I finally found the original owner of my car in 2017 after owning the car since 1981. Exchanged emails, stories, and he sent me photos of the car. After years of unanswered "Hey, how's it going" type emails, I decided to look at the obituaries in his home town. Sure enough, he passed away in 2021.
I'm in the process of trying to find and contact family members to relay my condolences, and eventually inquire about if they had found any other documents or pictures related to the car.
You can't take it for granted, the short time we all have here on this Earth.