chvlle383

I'm sure this has been asked before. What is the best way to find out the ownership history of your car ? Or can you ? i have a 63.....thank you...

Railroadman

Best way is start with who you bought your from and work back from there. Also check in the C-2 registry on line to see if info is in there already. https://www.c2registry.org/index.php?job=ShowRegistry And do an advanced search on here for various previous threads in this forum - there have been several.

mke9999

There's also a gent named Bill Gould (I believe his business name is "Auto Ancestry") who provides a research service. I believe if you send him your VIN and bit of background, he'll tell you - at no charge - if he's able to find meaningful data.

JackTripper

I just found out that my Corvette was delivered to a dealer in Kentucky by using the NCRS dealer locator service.

Gary's '66

That's a fact however, after that there is a fee that they say should range between $250.00-$300.00. More IF they need to hire someone else to investigate further.

Gary

68hemi

I have never understood the fascination of needing to know the chronology of your cars past. It was made by Chevrolet by human beings. All that really matters is it's current condition.

I am from the Midwest rust belt originally and have lived in AZ. for more than half my life now. So the only thing that is important to me is where I THINK my car spent the bulk of it's life. It is not rocker science to determine that by inspecting the car, I don't need ancestry.com to tell me that. I just want a rust free vehicle that I can then determine the rest of the car's current condition.

Stop losing sleep over who all of the previous owners were many are likely deceased and dead men tell no tales.

59BlueSilver

You're right about its current condition, but evidently you're not a history buff. It's interesting to me to find out about engine & tranny changes, different paint colors that it has gone thru, how many owners and where the car has been, etc.

corvetteed

I guess the saying "Different strokes for different folks" applies here. Some like to know the history, for whatever reason, while others only care about what is in front of them today. Seems like there is room for both approaches in the hobby, right?

rfn026

It's called Provenance. A lot of people want to know. Then again a lot of people just don't care.

This is more important if you have an original car. Actually it's a way of proving you have an original car. Any number of restoration shops today are creating Barn Finds and Survivors because that's where the money is.

A complete history back to the original owner will help prove that your car is actually original. If that's important to you.

It used to be a lot easier when you could just write the DMV with the VIN and they would send you the records.


My '58 in 1977

Richard Newton
Is Stewardship a Thing?

Nowhere Man

What Richard said. If you have a 67 BB car with owner history that can prove it was always a BB car it's money in the bank when come time to sell. The same car without will always have a question mark unless you have rock solid docs. Now if you have a Heniz 57 car it really makes no diffreance.

R66

rfn026, you say:
"This is more important if you have an original car. Actually it's a way of proving you have an original car. Any number of restoration shops today are creating Barn Finds and Survivors because that's where the money is".

I really don't understand how a "Barn Find or Survivor" is worth more money? I believe our car is 90%+ original. It set for years before and after the last owner passed away and was sold at an estate auction, stripped of all of the documentation. The documentation is easily faked even more so than the re-stamps of the drive train.

So what is the value of a "Barn Find or Survivor" VS a well cared for 90%+ plus daily driver that been has passed around 5 or 6 times in the last 50 years?

Does one repaint or engine rebuild automatically hurt the value of a "Survivor"?

History is interesting, but I guess I put more value on the function of the car and personal enjoyment.

gbvette62

I've owned my 62 since February 76, and I've never really made any attempt to trace it's history. All I know is that it was stolen at some point, and that it was drag raced for a little while. It must have had a rough life though. Having striped and painted the car a few times, I do know that there's not a single panel on the whole car, that hasn't had some kind of repair made to it. Even the deck lid!

I occasionally run into the guy I bought it from, and have never even asked him where or who he got it from! Every time I see him though, he does ask me, "when" I'm going to sell it back to him.

I'm the original owner of both my 81 Corvette and 71 El Camino, so there's not much I don't know about their history.

