1 of 336

[Michael O’Harran]

So after receiving my Marti Report, I’m left with two questions.
1. If I know that my Mach 1 was built on April 13, 1973 and it’s 1 of 336, is there any way to learn which one of the 336 is is, i.e. mine was the 100th Mach 1 built in 1972.
2. I have tried pulling vehicle history and have verbal knowledge from who I purchased it from, but is there a way to learn who the original own was? I believe I am the second owner, but would love to confirm and hit a dead end as far as I can see.

 

[rackerm]

So after receiving my Marti Report, I’m left with two questions.
1. If I know that my Mach 1 was built on April 13, 1973 and it’s 1 of 336, is there any way to learn which one of the 336 is is, i.e. mine was the 100th Mach 1 built in 1972.
2. I have tried pulling vehicle history and have verbal knowledge from who I purchased it from, but is there a way to learn who the original own was? I believe I am the second owner, but would love to confirm and hit a dead end as far as I can see.

Very hard to get any info on P.O.s from DMV records these days. I know in NJ there is a digit in front of the VIN on the title which represents the number of times the title changed hands. Although not foolproof, it can give you a clue as to how many owners there were before you. I don't know how other states do it, if at all.

Have you checked with Marti to see if he has the Lois Eminger part two copy of the original Ford invoice? That may tell you more about the car's original history. If Marti has it, he will sell it to you. I learned from the original Ford invoice I received for one of my cars that it was originally a Ford MArketing Vehicle delivered to a Ford executive in NJ. It even had the Ford employee's name and employee number on the invoice.

During teardown, I have found clues of who previous owners were by items lost or left in the car. Things such as a carbon copy of a gas credit card receipt from 1987 which had the person's name and the gas station address, from which I was able to locate the person on Facebook still living in that town. A word of caution, about approaching someone, present them with your artifact(s) that lead you to them, so they don't see you as some kind of stalker.

During another teardown, I open the console compartment and found a registration card from 1981 with the P.Os name and address on it. This person had since passed away, but I was able to make contact with their son who was a senior in high school when his parents gave the car to him.

In both cases, the P.O. owners wrote back to me and shared their story of owning the car... each P.O. was happy to see their old cars were restored and not in some junkyard.

The bottom line is look for clues buried in the nooks crannies of your car, contact the original dealer if they are still around, turn over every stone, you never know what you might find out.

 

[Michael O’Harran]

Thanks. So for me, the guy who sold it said it was his sons who raced it and I think he said may have blown the motor which is why it and the trans were pulled in 1983, but then he died in the military before replacing them. That’s where it sat since I purchased it in 2003, in Maryland. So at the point that the son died and it sat, the car was only 11 years old in a time where I don’t feel cars switched hands as fast as today. But then the Marti report showed the Car was originally sold in California. Now I know that the son being in the military could have been assigned out that way, but this is all an assumption. So I’m left with assumptions, and feeling that the surviving family might feel a certain way as if I swindled the car from their Dad or about asking questions about their long dead brother. So I was trying to find paper trail ways so as to not potentially rip off any unnecessary bandaids for the family I bought it from.

 

[rvrtrash]

Kevin Marti used to say he would do special research for a fee. He could probably research the VIN's and build dates of the other 335 cars like yours and tell you which one of the 336 it was. You could also see if the original dealer still exists in California and ask them if they still have records on who bought the car. I see it was sold in Grass Valley, which is in northern California. The big military bases are in southern California, so less likely the son traveled that far to buy the car.

 

[Michael O’Harran]

Thanks for the response. I asked Marti theater exact question and they are unable to find that. I did reach out and speak to the current dealership there with that dealer license number and they only have knowledge of there dealerships from early 80s so I guess the dealership was rebuilt or something and they don’t have the purchase records. I got the original sales slip for the car but it’s internal between Ford not to owner. My resto is a full takedown and sandblast so anything to have been found would have been at this point.

 

[Sheriff41]

Kevin Marti used to say he would do special research for a fee. He could probably research the VIN's and build dates of the other 335 cars like yours and tell you which one of the 336 it was. You could also see if the original dealer still exists in California and ask them if they still have records on who bought the car. I see it was sold in Grass Valley, which is in northern California. The big military bases are in southern California, so less likely the son traveled that far to buy the car.

Actually, in the 70's and '80s there were Travis AFB (Fairfield CA), McClellan AFB and Mather AFB (Sacramento CA), The Presidio and Fort Hunter Liggett (Monterrey CA) Hamilton Army Airfield (Marin County CA), Beale AFB (Marysville CA), Sierra Army Depot (Herlong CA) all in NORCAL. There were probably other smaller posts that came and went, not to mention USCG bases.