My '69Z has a second-owner POP and warranty book from 1970. I have recently done some digging and found that the current homeowner listed at the address on the POP has the same last name as the former owner of my car. Based on this info, I'm assuming (but not certain) that a family member to the former owner of my car still lives at the address. I would very much like to contact the family to learn as much as I can about the history of the car.

I want to be sensitive about the way I initiate contact and was thinking a nice letter sent to the address might be the best approach. I have found their phone number as well but I don't want to call out of the blue.

I wanted to get some feedback on what methods you guys have used to contact former owners and how successful/unsuccessful your efforts have been.

Thanks. -Neil

Years ago I sent a letter to the name and address listed on the title application for my 67 Pace Car. The mail was forwarded by a family member to the correct address.

I did get a return letter which provided me information on the early life of the vehicle. It was bought as a GM demo for $4000 with 2000 miles on it. The car had the engine replaced in 1969 due to a knock. Owner stated that he traded the Pace Car in on a 1969 Z28 while the engine was being repaired.

I would stick with mail at first. You may do a national search for address by name. I know that the original owner of my pace car (I sold in '03) was listed and the new owner was going to contact him again to get further details.

Kelly.

I would think the letter first would 'break the ice' that you are enjoying the car that their family once owned and that their name was on the papers in the glove box. If they dont mind, you would like to call them and learn about the history of the car someday. Then leave your phone number and address as well. They might even call you back.
Id send the letter, then give them a week or so to respond. If you dont hear from them, then one call will either break the ice and lead to a good history lesson, or you will find out there was bad blood or other issue that they dont want to even talk to you. Ya never know.
I had a lady hang up on me when I called, seems her EX had his girl friend in the camaro, so that closed the door for me learning more. Go for it :)

I think the mail is best too.. but to be honest . I couldn't wait :) So I called and left a message. I included the car info with my name phone number and my email address .And the guy who originally owned my RS Z (sold it in 1982 to the guy I bought it from) couldn't wait to call me back .We have exchanged many emails since and last month when I did some paint work and put the Torque Thrust IIs on I emailed him photos and we had some great exchanges about that.
The way I figure it is if these people owned these kinds of cars then they are car people and they understand the enthusiasm....I wouldn't mind if someone called me on one of my old cars....but that just me .

Years ago I had a ’61 Corvette and was told it was from Nevada when I bought it. I went to the Nevada DMV in Carson City with nothing more than a serial number and they gave me the name and address of the former owner from seven years earlier. This would not have been possible with the California DMV.

I called the guy up and told him I had his old Vette. He told me he regretted selling it and still had some of its parts in his garage. Original parts from my car! I was on my way to Winnemucca.

He and his wife were very happy to see and drive their old car again. They were the third owners. I got the name of the second owner but was unable to contact him. I learned a lot of history about the car and was given the original ignition shielding and four speed shifter taken off my car years earlier. It was a gratifying experience.

Back in 1996 a buddy of mine tracked down the original owner of a 69Z/28 he had just purchased. We live in OKC and the first owner was in Enid, about 1 1/2 hours away.

He called the guy and the guy was ecstatic to hear about his old car. The first owner actually drove to Oklahoma City to see it. Gave my friend a bunch of pictures and then......

says, "I've got a present for you since you are restoring the car to original."

Opens up his trunk and there in boxes are the all the original smog parts in absolute pristine condition! He had removed them right after he took the car home from the dealer. They were sitting in his garage all that time.

In 1998 I was looking at a 67 RS Camaro made Jan 67 with a 4P code, but absolutely no SS badging. RS on front of fenders (one fender had been replaced, but one looked original, RS gas cap and RS steering wheel. Traction bar, twelve bolt, tach and console with guages. Had a big block and automatic in it, but still had a clutch pedal. Well, I wanted to investigate further just in case it was one of the early Z/28's (yeah, I know, long shot). Did a title search and found the second owner. He confirmed it was a 275 horse 327 four speed RS car. He also told me he had the original intake, carb and exhaust manifolds out in the garage.

