My car's heritage/history...

[BananaDan]

Any advice on how to trace a car's heritage or history?  I would like to know more about her, like where she was bought, where she has lived, trace back title changes etc, maybe even try to locate old/original owners.  Here is what I know, which isnt' much.  Obviously a window sticker or broadcast sheet are a great way to get started, but I have neither.

-I bought her in Ottawa, ON in 1999 from an ad on autotrader.com.
-The P.O. I bought her from bought her from a guy or brothers (can't recall) in Ontario that raced her.
-She was built in St. Louis, Missouri obviously.
-With the sale, in the trunk, was a handed down license plate from Missouri dated 1981.  (I have googled the plate # and VIN #, nothing)
-There's no guarantee that the license plate is actually hers obviously, but the Missouri link is interesting.  Maybe a Chrysler employee's car?
-She isn't a built-for-export car, she migrated to Canada sometime after 1981 (if the lic. plate is definitely hers) and I brought her back to the states in 1999.

That's all I know.  Any idea how to dig deeper, or what my next steps would be to learn more of her story?

Dan

[hemigeno]

I hired a private detective from Jefferson City, MO (state capitol) to do some investigation on my Daytona - which I know sold in Missouri as a new car.  He had to sweet-talk someone in the DMV to run the records.  You won't get past the receptionist if you call up and ask on your own... trust me, I tried.  It took a while, but I eventually got a printout that had records of many cars through sometime in the 80s, sorted by VIN number (that's how they recorded them).  I was then able to track down the original owner of my car.  The previous ownership trail was cold before that breakthrough, since the second owner bought it from a now-defunct dealership.

Best $200 I spent on this car, as it filled in a lot of historical blanks for me.

Whether you want to go that route or not, I don't know.  It might be a crapshoot, as your car may or may not have sold new in Missouri or spent much time here.  Another problem may be that based on how long it took the private detective, the same guy may have zero interest in tackling another such fishing expedition.




P.S.  I'll move this thread to Charger Discussion, where it might garner a few more comments.

[BananaDan]

Any chance you can check for my VIN in your printouts?  If it covered the 80's and I have an 81 license plate, she may be in there?  Let me know, I can PM you my VIN.  If it's in there, I'll gladly send you some $$ to subsidize the $$ you laid out doing the leg work with the PI.

Dan

[moparstuart]

  I used to own a 70 r/t  yellow    circa 1984  , i have no idea what my vin was
but it was a vinyl top car  

[BananaDan]

 I used to own a 70 r/t  yellow    circa 1984  , i have no idea what my vin was
but it was a vinyl top car  

My car didn't have a vinyl top when I bought her, and isn't coded for a vinyl top, but that doesn't mean somewhere in her 40 years she didn't have one.  What state were you in when you owned her?  Anything about her that might help identify for or against my car?  Feel free to e-mail me.

Dan
dan@strzelec.net

[hemigeno]

Any chance you can check for my VIN in your printouts?  If it covered the 80's and I have an 81 license plate, she may be in there?  Let me know, I can PM you my VIN.  If it's in there, I'll gladly send you some $$ to subsidize the $$ you laid out doing the leg work with the PI.

Dan

Dan,

The printout I received had only a few 1969 model year cars, as each transaction/sale was a separate entry in the State's system.  It was only one dot-matrix printer page too.  Somewhere in that black hole of records must have been other Missouri cars, but I don't have access to any more information than that one sheet... sorry.

[BananaDan]

Cool. Thanks anyway.

[nascarxx29]

Thanks for the link Dan. I did as you know find Bill Chargers 79  hemmings ad .I also found Hemi Genos dealer ad.Dont know what I could find on yours
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,76975.0.html

[BananaDan]

What other info other than I have provided in this thread would you need?  I'm not sure I know much more, but maybe there's something I'm not thinking of that can help?

Dan

[nascarxx29]

If motor vehicle cant search the vin .As some states dont retain certain info for so many years
What about past owners names and addresses.Maybe you could write to and ask to be forwarded to new address .I use my girl friend who does family history genelogy research.To help me locate past owners

[oldgold69]

i have the original dealer papers only thing   all i dont have is window sticker  have the original owners name but i dont think i ll every look him up afraid he would hound me about the car

[nascarxx29]

You can get a non original widow sticker made up from buildsheet info.From places like this
http://www.window-sticker.com/  http://www.window-sticker.com/faqs/

I have originals and copys from my old cars.The copys they cant get the exact fonts .Unique to industry typewriters

[AKcharger]

Check your state laws in AK I could get DMV records for my car all the way back to 1972. In case anyone cares I did a little geneology on my '70 with DMV data, internet and phone calls.
- Sometime in early '70 bought new in Tucson AZ (no record on owner sice it wasn't AK DMV)
- '72 Brought to AK by Air Force guy
- '74 Sold to some other guy in Anchorage
- '78 Sold again in '78, in Anchorage
- '80 lady's name added to title (marrage)
- '84 title changed to lady's name only (divorce?)
- '87 title changes again.  I learned the lady blew it up and it sat under a tree in Wasilla AK for 3 years'
- '90 Titled to a guy who owned a used car lot. He replaced blown 383 with 400 and put it on his lot.
- '90 Sold to a lady in Homer AK
- '98 Sold to a car "wheeler and dealer" in Anchorage after suffering wiring problems. Wheeler and dealer sells car to Army guy at Ft. Richardson a few months later
- '99 Army guy blows up 400 and puts car in auto storage lot...then leaves state abandoning it
- '02 I come across car and after battle finding owner and getting title, paying $500 for car and $250 back storage I get car, start resto.
- '04 Resto done, Air force moves me to VA and cars goes to lower 48
- '11 Car still in storage in PA, have to get it back up here to AK one of these days

[moparstuart]

I am front the Kansas city missouri area  , my car was coded for a vinyl top .I sold it in 86 to get a paint job on my 69 runner .


 it was a 440 , auto car  just  hoped you had my old car , here is me at 16 with her

[BananaDan]

Well, that was a close one.  Did you know anyone else cruising around town in an FY1 R/T?

