The search for my dad's '69 GTO

[69bronzeT5]

As some of you know, for the last 2 years, I've been searching for my dad's old '69 GTO. I've gotten a few leads. Here's the story on the car.

My dad owned this car for over 10 years and he sold it before I was born in 1992 for $4000 to a guy in North Vancouver BC. When my dad sold the car, it was metallic blue. It also had the original 400 4-spd with a Ram Air 3 but it had Ram Air 4 decals on the hood. It also had dark blue interior. It came original with a white vinyl top. It was removed but the chrome trim was still on it when my dad sold it. So back to the guy who bought it. He painted it Carosel Red and made it a Judge clone but he left the dark blue interior. My dad could of bought it back for $10,000 but couldnt come up with the funds. That was the last time he saw his old GTO.




Matt (CHARGERPUNK) lives in North Vancouver and recalls seeing a carousel red '69 GTO Judge with dark blue interior. He saw it between the years of 2003-2004 and it was still in North Vancouver. He also said it was rusty and it no longer had the Judge stripes but you could see where they previously were.

[69bronzeT5]

I got a message on the Northwest Legends GTO forum and it said this:

"There was a kid in our (now defunct) GTO club who had a 69 Judge clone. Seem to recall that he said it was a RA III car too - no idea what his name was, but he definitely was in North Van. On the PY site there's a guy, Paul Tarlier, goes by the name paul6874. Haven't spoken to him in years, but back then he was in charge of the club (had everybody's info) so he might be able to help?"



I jumped over to the Performance Years Pontiac forum and got this. It's funny, the guy he is talking about was my dad :

"This maybe a long shot but I talked to one of the guys at the local post office while mailing out a set of JL code Rally II's to the US and he immediately knew what I was talking about. He said he had a couple of GTO's while living in N. Van a while back and one was a 69 RAIII but had sold both while still living there. I've made note of your email and next time I see the post office guy I'll ask again. I am in Duncan over on Vancouver Island."

[69bronzeT5]

Then today....I recieved this email. It ties everything together. I think the next step is for me to take the vin number to the motor vehicle branch and get a search done on it.


"Hey there,
I think I am the guy who bought your dads gto but unfortunately I don't know where it went.
I bought a blue 69 gto as you described from a guy in Richmond. I painted it carousel red and judge cloned the outside but didn't have the money to do the interior. And it had ram air 4 decals on the hood and a hood tach.
I sold it to a young guy in north Vancouver about 14 years ago.
He had it another couple of years (maybe 3) and then sold it again.
I do remember he was in a gto club  and he commuted in the car from north Vancouver to squamish,  Which might be a lead. Sorry don't have his full name.  I think his first name was Chris.
Good luck
Patrick"

[WingCharger]

I always thought it would be cool to find my dads old '70 Camaro for him.
Unfortunately, my dad doesn't remember who he sold it to, or have any info on the cars vin.

[69bronzeT5]

I always thought it would be cool to find my dads old '70 Camaro for him.
Unfortunately, my dad doesn't remember who he sold it to, or have any info on the cars vin.

Yeah, my dad sold a few cars and we didn't write any of the info down. That includes his '71 Camaro RS Z28 he sold about 5 years ago.

[WingCharger]

I always thought it would be cool to find my dads old '70 Camaro for him.
Unfortunately, my dad doesn't remember who he sold it to, or have any info on the cars vin.

Yeah, my dad sold a few cars and we didn't write any of the info down. That includes his '71 Camaro RS Z28 he sold about 5 years ago.

My dads Camaro was his first car. 350 Auto, 3.55 Gears He Put In, Cragers, etc.
Wish I could find the thing. Probably scraped.

[1969chargerrtse]

I always thought it would be cool to find my dads old '70 Camaro for him.
Unfortunately, my dad doesn't remember who he sold it to, or have any info on the cars vin.

To get your old vin, just go to the town hall of the year the car was registered there.  Here in CT I've been to my old town halls and the old record books are available for anyone to view.

[1969chargerrtse]

I always thought it would be cool to find my dads old '70 Camaro for him.
Unfortunately, my dad doesn't remember who he sold it to, or have any info on the cars vin.

Yeah, my dad sold a few cars and we didn't write any of the info down. That includes his '71 Camaro RS Z28 he sold about 5 years ago.

My dads Camaro was his first car. 350 Auto, 3.55 Gears He Put In, Cragers, etc.
Wish I could find the thing. Probably scraped.

