to get away from the misdemeanors of the previous owners. While the GTX was undergoing a rebuild, Dave was tooling around in the '69 Charger that I bought off him when the GTX was finished. Dave got himself into a heap of trouble in that car...the Cops had it in for him whenever he was in it. Known for his like of beer, Dave was DIC'ed (DUI) several times, and lost his license a couple of times....had keys taken from him several times, and managed to convince a female companion to drive it once....that ended in disaster - and a fence post. Of course, the General Lee paint job didn't help much.
car found in a song....
It was a roughy for sure. Anyway that's another story.
Fast forward to April 1997, and I had not long returned from the UK on my OE (all six and a half years of it) and I enquired about the GTX. I was told it was for sale ...so a deal was made. At last that car was mine. I set about restoring various parts, and eventually decided on a total re-paint. Along the way I only ever found a very small part of the original Broadcast Sheet...so I was hungry for information. I wrote a letter (remember those things) to Galen Govier, and sat eagerly by the mailbox awaiting the reply (Insert sarcasm) ....a whole 13 months later I had a reply. (We did exchange emails as well) Galen had uncovered the original paperwork at the dealership in Iowa where the car sold as new. He sent me details of how to contact the Dealership, along with his usual certificate of the VIN and details for my car, and wished me well. My request also gained me a mention in the magazine column that Galen wrote....
I promptly wrote to the Dealership, and within a few weeks had a reply from the Grandson of the original Dealership Salesman....and he was genuinely impressed that the car was still around. He sent me a couple of photo-copies of the records - Sales Invoice & Order sheets, along with a few photographs of the cars he had around. It was so nice to find a Dealer who was willing to go that extra mile for a stranger. Sadly though, he could only give me the name of the original buyer - he had exhausted all his capability in tracking the guy down in Iowa State. I wrote back and sent some photos, and thanked him very much for the help he gave.
While talking about this with a friend back here in NZ, we thought that the owner must have packed up that GTX and moved out to Las Vegas, as that is where the Kiwi guy Des was living at the time...and Des had bought the GX from a Pontiac Dealership in LV. A longshot, but worth the effort...so I thumbed through the youthful Internet and found all the numbers which had a matching name and (at that time) approximate age of the resident. It only took about 3 attempts, I struck GOLD. I had found the original owner of my GTX. We had quite a lengthy conversation about the car...although most of his talking was along the lines of "Sheeeeit, really....New Zealand....where the heck is that again?...."
As incredulous as it sounds, the guy was truly in awe that I had tracked him down, and brought back some great memories for him. Sadly though, he had no photographs of the car, and not much extra in the way of information to add. It was a great chance to talk though. Back in the 1960's and '70's, people had little interest in photographing cars they were driving....I mean, they were driving it so why take photos....and besides, film and developing was not cheap at the time.
Special thank you shout-out to my great friend Mark aka @super-bee_ski , for helping to hook up with Des in Henderson,NV and have this picture taken holding a local to me HotRod paper...
Mark also presented Des with a 1:24 scale model diecast of the car.
Photo taken for magazine shoot in 2002....
There ya go...a brief story of how I got my information.
I hope that helps, or at least...inspires.
Back in 2000 or thereabouts, I was trying to track down the original owner of the '70 GTX I had recently bought and started restoring. I had found (and actually knew) the previous 3 owners to me, and gained some valuable info, as well as anecdotal stories about the cars' history. Street racing and burnouts were abundant....even one in the forecourt of a gas station.
The guy who imported my GTX returned to New Zealand with his American bride, and they lived here for around 18 months. During that time, 'Des' campaigned the car at one of our local drag strips, and set a couple of records with it. It became well known due to it's colour and graphics...as well as being a regular at the strip. The car subsequently changed hands to an animal of a guy in the way he treated the car.....tore off the wheels, replaced with slots, big headers and a tunnel ram, fibreglass front end, and yet more gaudy graphics for an Indian restaurant who he probably 'leaned on' for sponsorship funds. Alan was his name (now deceased) and he went to school with my father. My Grandmother knew his mother, and recalled many unsavory encounters with her. Anyway, a small-time dope dealer, he eventually tired of the 'X' and traded for a split window Vette.
Next came Barry, who was an up & coming drag racer....before the GTX he raced a full sized van with a Ford V8 BB....not that competitive, but a beast nonetheless. Barry at least had the gumption to gather all the parts he could and keep them together with the car. The GTX now sported a coat of black paint, and still with a tunnel ram and huge scoop, the engine screamed around the countryside with a set of 4.56's out the back. Some of those trips were up to 200 miles long - towing a trailer to the now abandoned Thunderpark Dragstrip. I found an article published just last month about the place...
Anyway, Barry had the car long enough to get himself into a heap of trouble with street racing, big burnouts and women of dubious character....somehow managing to avoid the law every time. He was the lucky one.
