Chrysler historical services?

[xs29bb1]

Anyone ever contact these guys?  From what I read online, if your car is 1967 or earlier they can get you a build card if you give them your VIN.

Anyone ever tried that?  Just wondering what exactly they can provide, if anything.

[Ghoste]

Thats true but with the demise of the museum I don't know if they are still offering the service.

[xs29bb1]

Oh OK. They still have a site and phone number, so I thought maybe they were still around (supposedly they merged with the Chrysler Foundation?)

[bakerhillpins]

Thats true but with the demise of the museum I don't know if they are still offering the service.

Demise of the museum?  It's still there, just not open to the general public. Apparently groups can make arrangements. Or did I miss some news over the past month or so?

[Ghoste]

No you're correct but was it not museum staff who were looking after the records?  I'm assuming if it isn't open to the public there is a skeleton crew there at best.

[bakerhillpins]

Ok, I didn't realize that they were looking after the records. As I understand it the museum is staffed mostly by volunteers. Heck of a bunch of guys to let me tell you.      I could have sat on the sidelines listening for hours while they were standing around shooting the crap.  A lot of fun in the experiences and stories of our older generation. 

[Ghoste]

I'm not even certain that they are, this is all speculation on my part.  Tufcat's father is (was?) involved with the museum though so Tuffy might know.

[tan top]

I emailed Chrysler historical  maybe 8 years ago , asking for info , main thing I asked ,  was  what the selling  dealer name was , of my charger  ,  the  original  warrenty booklet had water damage  , could read everything  except , the selling dealer  could read the  dealer code    but not the name , only could see N ...... motors , looked like the second to last page had stuck together , & been pulled apart sometime in the past ,  anyways recived a nice email back from a lady called Phillis , think it was  , saying  sorry to a few other questions cant help , but told me the name & address of the dealer

[Ghoste]

Pretty sure I dealt with the same woman around the same time but was told that any car that went to Canada, Chrysler did not keep the records for.  Rumour has it that a guy in Windsor may have the Canadian records but I haven't been able to verify this yet.

[mpd659]

Here is my response from Chrysler when I was looking for info for my 68 Hemi Charger:

Hello Russ,



Unfortunately, I will not be able to tell you where the car was sold or sent to after it was built from the factory.  This information would have been on the build card.  We do not have build cards after 1967 in our collection.  These records were accidently destroyed years before they could reach the archives and do not exist within the company.



The only information I could give you is photocopies of specs or sales literature for the 1968 Dodge Charger.  If this is something you are interested in, I would just need your mailing address.



I am very sorry I could not assist you further with your request.  If you have any questions, please let me know.



Danielle Szostak-Viers



Chrysler Historical Collection

CIMS 410-11-21

12501 Chrysler Freeway

Detroit, MI 48288-5000



Fax: (313) 252-2928

[bakerhillpins]

I'm not even certain that they are, this is all speculation on my part.  Tufcat's father is (was?) involved with the museum though so Tuffy might know.

Yes he is and he is a wonderful tour guide. 

[TUFCAT]

Hi Guys, I'm sending this post to my Dad, he may have the answer. 

[oldhemiman]

1968 through 1976 (including the muscle car era) info does not exist anymore for whatever reason, stolen, thrown out, burned, misplaced, eaten, etc. But information for other years can be obtained by writing to the archives at the address in the thread. The Museum never had the records, but the archives still contains old drawings for cars, concept cars, engines, etc. It's housed in the old Detroit Trim Plant about 25 miles south of the museum. The museum is closed to the public but is available to rent for special functions like parties, meetings, weddings, etc. For information on renting the museum, contact Tuffy and I will give him the contact number to call. Igor

[Ghoste]

Thanks Mr. G.

[TUFCAT]

Some of you guys already know Igor's knowledge and memory about anything Chrysler is downright unbelievable! Just don't ask him what he had for lunch yesterday. LOL    

[Ghoste]

Priorities.