So... if you find any previous owners, by all means contact them. Most always it will be a positive experience. I don't think it makes much difference if it is mail or phone. If you do mail a letter, include a small questionaire ("fill in the blank" type or "check here" type) and a SASE just in case they don't want to incur any expense.

It is much more difficult to track former owners down with the new federal privacy laws. Used to be I could give the clerk at the Oklahoma Tax Commission a buck, and they would do a complete owner history search, giving you a print out of all previous registered owners and their addresses at the time of registration. Much more difficult now.

Good Luck.

Lynn

I would call too. I tried to locate previous owners of my car in California. No go all the way. My brother is a detective in TX and I told him all of the avenues I checked. He was impressed at the lengths and avenues I went to try and locate a name.

I have now given up, there is just no way that I can get any where based on what I have. If anyone has an opportunity (IE POP, invoice) I would go for it. All I had was a traffic infraction ticket from 1969 (in bad shape from mice) and a 3-day pass to Moffett airfield from Oct. 11, 1972.

I would call too. I tried to locate previous owners of my car in California. No go all the way. My brother is a detective in TX and I told him all of the avenues I checked. He was impressed at the lengths and avenues I went to try and locate a name.

I have now given up, there is just no way that I can get any where based on what I have. If anyone has an opportunity (IE POP, invoice) I would go for it. All I had was a traffic infraction ticket from 1969 (in bad shape from mice) and a 3-day pass to Moffett airfield from Oct. 11, 1972.

Moffet is about 30 min fro my house... you should post the previous owners info . There are a lot of TC members in this area. I still think this is a good reason for someone to put up a lost and found. For finding orignal , previous or current owners as well as numbered parts and documentation.

My RS/Z came from Pine Bluff, Arkansas. I have the previous owners name and the AR license plate from 1984. If anyone from that area wants to help me find this person, I would love to hear from you! DMV, law enforcement, whatever.

Cheers,

Rob

PS- sorry to throw this in this thread, but we seem to be sharing experiences, soooo

Ive contacted previous owners on several cars. I suppose mail may be a little more PC or polite, but Ive always called them. Each one Ive talked to was more than willing to help and excited about hearing of their old car.

Heres one for you: A few weeks back, there was a question on this forum about the paint code for the grey 2nd gen Z wheels. Ive dealt with this before, so I tried to help him out. Its actually a tough code to get thats not lacquer. He noticed I was in Arkansas, and that he had lived there back in the early 70s, and he had a couple first gen Zs back then. We talked a bit, and LSS, I'm in the process of a frame off of his old RS Z. Thousands of miles away, from a question about 2nd gen wheels. Hes been a great help, with paper and pics from when the car was only a couple of years old. And the current owner knew one of his old roommates well back then.

Small World
dave

Dave;

I am in Arkansas and would like to contact the original owner of my 68, it was bought in Little Rock new in 68. Can you tell me how to track down the owner? I have the POP.

Thanks
Joe

Hey Joe

We've talked before. Do you have any previous owners names? Should have some on the title or any old receipts, if you have any. I was lucky enough on one of my cars to have all service receipts from new to early 80s with owners names, which helped me find quite a few of them.

Olympic 69: I'll try to help you, but cant guarantee anything. I'm in the Little Rock, Ar area. I'm not DMV or law enforcement, but I know a couple people that have been into these cars since they were new, and from that area (SE AR). And being an RS Z, its a car that would most likely be memorable.

Both of you guys email me at RamAirDave@aol.com and we'll see what we can find.

dave

Moffet is about 30 min fro my house... you should post the previous owners info . There are a lot of TC members in this area. I still think this is a good reason for someone to put up a lost and found. For finding orignal , previous or current owners as well as numbered parts and documentation.

