Tracing History

[Guest RXN]

So I'm trying to trace the history of my 1958 Oldsmobile. So far I know it was built at South Gate Plant, the rear license plate cover say's "Los Gatos" on it, assuming it was purchased there. I'm curious to learn who owned it before I did, Also I'm hoping someone could help trace the VIN# to which trim package it is, As I've seen other 1958 Oldsmobiles, (wagon, convertible, super 88, and 88) and my rear window trim is smaller and my steering wheel is different.

I bought the Car off my Grandfather. He bought it off a guy that claims he got it at John Wayne's auction and that it was the Estate car.

Grandma is sure she has papers on that somewhere but doesn't know where. And I am curious to find out if that is true or not.

The front windshield still has the vehicle registration sticker from the California Highway Patrol 1974. on it.

and because the VIN # is only 9 digits I can not seem to do any online VIN searches.

I am wondering if anyone out there does this sort of history hunting for a living?

Any advise on who to contact for this info?

- Ryan:confused:

[rocketraider]

Privacy laws have thwarted most owner history searches, and some states are worse about it than others. Your insurance agent may be able to run a search. Otherwise you need a friend in law enforcement or at DMV.

The first few characters on your VIN plate are easily decoded here or on other, Oldsmobile-specific, sites. There's also a data plate underhood that can tell you a lot about the car- body style, original color and interior, date it was built, things like that.

There were no real "trim packages" back then. Cars came with certain things standard and the rest was up to the ordering dealer. As a rule, a base Eighty Eight will have plainer trim than a Super 88 or especially a Ninety Eight, though fancier steering wheels, interiors, paint etc could be ordered. Also keep in mind that cars tended to be much simpler overall then than they are now- a fully optioned car was the exception, even in Cadillac/Lincoln/Imperial territory.

That's what I find amusing (and puzzling) about people who will throw the option book at a 57 Chevy when restoring one. Not saying some weren't factory built with all options, but cars in that price range just didn't come like that.

[Guest slikmetalfab]

You can get build sheets for GM vehicles thru the GM Heritage center.

However with that being said, I think 58 is the one year that they do not cover because of all the cars that were made with 57 parts and others with 58 parts. It's the "odd-ball" year for GM.

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[Tedd Thompson]

There is a good chance that if your car has a 4bbl carburetor it's a super 88 and not just a 88 (that is if it hasn't been swapped out in the last 50 years), I believe all 98's all came with a 4 bbl, the data plate would tell all of the trim accessories it may have been ordered with. Your best bet on the history of that car lies with Granny, you might want to give her a hand looking for it God knows what else of interest you might find....Tedd

[Guest slikmetalfab]

PM me a pic of the trim tag and i can decipher it for you. That one tells the optins, color, trim level, etc. The VIN will tell you the model type.

I have lots of books... :-)

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