[tan top]

Pretty sure I dealt with the same woman around the same time but was told that any car that went to Canada, Chrysler did not keep the records for.  Rumour has it that a guy in Windsor may have the Canadian records but I haven't been able to verify this yet.

that's interesting wonder why Canada would be different  

1968 through 1976 (including the muscle car era) info does not exist anymore for whatever reason, stolen, thrown out, burned, misplaced, eaten, etc. But information for other years can be obtained by writing to the archives at the address in the thread. The Museum never had the records, but the archives still contains old drawings for cars, concept cars, engines, etc. It's housed in the old Detroit Trim Plant about 25 miles south of the museum. The museum is closed to the public but is available to rent for special functions like parties, meetings, weddings, etc. For information on renting the museum, contact Tuffy and I will give him the contact number to call. Igor

hello & welcome      ,
yeah nothing after 67 excists  anymore, lost in a fire was the story I heard    shame would answer soo many questions 

[Ghoste]

Not sure.  I suspect it may have had something to do with import/export rules.  Chrysler Canada existed as a separate company in the legal sense so perhaps that is why the records may exist in Windsor.  Perhaps they were sent across the border with the cars to establish the legal status of the car in the country for legal or warranty purposes?

[bull]

Isn't it great that the historical records of the most popular Mopar muscle cars are just gone? What luck. If I had a time machine that's one thing I would fix. I'd go back and find that Chevy guy arson and smack him upside the head with a 2x4.

[tan top]

Not sure.  I suspect it may have had something to do with import/export rules.  Chrysler Canada existed as a separate company in the legal sense so perhaps that is why the records may exist in Windsor.  Perhaps they were sent across the border with the cars to establish the legal status of the car in the country for legal or warranty purposes?

interesting  

Isn't it great that the historical records of the most popular Mopar muscle cars are just gone? What luck. If I had a time machine that's one thing I would fix. I'd go back and find that Chevy guy arson and smack him upside the head with a 2x4.

I have often thought that , what a coincidence & such a accurate defining line 67s ok    68s & later  gone to the big filing cabinet in the sky , !! must of been one hell of a firebreak  between the  model year records  

[Dino]

How did they 'accidentally' destroy the records anyway?  I always heard it was a fire but I guess that's not necessarily true then.

[Ghoste]

Same exists for Chev Olds and Buick doesn't it?  Pontiac Historical and Ford by way of Kevin Marti seem to be the only ones who kept them.  GM of Canada as a whole is good too.

[oldhemiman]

There are a lot of dumb people in this world. Someone probably thought that they were going to impress their boss and save the corporation some money and space by throwing out the records, when in fact, the corporation could have made some money and create good will amongst the Mopar enthusiasts by having them. The records may have been stolen but it seems to me that the best time to capitalize financially on them is over and for the records to show up now might implicate the thief.  Also, Chrysler of Canada is a separate division/entity from the American Chrysler, maybe there is someone in Windsor Ontario that can provide records of cars built there.

[Ghoste]

My car wasn't assembled here though, it was shipped here.  (Dodge Main built)

[1974dodgecharger]

Gotta love mar the time we dominated is the time we lose all records...


Thx for info oldHemiman 

[hemihead]

The story I heard way back in the late 70's was there was a big fire in the warehouse where the records were stored . I believe that was around 1978 . The reason why 67 and back has to do with the info for those cars were on IBM computers ( hence the Certicards ) .

[Dino]

The story I heard way back in the late 70's was there was a big fire in the warehouse where the records were stored . I believe that was around 1978 . The reason why 67 and back has to do with the info for those cars were on IBM computers ( hence the Certicards ) .

That's pretty much the info I received, except the IBM part, that's news to me.   

[stripedelete]

I was responsible for Chrysler's electronic parts catalog (PAIS) in the mid 90's.  I ran into the same warehouse fire explanation when looking for older electronic parts files.    My memory is a little fuzzy but, there was some kind of stupidity surrounding it.  Can't remember if it was how it started, how it was put out, or lack of effort put into secure storage, or salvage after the fact.

[TexasGeneral]

They prolly parked a 68 charger in the warehouse and that damned dash mounted ampmeter caused the charger to catch fire, burning all the records..