Spoke with the Original Owner of my Charger!

[bill440rt]

Just wondering if anyone else has done this before??

When I bought my '70 Charger back in '89, it came with a stack of paperwork and receipts, and the window sticker. I always knew the names of the previous owners, but never contacted them.
I recently decided to try to contact some of the previous owners, to learn a bit more about the history of my car.
After years of owning this car, tonite I finally spoke with the original owner who special ordered it as his first new car back in '70. He was ecstatic to hear his old Charger existed after all these years. I calculate that he is in his early '70's by now, & I could hear him smiling over the phone the entire time. We spoke for a good half hour, & I learned some fascinating things about my car & how it came to exist.

Has anyone else traced their history of their Charger thru previous owners??

[Chatt69chgr]

Wasn't too hard for me to do.  I bought my Charger from my brother-in-law who bought it new.  He gave me all of his records, papers, service manual, etc.  I've been meaning to ask him if he has any pictures of the car during his ownership.  Sure would like copies of them if he does.

[XS29LA47V21]

Just wondering if anyone else has done this before??

When I bought my '70 Charger back in '89, it came with a stack of paperwork and receipts, and the window sticker. I always knew the names of the previous owners, but never contacted them.
I recently decided to try to contact some of the previous owners, to learn a bit more about the history of my car.
After years of owning this car, tonight I finally spoke with the original owner who special ordered it as his first new car back in '70. He was ecstatic to hear his old Charger existed after all these years. I calculate that he is in his early '70's by now, & I could hear him smiling over the phone the entire time. We spoke for a good half hour, & I learned some fascinating things about my car & how it came to exist.

Has anyone else traced their history of their Charger thru previous owners??

Made some previous effforts with very little luck on several cars I have owned.  I got my B5 avatar photo back to around 1980 local to me, but he bought it out of Calif which was interesting to me.     Some pros and cons I suppose could be thought from both sides but overall to a true car lover hearing about his/her first car and a current owners love for it surely it a great thing.  I can only hope i get a similar opportunity, congrats, that is cool.  So you gona tell a little more of the story?

[BananaDan]

Nice!  I started last year in March and made it up to the guy that brought her from the US to Canada in 1996.  I didn't make it further back from that, but I haven't continued the hunt since either...

[Davtona]

Just wondering if anyone else has done this before??
Has anyone else traced their history of their Charger thru previous owners??

Yes I have had a similar situation. Since the early 80's I've known the name of the original owner of my Daytona. Car was flipped quickly in between me and him twice purely in the interest of making a profit. So I basically consider myself the second owner as the title wasn't even changed between one of these flips. The car came with the original window sticker, purchase and loan agreement, other paperwork and pictures of the car with his wife the day they purchased it. Years ago it was harder to find someone than it is now. I tried to contact him but with no sucess. A couple of years ago I began again to try and track him and his wife down. Really didn't take that long with the internet and as they were still in the same basic location. The interesting part is his son has the same name and that's who I got ahold of first. Boy was he surprised when I called and told him about the car. Through him I talked to his dad a few minutes later. His wife's first question was did I want to sell it. Half felt like I would recognize her if I saw her after seeing her picture for so many years. This was not the only Daytona he looked at when he bought it. There was a Hemi one he tried to buy but couldn't make a deal on it so he ended up with this one. He was a way back nascar fan and knew what the car was when he bought it. Told me a couple of cute stories of when he had it. As it was with you he was very excited and happy to talk and discuss the car and tell car stories. I'm sure he was glad to hear the car still existed and probably deep down wished he had kept it. He sent me several more pictures of the car from when he owned it which he gave me permission to post and they have floated around the aero part of the forum. I would encourage everyone if they have the link to the past to pursue it. It was interesting for me and all those previous owners I think like to know their car is still alive.

[stripedelete]

My car originated from Bakersfield, CA.  I'm the 4Th owner.  I know #3 and can find the name of #2 from #3 or public record.  They were neighbours in Ohio.

I haven't contacted the original owner yet, but, I am certain of who and where.  How I can be certain of who and where is "dumb luck".
All three transfers happened within 5 years ('79-'84) and nobody cleaned out the glove box.  It was jambed with registration cards, service orders, parking passes, etc.  Maybe not such a big deal, but, when you consider all the owners were in their 20's, including me, and no one threw it away?    

The car was registered to a doctor in Bakersfield, CA, but, it clearly belonged to his daughter.  Her name was on numerous copies of service work orders.  With the internet I was able to maybe find her.  Common first name, common married name, no direct connection to deceased father.

The big luck came with the one work order having sisters not so common name.  Penny!  Penny took the car in for service just once.  When I added Penny to the google search it was a done deal.   The first hit was Doctor Penny and Doctor Sister dedicating a memorial to Doctor Dad.  

The whole thing took a couple of hours (30 years after the first transfer).        

Penny, thanks for taking you sister's car in for an oil change.  I'll give you a call soon.  

[bull]

I have tried to get all the history I can on my 68 but could only get back so far. The earliest owner I could find was a hispanic guy who brought it to Oregon from California in the late 1980s. Before that I have no info.

Before that I tracked my old '70 down and located the current owner so I could call him and talk about the car and send him some pictures - what an a$$hat that guy turned out to be. I'd be ecstatic if I got a call like that; he just acted like I was bothering him.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Very cool Bill!   Does he have any other documentation for the car?

[tan top]

good stuff     

[bill440rt]

Very cool Bill!   Does he have any other documentation for the car?

The only thing he might have are pictures. I'd love to get my hands on some pictures from when it was new. I'm certain I will be speaking to him again. He asked me if I could send him some pictures of it, I happily obliged.
The dealer he ordered it from was over 150 miles from where he lived, but their family did business with the dealer before so they trusted them. He saw a similar purple '70 in a paper advertisement, and fell in love with it so that is why he ordered it. He even remembered the salesman's name! Today, the dealership is converted into an office building, but a grandson carried the dealership name & now runs a Cadillac dealer.
He traded a Mustang in on it (BTW he stated out of all the cars he owned he hated the Mustang the most! lol). He owned it up until about '74, when he got married & started to plan a family & needed a more practical car. The irony is that he sold the Charger, and bought a new Porsche instead!     Family car, indeed.
He always loved the Charger the most, and had always wondered about the car.

I bought my '68 from the original owner, and still receive Christmas cards to this day from them!

[hemi68charger]

Yeap.. I spoke to the original owner of my Daytona.. Bought it new from Parker Dodge in Paducah, Ky. The two other band members of his rock-n-roll band bought Daytonas new as well.. All three of them had Daytonas. They were called the "Executives"... Anyways, it was nice knowing how the original block went bye-bye.... 130mph with 4.10's causes a motor to scream... and the rest is history... Took it to the dealership and they warrantied it out..

Congrad's Bill on chatting with the original owner, it's always fun doing that..

[404NOTFOUND]

I just had the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles do a title history search on mine. They only had records for two owners in small towns south of Dallas dating back to 1992. I tried to find both owners on the internet. No luck. I have a mailing address so, I think I am going to write to the first owner and see what happens.

[bill440rt]

I sent an email yesterday to the supposed second owner. I was told the second owner bought the car for his wife/girlfriend, and her name is listed on other paperwork/receipts. There is an attorney in the town with the same name, so I'm hoping it's her. I found 4 names listed of the third owner, so that might be a gamble. I'm willing to take some bets, though. It's some exciting stuff for sure!