Thread: Research the history of my car

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Hi All,
I have a 1934 Chevy Master. And I have been wondering exactly what my car has actually seen during its life. But since it cannot speak I was wondering if anyone knew a way to maybe look up previous owners . Maybe even find out who was the original owner. I thought it might be fun to do. If anyone has any ideas i would like to hear them.

Thanks,
Denny

If you could access the DMV records you might find some history on the car, other than that I don't have a clue.

I would try to contact the previous owner, or rodders in the area that the car was last, to see if they know anything about it. .....or local clubs, rodders who were knowledgeable about other enthusiasts, hot rod oriented businesses, event organizers,...

Probably going to be a tough assignment, Denny.

Do you know whether the car has been licensed pretty much all its life?

I'd say that if the car is in reasonably presentable shape with some semblance of originality showing (no major restoration apparent) there should be some registration information somewhere.

Was it licensed when you acquired it? If not, was there by any chance an old plate on it? Stickers or decals that might give you a starting place?

If you can sniff out just one previous owner (ideally one who is still living - after all the car is seventy five years old!) that should give you an opening leading to other contacts. There's no telling how many states, or even countries, the car has lived in.

Is the car is a restoration that was a rescued derelict that sat abandoned someplace for years? That could be an obstacle to getting some history.

Look that little jewel over real well. You may find a clue of some kind that will open a door for you. If it does, you might have some fun!

Good luck!

Jim

I suspect the serial number is located on the passenger side floor by the battery compartment on a small ID plate. Using that number, surf through some of these sites and maybe get a little history on it and chase the car back to its origins. From there, you may be able to search DMV records like Ken said.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...-revision&cd=5

It has been my experience that trying to chase it back from now to then is fruitless, whereas chasing it then to now may be a better option. You used to be able to go to DMV here in Arizona with a license tag number and chase the car back though its previous owners. You can't do that any more due to privacy regulations.

What happened was, some nutball got into a confrontation with another motorist on the freeway. The nutball wrote down the license plate number, went to DMV, got the owner's name, went to the library and got their phone number through the Pope Directory and began a long regimen of hasrassing phone calls. The nutball was located finally and the authorities put a stop to it. But it was found out how he did it, so the DMV closed down the release of information to citizens. I swear, human beings will find a way to screw anything and everything. We used to be able to locate the owner of abandoned cars with the license plate number, so we could call them and try to buy them. Won't work anymore.

Thanks all for your replies. I will try to get all the numbers i can find off the car. I will keep you all posted if I find out anything exciting.

Denny

I have always been interested in doing the same thing with my 34 Plymouth. I know it's history going back about 30 years from the time it was a drag car and then reborn as a streetrod. But prior to that I have no clue. I had thought about joining the Plymouth Owners of America to see if they might have info on the early years, but I yet to get around to that.

As to my 57 Olds, I know it's history from the the time it arrived at the original dealer in 1957 to today. Pretty neat to have that info.

Originally Posted by techinspector1

I suspect the serial number is located on the passenger side floor by the battery compartment on a small ID plate....[snip]

What happened was...[snip]

Good info techinspector1,
I wonder if the DMV would at least offer up the location of the car and not it's actual owners? A little schmoozing with a DMV clerk might yield some fun information.

-Andy

I know It wouldn't be easy.
I bought my 65 Ranchero from a man that had the car since it was new.
Renewed the tags through the Las Vegas, Nevada DMV to the same address
every year till I bought about 4 years ago.
He had lost the title over the years and would just renew the tags, how I don't know.
I guess just thru the mail. Anyway he applied for a lost title.
They said they had no record of who owned the car and started giving him a bunch of trouble. Here is a guy that was 95 years old and had been renewing the tags for 40 years. He had to get his daughter who was a Attorney to go down and straiten everything out so I could get a clear title. So in other word I wish you lots of luck Denny. Kurt

I know you are talking a 1934 but one thing I did on my vette to trace it down was to pay CARFAX. I dont want to sound like a rolling billboard for them but they did list all the owners for the car since new ... maybe it can get you a few past owners on your car, but considering the age I dont know.

On my 59 Sedan Delivery I have it traced back to 67 and that guy is working on the name of the guy he bought it from .... I'm almost there.