queston

[BUKE]

I was sitting over a few beers with a few friends of mine. One is a real Ford man(I know I know) but is a good guy. He was saying that you can't trace the owners back to the original owner of your old car. Well a few beers later my mouth engaged without the brain and I said yes you can. A small wager was put on it(two more beers) and here I am. Asking in the best place possible for the right answer.(Because in heaven there is no beer and that's why I like it here) if I lied well who knows? Any help thanks everybody. I will be away for a few days.

Have a great Buick day

and a happy new year

FRANK

[Larry Schramm]

I would probably say just pay up. Most of it depends on how old the vehicle is, when the last time it was titled/transferred, state you are looking at asking as many states have purged old files, etc.

[Guest 75RivGS]

Just last week I had a very nice conversation on the phone with the very first owner of my 68 Wildcat.... But I do have the P.O.P. of that car :cool:

[Barney Eaton]

Some states will sell you the information. There seems to be different opinions between states, counties, etc on what information is cover under the open records laws.

Bottom line is they must do some searching and they all claim not to have the resorces. Records prior to about 1990 were not put on computers, so the information is in a box somewhere.

[JZRIV]

I have been going through the process of tracing ownership with my 66 Riv for the past year. This has proven more difficult than the restoration itself but I have been making small bits of progress. I am learning how to be a private investigator.

There may be a few exceptions but most states quit giving out ownership information such as copies of title transfers, registration documents etc due to personal privacy laws passed over the years. 20 years ago it wasn't a problem and at that time most state DMVs had a division that would handle public requests like that for just a few dollars. I was able to obtain copies of every transaction from 3 different states clear back to the selling dealer when I did a search on a 67 model in 1992. Try that today and you hit a brick wall.

It seems many states do not keep records (or at least have them accessible)after a certain length of time so the older the car, the less chance info exists even if you were given access. If you are lucky enough to know a person inside the DMV in the state the information you're after is in, then you might have a chance. Other than that we are left to try and trace ownership by talking to previous owners and hope they remember who they bought the car from and/or are still alive.

[NTX5467]

Over the years, like many other people with car enthusiast friends, I've heard about cars being traced back to the original or prior owners of vehicles they'd purchased and were researching its history. Varied results, for sure, so I'd say "Y'all have a draw on this wager".

Many of these were done before DMVs were completely computerized, which is a variable situation in itself. Usually, it was vehicles of the muscle/pony car eras that were being researched. You sent your request to the state DMV, or initiated the request at a regional office, supplied the title information for them, paid their fees, and waited for the mail to bring the results. IF the information was incomplete, then it was "Perry Mason time" . . . sending registered letters to the last-known-titled owner and hoping the address still worked. Again, this was a LONG time before the ease of Google or Infospace-type searches. IF you got a reply from your letters, then you couild work through the process as deep as you might be willing to go. Plus, back then, most dealers (again, regulated by state laws) put their dealership's nameplates/decals on the rear of the vehicle, as those in other states would use license plate frames instead. Having an intact owner's manual and attached Protecto Plate could be very valuable, too, back then!

In more recent times, though, things might not be quite so easy. Many DMVs now have model year age limits for their easily-available computerized information--not everything was computerized, just the more recent items. Earlier items might have been on microfiche, which could have age-related issues with much use.

Also, in more recent times, many dealerships purge their archived files after their legal time limits expire. Not to mention the large number of older dealerships that have changed ownership many times, have been remodeled, or have vanished completely over the past few decades. All of these things have tended to conspire against finding out the ownership chain of a 1970s or earlier vehicle via state records. Still, though, as mentioned, if you can get ANY information from the state entities, then you at least have some information from which you can begin your own investigation of the vehicle's ownership history.

So . . . this is why I'd call the wager "A Draw". Too many variables can exist to prevent a consistent answer in all cases.

Happy New Year!

NTX5467

[JohnD1956]

A small wager was put on it(two more beers) and here I am. Have a great Buick day

and a happy new year

FRANK

The good news is payback is not a bi*ch in this wager. enjoy

[bhclark]

With some info to go on in the glove compartment of my '65 wildcat, I was able to find an obituary on-line for the original owner. A white pages search turned up the son of the original owner, who I was able to get in contact with.

Unfortunately, I was about 6 months too late, as they have just finished cleaning up the estate and had pitched everything related to my car, including the order form and cancelled check it was paid for with!

In Ohio, it is pretty much impossible to do through the DMV. They claim to destroy all paper records after 7 years.

[BUKE]

Well thanks everybody I really appreciate all your answers. I know if I asked you guys I get this straight answers. Well I guess I'll just have to go down to the pub and twist his arm to tell him how right I was lol. A little beer, a little car talk, a lot of exaggeration, and a lot of laughs. Equal good times. Thank you very much.

Have a great Buick day

Frank