Tracking down old owners?

[giantpune]

One of mine, i bought sitting out in a field for probably a decade or more. Back before the internet was really that usable. I still know where the old man lives. I think about driving by sometimes to show him the car and ask about its history.

My other one, it came with a bunch of paperwork. One of the papers was a copy of the title where somebody bought it from the Ford dealer back in the day. Then the back of that title is signed over to somebody else. So i think i have the first 2 owners found. I googled them and found phone numbers but have not attempted to make contact yet.

Some of the other paperwork i got is receipts for work showing a bunch of work they did. I have their names and addresses and the receipts even have phone numbers. I googled them and found pictures of the guy showing off his mustang on the day he got it. Thats now my mustang. For this car, i now have the first 2 owners and the 3 previous to myself. There is still probably a big gap where my car sat in a field or a barn or something.

 

[DAverkamp]

As for mine, I don’t want to romanticize it’s history because I wasn’t around and didn’t have anything to do with the previous life. As I see it, that would be like being interested in all the previous guys my wife “spent time with”. After we met, hearing about the most recent guy is inevitable to hear about so thats my correlation to how I had to “undo” the previous owners (father/daughter) dream restoration project that they gave up on in CT. Like all relationships gone south, they did their best at first and then popped smoke on it and I got lucky and found a clean machine that luckily wasn’t “abused” too much regarding the body (no rust, which is all I wanted) and was far from being the “lady” she is today… perfect enough for me now and is treated with the utmost respect! I am not trying to P on the parade here, but thats how I look at.

 

[Sheriff41]

Mine was easy. I bought it from a friend's older brother. That was in 1977. Done.

 

[71ProjectJunk]

I wish I could know the history of this car. This car was originally sold in Kentucky. The one interesting thing I was able to find is that it was sold at McCormick's Palm Spring Exotic Car Auction in California the early 90's, and was supposedly garaged from 1993 to about 2017/2018 when it was sold to a dealer in Utah called First Class Cars. From the description I got from the dealer, it seems that the car was in excellent condition in 2017/2018 when they got it. Seems that they sold it for $25,000 in 2017/2018, so it must have been a solid car. I bought it from a used car dealer in Iowa in 2021 and the car was in a very sorry state. I have no idea what happened from 2018-2021, but the car seems to have had an accident that bent the passenger side quarter panel and the front crossmember, then somehow the roof got bent in multiple places, the car got smaller dents and scratches everywhere, and seems to have been left outside as the front fenders were full of leaves and dirt, and it was obvious that water had been coming into the interior. The car is mostly rust free as it seems to have lived most of its life in California. The dealer bough the car from a towing company. I have the mileage the car had when sold in 2017/2018 and when I bought it, it had only been driven about 100 miles in those 3-4 years. Somehow the car got destroyed in 100 miles of driving. It seems that whoever bough this car in 2018 had this car towed away at some point, and the towing company just ended up owning the car, how that happened I have no idea, but it seems that the towing company left it out in the weather for who knows how long, and then parked a bunch of cars besides it that just banged the paint to death on the doors. A small tree could have fallen on it and bent the roof in a couple of places, and also bent the trunk. My theory is that the owner was driving the car and probably spun it into a small tree, that bent the quarter panel, the tree broke and hit the roof in multiple areas and hit the trunk, the front crossmember probably hit a curb on the road and was bent a bit too. The owner either just left the car there, and a towing company towed it, or took it home left it outside the house, where either the city or an association probably had it towed. Whatever happened a towing company ended up with the car and started racking up towing and storage fees, and ended up owning the car. The car sat at the towing company yard for maybe years, before this used car dealer bought it. One thing that lets me know that the car was not surrendered or sold by the previous owner is that when I got the car it had 3 identical keys, and the keys only worked on the ignition switch. So, the towing company had the ignition switch changed to be able to start the car.

 

[timachone]

As for mine, I don’t want to romanticize it’s history because I wasn’t around and didn’t have anything to do with the previous life. As I see it, that would be like being interested in all the previous guys my wife “spent time with”. After we met, hearing about the most recent guy is inevitable to hear about so thats my correlation to how I had to “undo” the previous owners (father/daughter) dream restoration project that they gave up on in CT. Like all relationships gone south, they did their best at first and then popped smoke on it and I got lucky and found a clean machine that luckily wasn’t “abused” too much regarding the body (no rust, which is all I wanted) and was far from being the “lady” she is today… perfect enough for me now and is treated with the utmost respect! I am not trying to P on the parade here, but thats how I look at.