Along came Dave, the previous owner to me. Dave copped the lot. He put the car back together and re-painted it in Alfa Romeo red, to get away from the misdemeanors of the previous owners. While the GTX was undergoing a rebuild, Dave was tooling around in the '69 Charger that I bought off him when the GTX was finished. Dave got himself into a heap of trouble in that car...the Cops had it in for him whenever he was in it. Known for his like of beer, Dave was DIC'ed (DUI) several times, and lost his license a couple of times....had keys taken from him several times, and managed to convince a female companion to drive it once....that ended in disaster - and a fence post. Of course, the General Lee paint job didn't help much.
car found in a song....
It was a roughy for sure. Anyway that's another story.
Fast forward to April 1997, and I had not long returned from the UK on my OE (all six and a half years of it) and I enquired about the GTX. I was told it was for sale ...so a deal was made. At last that car was mine. I set about restoring various parts, and eventually decided on a total re-paint. Along the way I only ever found a very small part of the original Broadcast Sheet...so I was hungry for information. I wrote a letter (remember those things) to Galen Govier, and sat eagerly by the mailbox awaiting the reply (Insert sarcasm)
....a whole 13 months later I had a reply. (We did exchange emails as well) Galen had uncovered the original paperwork at the dealership in Iowa where the car sold as new. He sent me details of how to contact the Dealership, along with his usual certificate of the VIN and details for my car, and wished me well. My request also gained me a mention in the magazine column that Galen wrote....I promptly wrote to the Dealership, and within a few weeks had a reply from the Grandson of the original Dealership Salesman....and he was genuinely impressed that the car was still around. He sent me a couple of photo-copies of the records - Sales Invoice & Order sheets, along with a few photographs of the cars he had around. It was so nice to find a Dealer who was willing to go that extra mile for a stranger. Sadly though, he could only give me the name of the original buyer - he had exhausted all his capability in tracking the guy down in Iowa State. I wrote back and sent some photos, and thanked him very much for the help he gave.
While talking about this with a friend back here in NZ, we thought that the owner must have packed up that GTX and moved out to Las Vegas, as that is where the Kiwi guy Des was living at the time...and Des had bought the GX from a Pontiac Dealership in LV. A longshot, but worth the effort...so I thumbed through the youthful Internet and found all the numbers which had a matching name and (at that time) approximate age of the resident. It only took about 3 attempts, I struck GOLD. I had found the original owner of my GTX. We had quite a lengthy conversation about the car...although most of his talking was along the lines of "Sheeeeit, really....New Zealand....where the heck is that again?...."
As incredulous as it sounds, the guy was truly in awe that I had tracked him down, and brought back some great memories for him. Sadly though, he had no photographs of the car, and not much extra in the way of information to add. It was a great chance to talk though. Back in the 1960's and '70's, people had little interest in photographing cars they were driving....I mean, they were driving it so why take photos....and besides, film and developing was not cheap at the time.
Special thank you shout-out to my great friend Mark aka @super-bee_ski , for helping to hook up with Des in Henderson,NV and have this picture taken holding a local to me HotRod paper...
Mark also presented Des with a 1:24 scale model diecast of the car. Photo taken for magazine shoot in 2002....
There ya go...a brief story of how I got my information.
I hope that helps, or at least...inspires.
gerjamr
Member
That my friend is a great story!!
I don't think my chargers history will be quite that cool but ya never know!
I do have the certicard from the original owner out of Amarillo TX so I will hit the web and see where it takes me!
Thanks again for the great story and ideas!
Dan
I don't think my chargers history will be quite that cool but ya never know!
I do have the certicard from the original owner out of Amarillo TX so I will hit the web and see where it takes me!
Thanks again for the great story and ideas!
Dan
- Local time
- 7:56 AM
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2010
- Messages
- 17,427
- Reaction score
- 21,641
- Location
- Muroc Dry Lake Bed
Ha Ha,
Cool story!
Super Great Car
Cool story!
Super Great Car
67charger383
Well-Known Member
I don't know how you restored it after finding those old pics..
I would have "restored" it back to this:
I would have "restored" it back to this:
- Local time
- 8:56 AM
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2019
- Messages
- 4,918
- Reaction score
- 4,795
- Location
- Saskatoon Saskatchewan Canada
I know who the original owner was of the 67 Charger we bought in 1970. He lives 90 miles away.
I spoke to the original owner of the L 4 speed that we are working on now. He is from Weiser Idaho. Said he would send pictures, didn’t get any. But got a lot of information.
I spoke to the original owner of the L 4 speed that we are working on now. He is from Weiser Idaho. Said he would send pictures, didn’t get any. But got a lot of information.