That is a great idea! I will compile what I have and repost. I don't actually have a name. I have a first name and partial last name. I have a partial street address and I know they lived in San Diego at one time.

Again, I will compile everything I have and everything I have tried and post it later today/tomorrow.

I think we all live in wonderful countries when it comes to find out previous owners..Unfortunately, this can not be said about all countries.
We've all heard how wonderful it is to have money tucked away in Switzerland, right? How great it is with something called "privacy". Well - read this answer I got from GM in Switzerland when I tried to contact the previous owners...


The information about the first owner or the delivery dealer are therefore no more available.

Once a vehicle is out of the warranty, the manufacturer has no possibility to follow what happens to it. Therefore, even if I still would have all kind of documents from GM Suisse (which would be illegal!) I could not tell you

So...how do I track previous owners in a country where the DMV equivalent can not give you info cause it's illegal??? Go figure.. :(

I did some digging around from the paper work I had on my car and a person with the same last name as the original owner still resided at the address.

All I did was called them out of the blue. The worst that was going to hapen if it was the right person was they didn't want anything to do with me contacting them. Turns out it was the original owners sister and then she gave me the number to her brother who was the original owner. When I called the original owner he was nothing but nice.

I think most past owners of these kinds of cars wouldn't mind knowing that their car is still around and would love to talk about them. I know I would.

Good Luck!

Thanks Dave, I will be in touch. I need to dig out the paperwork...

Rob


QUOTE=RamAirDave]Hey Joe

We've talked before. Do you have any previous owners names? Should have some on the title or any old receipts, if you have any. I was lucky enough on one of my cars to have all service receipts from new to early 80s with owners names, which helped me find quite a few of them.

Olympic 69: I'll try to help you, but cant guarantee anything. I'm in the Little Rock, Ar area. I'm not DMV or law enforcement, but I know a couple people that have been into these cars since they were new, and from that area (SE AR). And being an RS Z, its a car that would most likely be memorable.

Both of you guys email me at RamAirDave@aol.com and we'll see what we can find.

dave[/QUOTE]

Another story on this subject:

Have a 69 GTO RAIII 4spd thats been local here since new. Original owner bought it new and drove it daily for about 10 years. Have a ton of paper/receipts on it. Found him in the phone book and called and talked with him when I finished the resto. He was excited to hear about the car. He still lived in the area, and when we pulled up in his driveway, his wife came running out and said she recognized the sound of the car that she heard every day for 10 years. And his son lives across the street. He remembered the car from when he was a kid.

It was a really good experience to have him look it over and reminisce (sp?). I let him drive it around a bit. Although it had clutch issues at the time, he drove it like a champ. Like an old glove, I guess. Had a tear in his eye when I left.

Ive talked to several of the past owners of the car, and they want it if its up for sale. But he definately gets first refusal.

Pretty cool to reunite the car with the original owner.

dave

Thanks guys. I'm going to start by sending a letter and then follow up with a call if I don't hear back. I'll let you know what I find out.

I've been wondering the same things... I have records from the past two owners of my car and would certainly like to find out some history. I guess I am a bit shy about it, but what's the worst that could happen?

Dave (ramairdave) gave me this link search directory (http://www.reversephonedirectory.com/) . We both used it one night while on chat and looked for the original owner of my 68 Camaro (I have two Camaros, I also have a 67) . We thought we sorta came across a few things and names near the old address that are on the POP. I called tonight and found nothing with the names. I plugged in the name and did a nationwide search. I got a number of names from all across the USA, but only one direct match.............so I called it.

Well guess what..........it was the original owner and the lady was thrilled to hear from me and wanted pictures e-mail as fast as I could get them to her. The family had just ben together over the fourth of July and guess what they were talking about, the old Camaro! It will be cool exchanging e-mails and she is going to look for old photos to scan and send. She can not wait to tell her duaghters that the car has been found...........or it has found them. She said one of her daghters she knows is going to ask if it's for sale as her and the husband would like to own one.