[lexxman]

Id like to get more history on my car as well.I know a little from the last owner,but I would like to know more.

[nascarxx29]

Ak did his homework .One of my own cars I had nothing to go on .But one of the spare keys had a locksmith name and phone number .That took me to a town about a hour from me.Where I went to cruise nights and cars shows.Got some leads and found all my cars history

[BananaDan]

All I have is that old license plate.  I guess I try DMV or the PI approach...  Is Galen worth the trouble in case he has come across my car prior to me owning it?

Dan

[BananaDan]

I love the internet.  Ontario DMV allows online car history reports.  I now have the past three owner's names (including the guy I bought her from which I already had).  No addresses though, but it's a start.  Her Ontario history starts on 3/27/1996, so I assume that's when she came to Canada?

Dan

[BananaDan]

Holy crap.  15 minutes on the internet and a $12 fee to the Ontario DMV and I had my report.  I Googled the first person listed, likely the guy that brought her into Canada, Nigel Mills, and he turns out to be a Mopar parts dealer in Beaverton, Ontario!  http://www.nationalmoparts.com

Nigel was great.  He remembered my car down to the rear gear ratio!  He got her from a partner of his that found her in Winston-Salem, NC in 1996.  She was blue, and I remember my body shop guy telling me he found blue paint when he stripped her down.  She also had on the rear end, the words "Evil, Wicked, Mean & Nasty".  He has paperwork, photos and possibly the original NC title!

What a great way to celebrate my birthday.  Thanks Nigel!!!

Dan

[gtx6970]

You might ck into finding some car clubs in the area and see if anyone knows the car

[BananaDan]

You might ck into finding some car clubs in the area and see if anyone knows the car

After what had been accomplished in 15 minutes, I couldn't sit still today and wait for Nigel's e-mail so I kept digging on my own.  I took your advice on and located the Mopar car club local to W-S, NC.  I spoke with Ron Osborne for about 20-30 minutes and what a guy.  They seem to put on a great Mopar show every year in early May (Piedmont Mopar Club), and he'll be at Carlisle so we'll meet up.  Anyway, he told me the dealer that would have sold it if it was originally sold in the W-S area would have been Colony Dodge. That lead me to the dealer that now exists that bought their franchise out.  I have to call them back on Monday to see if they have the old records from Colony Dodge.  He also told me if it was raced in the W-S area, it was raced at Farmington Dragway.  I called them and they led me onto another fella that led me onto three other people, saying that if it existed in this area, one of those three guys either owned it or knows who owned it.  So I'm following the breadcrumb trail, I'll keep you all posted.  I have lots of e-mails to get out tonight so contact info can get exchanged and forwarded on to other people.  Hopefully it will turn something up.

I can't wait to get the pictures from Nigel of my car from her racing days.  I love old race car photos.

Dan

[lexxman]

Hey Dan.Where did you get that info from the Ont dmv? I got my car from a guy in Cornwall,and a guy in oakville(i think) owned it before that. I was told that it was originally from Quebec. I would love to see some old pictures of my car.

[BananaDan]

I think this was the site.  You want to do an uncertified vehicle abstract.

[edit]  It would help if I gave you the URL.  The website is a little disorganized, but keep hitting the Next button, then eventually select Vehicle History Report.  Then you'll get a screen to pop the VIN in, pay $12 and you should instantly have a .PDF file with your car's Ontario history.  Takes < 2-3 minutes.

https://www.soetrans.serviceontario.ca/MTOWebChannel/?lang=en

Dan

[moparstuart]

awesome news 

[BananaDan]

First picture from Nigel.  My car in 1996 when he bought her I assume.  Ouch.

Dan

[lexxman]

Thanks. Ya your right about the disorganized site. I'll trying it tomorrow some time.

[nascarxx29]

I was gonna suggest Nigel mills at national parts .He has a vast knowledge of Canada @ US cars

[BananaDan]

I was gonna suggest Nigel mills at national parts .He has a vast knowledge of Canada @ US cars

Ha, that's funny.  Turns out he was a prior owner and is the one that brought her to Canada from the US!  I can't wait until I find out more.

Link to the Moparts.com thread I have going.

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=6524704&an=0&page=0#Post6524704

Dan

[nascarxx29]

Its been a good day for car archeology. For You and 70 R/T Charger Bill

[tan top]

this is awesome stuff !!    good bit of dectective work 

[lexxman]

Dan,that Ont dmv worked great. I now know there were two owner in Ont going back to 2002. And it was fast(for a gov site)

[BananaDan]

The only issue is, if your car moved around Canada, you might need to run a report for each province/territory.

Dan

[lexxman]

Ya the first on the list was out of province(witch is me). Now I have to check to see if Quecbec has the same thing.

[BananaDan]

Another update was posted today on Moparts by Nigel about my car.

I purchased your R/T in Winston-Salem in the fall of 96 for $750.It had been sprayed red underneath and had an aluminum intake,headers,traction bars etc.I hauled it back to Canada and flipped it to a customer in Belleville Ontario for mid 2's.It had a broadcast.....wrong one of course its in my collection...a black/black vinyl U code real close to your VIN.The guy who purchased your car  picked up a complete #'s matching Canuk U code R/T B5/B5 for parts for $1500 or so.I think the #'s drivetrain that came out of it is in your FY1 car.A bunch of parts came off the blue one and went onto your car...door scoops etc.(yours were missing and holes had been bondoed over).I'll see if I can find my customs entry documents when I get a minute.