Interesting point of view I have to think about. We share kinda the same feelings and experiences. The most part of the history of my car is in the dark but should I bring some light in? At the one side I have kinda to be thankful that someone brought my car relatively safe and complete over the last 50 years. One the other side it wasn't only once I was desperated and cursed this car with all its work that had to be done and still have to be done because of the previous owners contemporary care back then. It had its life and now its mine - one day it will drive around and make its own history with me. I am torn about this topic concerning my car.

But each animal their own. I love to hear great stories about their cars from others, so come on, guys, keep em coming!

 

[Kilgon]

I posted this some time ago but here is what I know about my 71. - I received a pm from a Colten Prine out of Texas. Seems his dad once owned my Mustang. He said he has been trying to track it down for some years now and came upon our site after doing a search by the vin#. He left his number so I gave him a call and we chatted awhile. It was interesting to listen to him explain about his dad and what he had done to the car over the years he owned it. Need to remember the original car came off the line as a 71 sportsroof with a 302 , c4 and 3.00:1 rear end. It was originally sold out of Sulphur Texas. Here is a few highlights of our conversation. His father had it from the late 80's to early 90's. His name was Troy Prine from Cleburne Texas. While he had it he put in a 351c with a FMX. He also changed the hood to nasa style and deck out the rest of the car to be a mach1 clone. During his ownership the car was hit in the right rear. This I knew about by doing the restoration on the car. In fact both rear quarter panels had shown signs of damage and had been bondo. He sold the car to a friend of his and that persons son wreck it again - this time the front end. This I did not know about and did not see any evidence of it while I was restoring the car. The car then went into limbo land again until my brother purchased it in 1999. Once again another engine trans upgrade. He had a 460 with a c6 and 3.73:1 trac-lok put in it. I have been trying to find out more info myself about the previous owners and now this helps to fill in some of the gaps. Colten ask of course if I would be willing to sell it because it meant a lot to him. His father passed away some years ago and this is a link to him. I told him I understood but as I explained to him it also has family bonds to me and that it was given to me by my brother during his final days. I felt bad to telling him no. Any of you guys and gals from the Texas area know of them. I think he said his uncle owns Prine Auto Salvage Inc Junkyard out of Cleburne.

 

[Stevieray]

I was provided a 3 ring binder, containing original documentation and maintenance records, beginning with the very first oil change. This was over 20+ years ago. At the time, I had no idea how important this bit of history would be until several years later, in providing a path of learning the early history of our Boss. According to the maintenance records, the original owner put over 3k miles on his Boss during the first couple of weeks of ownership. In my mind, I visualized a returning solider with a pocket full of money, buying a hot car and letting her stretch her legs across this great country. All of the early maintenance appeared to have been completed at a local station, including records showing full-service checks. You know…..the kind you use to get at your local mom and pop gas station!

Fast forward a few years, I decided to try and find the original owner. I knew where he lived in 1971. What would be the chance I could run this person down. So I researched and made a list of phone numbers and started calling. To my amazement, the second person I called told me that he was the original owner of the Boss. What were the chances. This guy was not only the original owner, but he had ordered the Boss from his local dealership and still lived in the same city he was raised in.

He shared a wealth of information with me. He was in the military and at the time was assigned 1500 miles away from his residence. His father owned the service station, thus the ease of having his oil changes performed. I was provided a write up, along with a number of pictures, showing the car during its early years. One of his most interesting comments was about the car being his daily driver and he and his wife bringing their daughter home from the hospital after birth. How neat for his daughter to be able to say her first ride was in a Boss 351 Mustang!

We stayed in touch for many years but unfortunately, I have been unable to contact him recently. I have now been the caretaker of this bit of history for more than any of the prior three owners. Thanks for bringing this post back to life. It had been some time since I had brought out the old 3-ring binder. I needed to read through it and forget for a moment all of the problems we face now days. Again….thanks……. Steve

 

[tony-muscle]

Have you guys ever worried that maybe you have a stolen car? Then you start researching and someone tells you, yeah, that car was stolen from me 25 years ago.

 

[giantpune]

Have you guys ever worried that maybe you have a stolen car? Then you start researching and someone tells you, yeah, that car was stolen from me 25 years ago.

This is part of why you want a car with a title instead of just a bill of sale.

And why they should have had full coverage. If their car got stolen, they should have gotten a check from the insurance company to buy another one.

 

[tony-muscle]

This is part of why you want a car with a title instead of just a bill of sale.