- Local time
- 7:56 AM
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2011
- Messages
- 77,184
- Reaction score
- 123,215
- Location
- NorCal Sierras
very cool story @kiwigtx
I had an easier journey to find the org. owner of my 68 RR
originally from Rio Linda (I got in Dec. 2005)
it was in the McClellan AFB area
it really never left the Sacramento County area
within maybe 50-75 miles (of 1st 2 ownership anyway)
I actually spoke to the daughter of the org. owner
she had some cool stories about learning to drive in it
her dad was a carpenter, drove the car daily
(67,000 miles) & it 'was beaten hard & put away wet', daily
for it's 1st 30 or so years
then stuck under a Ponderosa Pine tree for the next couple
till I bought it, from a stereo installation guy
I asked the guy I got the car from about, who he got it from
he thought he was like the 3-4th owner, he was actually the 2nd
(not counting the daughter that sold it, off the estate she still lives on if you want to call it that)
car a few years after the body & Ultra Flat Paint
I am technically only the 3rd registered owner...
it had a crease down the drivers side, I worked out
was in primer, I cleaned it up & temp. painted it
did a few of my mods to it, to my style
painted it Ultra Flat Black until I could afford to paint it the
org. LL1 Surf Turquoise Metallic Poly Paint, it is again now
Just took a bit of time & asking questions I found the answers
I actually found a org. registration card in some parts box
full of rusty ol' crap org. parts, that helped too, it was after the fact...
I had an easier journey to find the org. owner of my 68 RR
originally from Rio Linda (I got in Dec. 2005)
it was in the McClellan AFB area
it really never left the Sacramento County area
within maybe 50-75 miles (of 1st 2 ownership anyway)
I actually spoke to the daughter of the org. owner
she had some cool stories about learning to drive in it
her dad was a carpenter, drove the car daily
(67,000 miles) & it 'was beaten hard & put away wet', daily
for it's 1st 30 or so years
then stuck under a Ponderosa Pine tree for the next couple
till I bought it, from a stereo installation guy
I asked the guy I got the car from about, who he got it from
he thought he was like the 3-4th owner, he was actually the 2nd
(not counting the daughter that sold it, off the estate she still lives on if you want to call it that)
car a few years after the body & Ultra Flat Paint
I am technically only the 3rd registered owner...
it had a crease down the drivers side, I worked out
was in primer, I cleaned it up & temp. painted it
did a few of my mods to it, to my style
painted it Ultra Flat Black until I could afford to paint it the
org. LL1 Surf Turquoise Metallic Poly Paint, it is again now
Just took a bit of time & asking questions I found the answers
I actually found a org. registration card in some parts box
full of rusty ol' crap org. parts, that helped too, it was after the fact...
- Local time
- 7:56 AM
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2010
- Messages
- 17,427
- Reaction score
- 21,641
- Location
- Muroc Dry Lake Bed
Mark, your help was the icing on the cake to me.
Thank you for the kind words...Anything for you guys!
My hunting story has been the opposite...my departed cousin bought a new '64 Polara 426/spd and likely sold it in the late 60's maybe early 70's. His daughter asked me if I could locate the current owner! Well, best a luck huh? I posted around no luck and have to figure the odds were high the car was crashed, rusted to chit, crushed, or maybe parted out given motor/trans. Hope you have luck in your search.
gerjamr
Member
When we got the car in early 80's it was dark green (gg I think?) had a green vinyl top, column shift auto, no console but had a buddy seat, the clock was mounted under the dash by the ash tray and has power windows. I'm not sure if power windows were an option or not. Seems like a lot of work to make these kind of changes. So I don't know if it was ordered this way or done by the dealer or after the fact down the road. The car was probably less than 20yrs old when done if not original. I know a 20yr old car back then was a rarity. I also had less than 50k on the speedo when we got it. It's amazing how many " experts " come up to me at shows and tell me how wrong my car is ( kind of comical really). I ended up getting a console and putting a 4 speed in it, hence the name GERJAMR! Stole that from George Thorogood!
YY1
Well-Known Member
PW was absolutely an available option on a 66 Charger and I've seen several.
An oddity is my former 66 Coronet 440 that had PW and AC.
I've never seen another one like that and I've been looking for over 30 years.
I did find one that the seller claimed had those options as well as a 383.
It was 2/3 of the way across the country, the seller wouldn't send any additional pictures or the VIN/Tag info and they wanted over 5K and were unwilling to come down (despite having no idea how rare it was if verified) for the car without an engine back in 2003. I had to pass but I sure would have liked to see the documentation.
An oddity is my former 66 Coronet 440 that had PW and AC.
I've never seen another one like that and I've been looking for over 30 years.
I did find one that the seller claimed had those options as well as a 383.
It was 2/3 of the way across the country, the seller wouldn't send any additional pictures or the VIN/Tag info and they wanted over 5K and were unwilling to come down (despite having no idea how rare it was if verified) for the car without an engine back in 2003. I had to pass but I sure would have liked to see the documentation.
Similar threads