Strangely, though I've never really had much interest in the ownership history of street cars, I'm very involved in tracing the history of old race cars. The last few years I've spent a lot of time chasing pictures and owner, driver, race history, of old Corvette and Camaro race cars.

chvlle383

lol...not loosing sleep over it in anyway what so ever. just curious is all. i think it would be cool to know the cars history and story's about it. i have a good solid car and i know it. if it was easy enough i would pursue it. I'm way to busy to dedicate my time to doing this....i really like our 63 and plan on keeping it a long time....

jasonsamara

I'm the original owner of a camaro and 2nd owner of a z06 and a 66 coupe. Then there is my 60 that I have traced to 1985 and the trail turned cold. I think it's awesome to know the history of your cars.

On on a side note I was on the verge of pulling the trigger on a 56 a few years back. I knew the lady who owned it got it from her dad and that he had bought it from the original owner in 1959. I didn't get it sadly because we couldn't agree on price. Just last week I see 2 old men standing in a yard with a 50s era Chevy truck parked on the curb. I stopped and asked about the truck and they asked what did I have? We turned to vettes and the real old man said back in 1956 he had ordered a white corvette from the local dealer. He then said he drove it till 1959 and traded it on a 59. I about froze and asked did He keep the paper work? He didn't and I would have kicked myself for a long time if he did. It's just cool.

68hemi

I am not new to any of this. I have owned Corvettes continuously since 1969. I have owned models from 1954-1986, Big blocks, small blocks, F.I. and tri power cars. The only car I ever made an attempt to trace was the first 1957 F.I. airbox car that was a factory sponsored racer. And that was ALL value and race heritage related.

It is not as easy to determine if a car started life as an F.I. or BB car these days since there is so much info available on the net to help you fake one. Even build sheets for 67-up cars are available repo. For this type of car in these particular cases it MIGHT be helpful if you have ironclad documentation of what you have from a financial point.

However, not so much these days evidenced by sales prices of "made" cars, blatant wrong colors, drivetrains, etc. Restomods very often sell for more money than as an example original proven 67 435 h.p. BB roadsters. Today it is all about what people see in front of them in terms of quality, colors, equipment and what THEY want to drive or own.

Most of the people that want an original LOOKING car don't care if it was born that way or not and still step up and pay big bucks for them. They have come to the realization that all stated above is true, they may not know the difference anyway and that there are just too few choices to choose from. Life is too short to worry about it and spend too much time and effort on it.

63split63

He didn't tell me for free . $250.00 and he found nothing more than what I already had .

SDVette

Well, the BEST way is to own it since new, or personally know the original owner (my dad, in the case of my '61). Sorry, couldn't resist.

I've never cared much about the history of other cars I owned, including a 98 C5 that I purchased as a lease-return in 99.. So I'm the 2nd "owner". That, plus $2 will get me a cup of coffee at Starbucks!

I see ELABORATE signage at some shows, showing the ownership history. I often wonder if the people in the history even know that they are featured on this guy's car show poster-board!

Gary's '66

The only thing I've done to learn the "history" of my car was to have the NCRS run a VIN #'s check.

I was informed as to who and which dealership it was originally sold through which did confirm my suspicions that it was and, always has been, a California car as I did have other documentation pointing to that fact.

Another interesting fact was, that my best friend of 40 years actually worked at that dealership right around the same time and, had possibly even worked on it!

Gary

mke9999

Ya , just to be clear: he gives a FREE CONSULTATION.

( Yes of course, nobody operates a business with full services for FREE. )

you send him some preliminary details then he tells you if he believes he can provide more information with a formal search. In my case he told me flat out there was nothing he could do for me. (and didn't take any of my money.) If a car has been registered all it's life in California, you wont learn anything, because the DMV wont give up any details.

That, and the fact there appeared to be no out of state info on it, at least validated my info that my car was a California car as I had been told.

Railroadman

If it makes you feel better, sounds like 2 different cars anyway. One was bought from the original owner, while the other original owner traded his in.