And why they should have had full coverage. If their car got stolen, they should have gotten a check from the insurance company to buy another one.

I have heard too many horror stories about making one car out of two to reuse the VIN numbers that makes me sometimes wonder.

 

[71ProjectJunk]

I have heard too many horror stories about making one car out of two to reuse the VIN numbers that makes me sometimes wonder.

I had an issue with a 71 Cuda at one time. When I sold it there was an issue with the vin, so it had to go to the DMV to get checked. When they checked it they found that the car had 3 different vin numbers. They said that the car was a 1970 and not a 1971, good thing was that none of the vin numbers were stolen.

 

[giantpune]

I have heard too many horror stories about making one car out of two to reuse the VIN numbers that makes me sometimes wonder.

Same here. I use my best judgement when shopping for old mustangs. Dash, buck tag, and driver's side fender all have to match or my spidey sense starts tingling. On the 73s I've looked at, its possible to squeeze my phone up in the wheel well and snap a handful of pictures with the flash on, and find the partial vin. On my 69, the vin is further forward and is covered by the fender. I took out the 4 or 5 bolts on the top edge of the fender and slid it back to find the vin.

It also helps when there's other supporting information with the car. Like on my 69, the paperwork indicated that it was 2 owners ago who painted the car, and that vin was in that paint, so it had been there at least that long. And on top of that, all of the vins indicated that the car was a T-code, originally a base model with an inline 6. Less likely to be spoofed than a mach1/boss/gt.

 

[MikeGriese]

This is part of why you want a car with a title instead of just a bill of sale.

And why they should have had full coverage. If their car got stolen, they should have gotten a check from the insurance company to buy another one.

Insurance helps the guy the car was stolen from, but not the guy that winds up with the car. The insurance company can still claim the car to recover their payout. You can also have tons of trouble getting it titled and licensed - in fact in some states the car can be confiscated. Even if you bought the car in good faith from a seller that had no idea the car was stolen some time in its history.

 

[droptop73]

Just make up a good history story... it's a lot simpler that way!! LOL!!

 

[Electric Wizard]

I wish I could know the history of this car. This car was originally sold in Kentucky. The one interesting thing I was able to find is that it was sold at McCormick's Palm Spring Exotic Car Auction in California the early 90's, and was supposedly garaged from 1993 to about 2017/2018 when it was sold to a dealer in Utah called First Class Cars. From the description I got from the dealer, it seems that the car was in excellent condition in 2017/2018 when they got it. Seems that they sold it for $25,000 in 2017/2018, so it must have been a solid car. I bought it from a used car dealer in Iowa in 2021 and the car was in a very sorry state. I have no idea what happened from 2018-2021, but the car seems to have had an accident that bent the passenger side quarter panel and the front crossmember, then somehow the roof got bent in multiple places, the car got smaller dents and scratches everywhere, and seems to have been left outside as the front fenders were full of leaves and dirt, and it was obvious that water had been coming into the interior. The car is mostly rust free as it seems to have lived most of its life in California. The dealer bough the car from a towing company. I have the mileage the car had when sold in 2017/2018 and when I bought it, it had only been driven about 100 miles in those 3-4 years. Somehow the car got destroyed in 100 miles of driving. It seems that whoever bough this car in 2018 had this car towed away at some point, and the towing company just ended up owning the car, how that happened I have no idea, but it seems that the towing company left it out in the weather for who knows how long, and then parked a bunch of cars besides it that just banged the paint to death on the doors. A small tree could have fallen on it and bent the roof in a couple of places, and also bent the trunk. My theory is that the owner was driving the car and probably spun it into a small tree, that bent the quarter panel, the tree broke and hit the roof in multiple areas and hit the trunk, the front crossmember probably hit a curb on the road and was bent a bit too. The owner either just left the car there, and a towing company towed it, or took it home left it outside the house, where either the city or an association probably had it towed. Whatever happened a towing company ended up with the car and started racking up towing and storage fees, and ended up owning the car. The car sat at the towing company yard for maybe years, before this used car dealer bought it. One thing that lets me know that the car was not surrendered or sold by the previous owner is that when I got the car it had 3 identical keys, and the keys only worked on the ignition switch. So, the towing company had the ignition switch changed to be able to start the car.

I wonder what happened to your car? Your car may have been involved in a roll over and that's why you sustained the roof damage?

 

[73 Mach 1 4 me]

I started talking about this on my Marti report thread, but I'm going to start a new one in the hopes that others can share ideas for finding old owners and/or stories of how they tracked down their cars history.....