Well, after all those years it probably has been scraped.  What you really should worry about is if it's been scrapped. 

[WingCharger]

I always thought it would be cool to find my dads old '70 Camaro for him.
Unfortunately, my dad doesn't remember who he sold it to, or have any info on the cars vin.

Yeah, my dad sold a few cars and we didn't write any of the info down. That includes his '71 Camaro RS Z28 he sold about 5 years ago.

My dads Camaro was his first car. 350 Auto, 3.55 Gears He Put In, Cragers, etc.
Wish I could find the thing. Probably scraped.

Well, after all those years it probably has been scraped.  What you really should worry about is it's been scrapped. 

It would just be cool to one day if I ever had the money, to get my dad his first car.

[69bronzeT5]

I just sent an email to that Paul Tarlier guy. We'll see what he says.

[Finn]

The cousin of the guy I bought my charger from tracked down his mom's GTO. Here's the story he sent me:

"My mom bought it for $600 in 1976 from a used car lot in columbus ohio where she went to college. she then owed her sister like $1000 so she just gave her the car.. then my sunts boyfriend used a 1966 gto 389 tripower 4 speed car for parts to fix it up. he didnt do much so it just sat for a few years. then she owed my uncle money and she gave it to him. and he kept it for 10 or so years and then he told my mom $4500 to buy it back and she was getting the money but he then sold it to his neighbor 3 years ago for $2700! so it moved all of 1000 yards in 23 years. we then bought it back in october of 2007 for $6500 with all new yearone interior in boxes and a 4 speed and the tripower setup!"


Good luck man, that'd be really cool if you found it again!

[BIRD67]

Hey Cody, My now late friend Quint was heavily involved in the GTOAA (gtoaa.org) mabe if you send an email to the 1969 GTO tech advisor, he can help you, he happens to be a friend of mine, his name is Kevin Beal..

[69bronzeT5]

Thanks Zach, I'll check it out. My dad says if he can buy the car back...he'll give it to me.

[Tilar]

The cousin of the guy I bought my charger from tracked down his mom's GTO. Here's the story he sent me:

"My mom bought it for $600 in 1976 from a used car lot in columbus ohio where she went to college. she then owed her sister like $1000 so she just gave her the car.. then my sunts boyfriend used a 1966 gto 389 tripower 4 speed car for parts to fix it up. he didnt do much so it just sat for a few years. then she owed my uncle money and she gave it to him. and he kept it for 10 or so years and then he told my mom $4500 to buy it back and she was getting the money but he then sold it to his neighbor 3 years ago for $2700! so it moved all of 1000 yards in 23 years. we then bought it back in october of 2007 for $6500 with all new yearone interior in boxes and a 4 speed and the tripower setup!"


Good luck man, that'd be really cool if you found it again!

That almost looks like a 66 that my Dad bought new, and then traded it in a year later for a 67 Ford pickup. I think his was more green than that one. Hard to tell after 40+ years.

[BIRD67]

Oh also, if you find out what the VIN is and wan to know about the car, then this place will help!
http://www.phs-online.com/

and
www.amesperf.com

Good luck and keep me updated, I know of a blue '69 GTO, cheap, near me..

[69bronzeT5]

Patrick emailed me a picture from when he had the car. He painted it to look like a Judge....



Here it was when my dad had it.....

[Finn]

 

[WingCharger]

Your dad had a sharp car!

[69bronzeT5]

Yeah, it was a cool car for sure. The last I heard of it...it was rusty and beat up and being used as a daily driver.

[TUFCAT]

WOW Cody....I seriously hope you find it. We were just talking about this subject a couple of days ago!! That's ironic.

If it's truly his car.... you'll certainly want to try to buy if it's ever for sale...  How are Canadian banks for loans these days? 

[69bronzeT5]

WOW Cody....I seriously hope you find it. We were just talking about this subject a couple of days ago!! That's ironic.

If it's truly his car.... you'll certainly want to try to buy if it's ever for sale...  How are Canadian banks for loans these days? 

Well I talked to my dad last night and he said he'd like to buy it and give it to me. I sent an email to that Paul Tarier guy...he was last online the Pontiac Forum on Nov.9/08...so its a waiting game now.

[WingCharger]

Hope you find the car man!

[69bronzeT5]

Another update: A guy over on the Northwest Legends GTO forum contacted me on there and told me something interesting.

