Tips on finding original owner and history?

[Davidfloyd]

I love learning about the history of our cars. Is there a resource or any tips that anyone has used to find information about original owners?

[x66 714]

Do you have the NCRS report yet? It's a stepping stone. Some DMVs still give out some information...not many though....Joe

[Davidfloyd]

I do have the NCRS and dealer info which was definitely fun to find out.

[motorman]

sometimes the original owner paperwork and pictures are not good enough if it does not agree with the Z/28 experts

[FRANKTHECRANK]

As far as finding the original owner of my 68 Z28, once a NCRS report though General Motors Heritage Center and the National Corvette Restorers Society was obtained, I actually ran an ad in the local Craigslist in the town where the dealership was located back in 1968. I put it in the "wanted" section, asking if anyone knew the car that was sold out of that particular dealership in town. I got a few hits but it took a year or so before I got a solid one. A guy, who thought he remembered the car, and knew a couple of guys who worked at the dealership, went to work digging. He was a retired private detective, believe it or not, and he was excited to do some research.

Long story short, he found the guy who bought my car new, and we emailed and talked on the phone, and he sent me 4 or 5 pictures of the car when he first bought it and after he did some work to it. He only had it for 4 years and traded it in at Scuncio Chevrolet in RI where I am from, and Bob Johnson turned it into a drag car, and it was raced until I bought it in 1981. So, I was and still am, the second registered owner of the car, since it was never registered to anyone while it was raced. Yes, I still own it today, 42 years later, and now have the entire history of the car.

[396 SS/RS]

As far as finding the original owner of my 68 Z28, once a NCRS report though General Motors Heritage Center and the National Corvette Restorers Society was obtained, I actually ran an ad in the local Craigslist in the town where the dealership was located back in 1968. I put it in the "wanted" section, asking if anyone knew the car that was sold out of that particular dealership in town. I got a few hits but it took a year or so before I got a solid one. A guy, who thought he remembered the car, and knew a couple of guys who worked at the dealership, went to work digging. He was a retired private detective, believe it or not, and he was excited to do some research.

Long story short, he found the guy who bought my car new, and we emailed and talked on the phone, and he sent me 4 or 5 pictures of the car when he first bought it and after he did some work to it. He only had it for 4 years and traded it in at Scuncio Chevrolet in RI where I am from, and Bob Johnson turned it into a drag car, and it was raced until I bought it in 1981. So, I was and still am, the second registered owner of the car, since it was never registered to anyone while it was raced. Yes, I still own it today, 42 years later, and now have the entire history of the car.

Great story. I'm fortunate to know all of the history of my car. I bought mine from the original owner in'86. I sold it in '01 (regretted shortly thereafter) and just recently bought it back from the 3rd owner. Essentially, I'm still the second owner. lol

[David K]

396….Would you be the second owner once removed?😵‍💫😵‍💫😆😆

[Stingr69]

I hired a private investigator to find the previous registered owner.  Previous owner was not happy to hear about the car because he had been forced to sell it back in the late '70's (parents).  He basically accused me of "rubbing it in his face".  He told me he knew "nothing about it's history or where he got it". -WTF!  I have kept it for about 45 years now.

Old wounds still smoldering hot there.  Not much I can do about it. 

Hope your search goes better than mine.

[DuWayne Ladner]

I’ve owned my 9’ SS396 L78 for 50 years this past May. Do have a dealers packet in glove box, and have NCRS report which only confirmed my dealers packet as legit. Did use Lost Muscle Cars and found the original owner in early February this year. Original title holder of car is still alive and aged 96 years old. But the son who is the owner I talked with and all he could tell me was it was bought new and Day 2ued and went racing around ChicagoLand. No pics, but was able to remember what the purchase price was, and to me was a good bit high for a L78 factory car! Of course the original motor is not with car and have no paperwork or P-O-P with packet.

[67L48]

A 9 foot SS396?  That's like a little Nash Rambler in Camaro form.  I'd love to see it!

I took the passive route on mine.  I have the POP, so I know the original owner's name ... and it's a very unique name:  Leif Narlin, purchased at Schonlaw Chevrolet in Hollywood (LA).  So, I always figured it would be a relatively easy person to track down.  I did some basic searches in the 1990s and never found anything.  I let it go, because I always felt weird about digging into it.  The person I bought it from in 1989 was the 2nd or 3rd owner and the car had only 34,000 miles on it at that point.  So, it wasn't ever driven a ton.

I think those histories are more fun for Zs and other drag strip cars.  For cars like mine, the stories tend to be mundane -- a car that was purchased, not driven much, and eventually sold.  Meh.  So, I've never done the deep dive into the personal history behind my car.

[396 SS/RS]

396….Would you be the second owner once removed?😵‍💫😵‍💫😆😆

Being it was an all original fully optioned GM Exec. car it got to where I couldn't take it out and enjoy it for fear of something happening to it. At the time I also had a yearning for one of the newer and faster Camaro's to have as a toy, so I sold it to a gentleman 10 years my senior. Shortly thereafter I regretted letting it go and always said that if the opportunity came again to get it back, I would buy it. The opportunity came to reacquire it 21 years later, this past July so I bought it. The wife didn't even bat an eye, she knew how bad me, and our son wanted me to get it back.