Which of you have had success in finding old owners of their cars and learning about the history of it? Every time I sit in my car I feel like I'm stepping into a time machine, and I wonder...how many people have owned my car, what did they use it for, did anything interesting happen to them in it, etc. etc.... 1 owner or 2 owner cars are easy, but what if your car has had 5 owners? or 10?? Was it their first car? Did they buy it for their kids graduation present? did they sell because they needed a station wagon/grocery getter?? These cars aren't getting any younger, and neither are the people who would have originally purchased them.

I know from my Marti report that my Mustang began its life at a dealership named Don Stone Ford (now under different ownership) in Bloomington Illinois, just a short drive down Route 66 from the little town my dad grew up in of all places Dwight Illinois. I called this dealership as well, and they had no info from way back in 1973....How on Earth did it find its way to Zimmerman Minnesota where it now resides with me? I'm curious...and I feel compelled to attempt to find out. I'm kind of a history dork, and stuff like this really interests me

So I have had my Mach 1 for about 15 years, in those 15 years I have hardly driven it at all. 15 years...that's 30 years of unaccounted for history! In the last couple of years I have started tinkering with it more in an attempt to get it back on the road, and have finally admitted defeat and taken it in to a shop to get worked on. I hope to be driving it again very soon, and in the mean time while it is at the shop, I have time to research...

Last week after several attempts, I finally did get ahold of the guy who owned it before me...he was glad to hear I still had the car and was more than willing to tell me what he could remember about it, unfortunately it wasn't much...He thought he remembered purchasing it from a local car lot in the town I live in. I stopped by, and they didn't have records from back then (they have changed ownership), but they told me the name and approximate address of the guy who used to own the lot at the time it was sold! Sweet! Excitedly I drove to the neighborhood...pulled into the driveway of the home they described and lo and behold, there he was! Old car lot owner guy!! So we get to talking a bit and I show him a picture of the car and.... and....nothing. He didn't remember selling the car, and he says he would have remembered selling a car like that. Dead end...Damn...

I also stopped in the local DMV (and called the main office in St. Paul), but they cant help me at all because of privacy laws.

So, I sent the old owner a text thanking him for the help, telling him what happened, and kindly asked him to let me know if he ever remembers anything else... and frustratingly began typing out this thread. No kidding, as I am typing this out; the old owner calls my cell phone. The rusty gears of 15 year old memory broke loose, and he now remembers that he bought the car from a guy a couple towns north of me who works at the local bank. This guy evidently bought a few old cars back then and sold the Mustang to my guy because he knew he liked old cars. So I call this bank up, tell the lady who answers my story...and...and...Yes! He does still work there and is now in fact the president of the bank. She was very helpful and she actually seemed pretty interested in my story... so she takes my name and number, and said she will pass it on to the boss man (who was not there today) and have him call me back! That's where I'm at. When I started typing this I was dejected and hopeless figuring the details of my Mustang's past were lost to history, and now I am cautiously optimistic that I will have another breakthrough that leads me further down the path of my cars infancy. Ill update this as I find more!

How about you folks? Have you made an attempt to find out the details of your car? What did you find when you started poking around? What have you found works best for doing research? I'd love to hear any suggestions anyone may have, and would love to hear any stories of your researc.

I started talking about this on my Marti report thread, but I'm going to start a new one in the hopes that others can share ideas for finding old owners and/or stories of how they tracked down their cars history.....

Which of you have had success in finding old owners of their cars and learning about the history of it? Every time I sit in my car I feel like I'm stepping into a time machine, and I wonder...how many people have owned my car, what did they use it for, did anything interesting happen to them in it, etc. etc.... 1 owner or 2 owner cars are easy, but what if your car has had 5 owners? or 10?? Was it their first car? Did they buy it for their kids graduation present? did they sell because they needed a station wagon/grocery getter?? These cars aren't getting any younger, and neither are the people who would have originally purchased them.

I know from my Marti report that my Mustang began its life at a dealership named Don Stone Ford (now under different ownership) in Bloomington Illinois, just a short drive down Route 66 from the little town my dad grew up in of all places Dwight Illinois. I called this dealership as well, and they had no info from way back in 1973....How on Earth did it find its way to Zimmerman Minnesota where it now resides with me? I'm curious...and I feel compelled to attempt to find out. I'm kind of a history dork, and stuff like this really interests me

So I have had my Mach 1 for about 15 years, in those 15 years I have hardly driven it at all. 15 years...that's 30 years of unaccounted for history! In the last couple of years I have started tinkering with it more in an attempt to get it back on the road, and have finally admitted defeat and taken it in to a shop to get worked on. I hope to be driving it again very soon, and in the mean time while it is at the shop, I have time to research...