"I was at a motorcycle / carshow in Squamish B.C. end of Aug 08. There were 3 GTO`S. God sure sounds like the 69 I was looking at. The guy talked about similar things that you sorta mention. Same color interior, car just looked plain old."

[reign16]

Oh your car dad is so good and beautiful i like that,



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[69_500]

good luck on tracking it down Cody. I have managed to locate a few of the cars that my dad used to own, some were very easy to find, others have taken some serious leg work. If all goes well I hope to possibly buy one of them back in the future, but I don't see that happening for quite a while.

[WingCharger]

So it was at a show?
I thought it was being daily driven?

[69bronzeT5]

It was being daily driven when it was last seen in 2003 or 2004 but now that it's been spotted at a show...I don't know what to say. It was apperentley all beat up (faded paint etc) at the show.

[WingCharger]

It was being daily driven when it was last seen in 2003 or 2004 but now that it's been spotted at a show...I don't know what to say. It was apperentley all beat up (faded paint etc) at the show.

Have you found out the vin yet? If you have that, the DMV will track down the current owner. At least the Ohio one will...

[69bronzeT5]

Yep, I have the vin number, I just haven't gone to the DMV yet.

[WingCharger]

Yep, I have the vin number, I just haven't gone to the DMV yet.

What would be your plan for the car if you do find it?

[69_500]

Finding ones old car is a lot easier with the VIN that just going from memory as well.

[69bronzeT5]

Yep, I have the vin number, I just haven't gone to the DMV yet.

What would be your plan for the car if you do find it?

Just keep tabs on it and then when my dad gets some money, he wants to buy it back.

[69bronzeT5]

This hasn't been updated for a while. The guy from the GTO forum attended the show where it was spotted back in 2008 and the car wasn't there. So the search continues. However, I managed to make some airplay on another website. I never submitted the car, it just ended up on there (check out the '68 Charger there also). For some reason though, the website dosen't work

[69bronzeT5]

I occasionally check Ebay's GTOs and came across this one back in September. I almost shit bricks. It looked identical to my dad's car. However, the more I read the less I knew it wasn't it. My dad's car was always an open headlight car, this one was originally hideaways converted to open. Also, this one had black interior and a '68 400. It did have the 4spd though. It's also half way across the continent!

[mauve66]

Yep, I have the vin number, I just haven't gone to the DMV yet.

privacy laws make it impossible to just go to the DMV like you used to be able to do, now you have to know a cop or someone inside

[mauve66]

This hasn't been updated for a while. The guy from the GTO forum attended the show where it was spotted back in 2008 and the car wasn't there. So the search continues. However, I managed to make some airplay on another website. I never submitted the car, it just ended up on there (check out the '68 Charger there also). For some reason though, the website dosen't work

i couldn't get it to work either

[69bronzeT5]

I posted an ad on Craigslist looking for it and got 4 tips in the first hour the ad was up. One person was very helpful and did an Aircare search on it. For those that don't know, Aircare is a thing in the Vancouver area where they test for emissions being put out of your car. The last Aircare date for the GTO was June 26, 2001. However, I believe from other tips I've gotten over the year or so I've been searching is that the car is in Squamish. Cars in Squamish, Interior BC, Vancouver Island and the North Coast don't have to be Aircared. No Aircare in Squamish and the fact that I believe the car is there links together.

On another note, I looked up my Charger and there are no records since it's been off the road since '85 and Aircare records date back to '93 or so. However, I looked up my Duster and got 7 records. It was Aircared in 1994, 1997, 2002 & 2005. It passed the '94 one. It failed in '97. Also I noticed they tried to Aircare it twice on May 10, 2002 at 11:59 and 12:26 and failed both times. They came back the next day on May 11, 2002 at 2:22 and it failed and then tried again at 6:08 and it finally passed. However it failed again on May 21, 2005. Based on the results, it seems the cause was the messed up, non factory carb. The current carb has a few hoses and lines blocked off and whatnot.

[jb666]

Cody.. I have some bad news.. Here's the car, now...



Ok... I'm kidding.. Good luck finding it, sounds like you're on the right path!!! Some of my past cars are (now) worth some good $$.. I'd love to see if they survived..

[69bronzeT5]

Who knew cars could transform years!

[TUFCAT]

BTW, on the blue car pictured.....the exhaust tips stick out way to far. That's a huge "pet peave"of mine,