Last week after several attempts, I finally did get ahold of the guy who owned it before me...he was glad to hear I still had the car and was more than willing to tell me what he could remember about it, unfortunately it wasn't much...He thought he remembered purchasing it from a local car lot in the town I live in. I stopped by, and they didn't have records from back then (they have changed ownership), but they told me the name and approximate address of the guy who used to own the lot at the time it was sold! Sweet! Excitedly I drove to the neighborhood...pulled into the driveway of the home they described and lo and behold, there he was! Old car lot owner guy!! So we get to talking a bit and I show him a picture of the car and.... and....nothing. He didn't remember selling the car, and he says he would have remembered selling a car like that. Dead end...Damn...

I also stopped in the local DMV (and called the main office in St. Paul), but they cant help me at all because of privacy laws.

So, I sent the old owner a text thanking him for the help, telling him what happened, and kindly asked him to let me know if he ever remembers anything else... and frustratingly began typing out this thread. No kidding, as I am typing this out; the old owner calls my cell phone. The rusty gears of 15 year old memory broke loose, and he now remembers that he bought the car from a guy a couple towns north of me who works at the local bank. This guy evidently bought a few old cars back then and sold the Mustang to my guy because he knew he liked old cars. So I call this bank up, tell the lady who answers my story...and...and...Yes! He does still work there and is now in fact the president of the bank. She was very helpful and she actually seemed pretty interested in my story... so she takes my name and number, and said she will pass it on to the boss man (who was not there today) and have him call me back! That's where I'm at. When I started typing this I was dejected and hopeless figuring the details of my Mustang's past were lost to history, and now I am cautiously optimistic that I will have another breakthrough that leads me further down the path of my cars infancy. Ill update this as I find more!

How about you folks? Have you made an attempt to find out the details of your car? What did you find when you started poking around? What have you found works best for doing research? I'd love to hear any suggestions anyone may have, and would love to hear any stories of your research.

I can understand why the privacy laws exist, but I would be happy to know the history of my car. I know it spent its life in Arkansas and I’ve talked to the owner who had it for 16 years before me. He couldn’t help me to go any further back. At this point I would be happy to know how many times there was a title transfer. I can’t see why the privacy laws would stop the DMV from telling you at least that much.the Arkansas title I got with the car shows the date the guy before me titled it and it also has the previous title number on it. About 6 years ago I bought a 1989 corvette ( long story why) but the owner gave a list of all the owners before me. I ask how fe got that list and he claimed his father was a dealer in Florida and he had access to that information. I

 

[71ProjectJunk]

I wonder what happened to your car? Your car may have been involved in a roll over and that's why you sustained the roof damage?

No, it is very minor, I was able to pull out the dents, and there is no damage on the a pillars, and only very small dents on the passenger side c pillar.

 

[Fredensborg]

Big breakthrough today folks!! I had some errands to run down in the concrete jungle of Minneapolis/St. Paul today and decided to stop by that business that the surviving brother worked at for many years.

My son and I walked in the office and saw a man about my age on the phone dealing with a customer, we waited patiently for him to finish up his call and I began my pre-rehearsed spiel/Hail Mary pass....

"Excuse me...sorry to bother you, but is your name Brady??"... (I can feel a little ice, such a strange way to start a conversation)
"Yes? Is your dads name Tom by chance?...Yes???" (At this point I'm sure he thinks I'm some disgruntled former customer or something)
"Sorry, this isn't really related to your business but did you guys happen to have a 1973 Mustang years ago??".....(a couple second pause, and the ice completely melts)
"The yellow one or the blue one?" he says...Touchdown!!!!

Turns out the guy is indeed the nephew of my "Mustang Importer" guy and not only does he remember my car, but he used to drive it quite a bit and had a couple stories to share and a potential new lead for me to keep this going!!!

Evidently they bought my car and another 1973 Mach 1 (an H code in yellow) in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1988. Maybe if I ever figure out my cars complete history, I'll start looking for that yellow H code? The guy at the shop vividly remembers that they flew down there back in '88 when he was about 10 and drove the 2 Mustangs home. Turns out this guy used to drive my Mustang quite a bit when he was a teenager. He even recalled that on the way home they were pulled over for speeding or something...which is very funny to me because when I was bringing my car home for the first time I was also pulled over!! Must be a thing my car like to do to new owners! a-la "Christine"

So we get to BS-ing a bit more and he said he would give his dad a call and see if he could remember any other useful tidbits. But he did know that they bought both cars from the same guy back then, a high ranking cop of some sort...he thought Chief of Police or Highway Patrol possibly. That should help me to narrow down the potential list of candidates. A little while later he texted me to tell me a spoke with his dad, and he confirmed what his son remembered and also was pretty sure that my Nevada Law-dog got it from a Mexican fellow by the name of Jesus....that might be a bit of a stumbling block, just a hunch, but I'm sure there are a lot of Jesus's in Nevada! I thanked him repeatedly, and promised to stop by with the Mustang soon.

I now I have my cars history figured out through 1988 with a total of at least 5 previous owners. 1973-1988 leaves 15 years of unaccounted for history, and the lingering mystery of how this car made it from it's delivery destination of Bloomington Illinois all the way down to Las Vegas Nevada... I've had this car for 20 years now, the longest single owner and its Official Historian at this point. I hope someday to hand it off to my son with a full history that he is now a part of. I'm glad my son was with me when I stopped at this guys shop, he has been talking about this all night excitedly filling his mom in on every detail. He's really getting into this car lately, and I am more that happy to feed that fire.

So on we march, into the past....I've got a hot lead, a chip, a chair, and a chance to strike gold in Sin City.

 

[MAD IRISHMAN]

Recently been investigating a bit deeper in to my Mach 1's history. Marti report showed it was sold by a dealer in Lafayette, Georgia out of the Atlanta Sales District.. Called down to a local car dealer who informed me that Presswood Ford Auto Sales was closed up not many years after my car was sold. He was kind of interested how it wound up in northern Ohio. He said he would ask around to people that may remember stuff related to my car.

As far as it's more current history the previous owner Mike bought the car about 8 years before he sold it to me. The fellow he bought it from was kind of a "wheeler dealer". Mike actually went to his place to buy a Corvette but it got sold the day before. So he looked over the Mach1 and bought it. The "Wheeler Dealer" claimed that the car had been sitting in a warehouse for almost 18 years with the engine sitting next to it. The car was claimed by the owner of the warehouse for unpaid rent. (Couldn't locate the owner evidently) A new title had to be created because the original couldn't be found either. Before he sold it to Mike he swapped out the heads(!) for 2Vs with the necessary headers and aluminum intake. Unfortunately Mike can't recall his name and he lives a pretty good lick from Mike's place otherwise Mike would have gone to look him up.

One anecdote is that Mike took the car to Summit Motorsports Park Norwalk, Ohio for some event (Ford Fun Weekend perhaps?). There, a gentleman came up, looked over the car and told Mike he had it repaired years ago. Evidently that owner was doing burnouts on a road and put it sideways into a tree. What vetted his story was he pointed a painted a section of the roof down to the door, quarter panel, and fender. The insurance company paying for the repairs wouldn't let him paint the entire hood. He also had to use clear-coat paint that he blended in to the original factory paint on the roof which he showed Mike. Unfortunately Mike couldn't recall the man's name or body shop.

So I took a flyer and posted this chronicle on the ever so slim chance somebody knows of this car. I don't think it could have been driven much on the streets during the winters in northern Ohio. The car is just too solid and lacks the usual damage from salt. I consider myself so very fortunate to have found it.

 

[PoFoMoCo]

Have you guys ever worried that maybe you have a stolen car? Then you start researching and someone tells you, yeah, that car was stolen from me 25 years ago.

LOL YES, and I actually did. In 1996, a friend and I bought a 1969 White/Black coupe as a quick flipper project. It was a plain jane local car and one of the first ones we did together. The car had a clean blue Texas title and a clear title history for at least 15 years on that title. The VIN plate, with the matching titled VIN number was present on the driver's side upper dash.

My friend was new to the restoration process and I preached the wonders of the tear down and the possibility of finding the build sheet and other neat things about the car. We found the build sheet, tucked and wired into the lower seat cushion and seat springs. The build sheet had a different VIN and that VIN revealed the car was stolen in 1973. A NCIB search revealed the details of the theft, etc.

We called the local DPS office and a trooper and a local ATTF officer came to the shop, removed the drivers side fender and confirmed the VIN number on the apron/shock tower support. We thought we would have to give up the car but for $500 dollars we were able to "buy" the car again from the original victim's insurance company and keep going forward. First and only time for me. The irony is both of us were cops, buying a stolen car. LOL

Life is stranger than fiction.