Well thanks Dave for the link, and if I get any pictures I will post them. Time to make a site for the ol girl if pictures show up of her with the original owners.

When searching don't give up and think outside the box a little.

Joe

good to hear, man. Seems you can find pretty much anyone these days. Just gotta try. If its the wrong person, just say sorry and move on.

But most will be interested/excited to hear about it. And they always want it back.

dave

OK, had to share. This thread gave me the incentive I needed to track down the owner of our 67 SS conv. who had owned it for 27 years. After 2 days of internet searching and calls to quite a few dead ends in Las Vegas (I'm in Indiana) I ended up with the ex-wife of the guys cousin, she gave me her ex's number and I spoke with him. He told me his cousin was elderly and he never remembered him driving anything but a cadillac but he would give him my number and hopefully he would call me. He called 20 minutes later and could not wait to speak to us about the car. He confirmed everything we had been told about the originality of the car and the miles (84k). The only thing he replaced over the years was the top. He kept the car at his beach house in Laguna (why the cousin didn't know it) drove it only about 100 miles a month and had a neighbor sell it for him after he moved back to vegas full time. He wants a pic of us with the car and couldn't be happier that the car has found a home that appreciates it like he did. My advice to anyone looking for a prior owner... Just do it! and dont give up. This guy had an unlisted phone number but there are more than one way to get things done. Happy Hunting!

thats a great story about perserverence haley thanks for sharing, I need to go back and recontact the divorcee in my title's history and see if she has calmed down enough to give me other names I can call too. :)

OK, since the Swiss equivalent of the DMV couldn't help, I searched the import papers from the customs dept in Sweden.
On the Swiss registration papers, a name and address was stated. Hmmm, maybe I should write him and see what he says?
Did so and a couple of weeks later, I received an e-mail from this guy, asking me to get in touch with him.

Firstly - The car: Turns out this guys was the second owner. First owner died and the estate had the car parked in a garage "for many many years". I was also told that this was the 1st or 2nd Camaro ever imported to Switzerland. First owner had changed engine and gearbox.

Secondly - Previous owner: Having his own business, he was in need for cash in May of 04. He approached this guy in Germany and was promised he could buy the car back ina couple of years when his finances had been sorted out. The guy in Germany would keep it cause he liked to cruise with it.

Just about a year later, he received my letter, saying his car was now in Sweden. Hence the contact he made with me. One hour ago, I called him...He went ballistic over the phone and probably blew a gasket or two. Once calmed down, he gave me the story above (German guy promised him to buy it back in a year or two) After a while, the guy calmed down and gave me the whole story, including how much he had been paid for the car, who the first owner was, basically, all the info I asked for. I will also be sent pictures on how the car looked when he took it over.

I then told him how much I paid for the car.. :o Turns out I paid twice as much for the car as he'd been paid. Time for his 3rd gasked to blow...Guess he wanted a bigger piece of the pie..

To cut a very long story short, we ended as friends with promises of continued friendship and contact. I had learned a lot about the car and I guess he learned a lot about "people trying to be nice" to him. The term "gullible" comes to mind.

I guess I can call of the serach for any additional info on the car and be happy that I've met a fellow Swiss Camaro freak!

Great stories. Got me thinking now that I will try to contact previous owners. I have the original owners manual with POP. My car was delivered from Herman Davis Chevrolet in Crawfordsville Indiana on 6/30/67 Does this ring a bell with any Indianaians? I have the original owners name and address. In Indiana they put the mileage on the inspection reciepts? I have a bunch of those also... In 1987 the original owner still had the vehicle, and it had 19k miles on it. Then it went to Rockford, Ill. Got a bunch of old registrations, excise tax bills and inspection reports that I forgot I even had.
Maybe I'll start making a few calls....... :D

Just to update everyone, I sent a letter to the address on the POP last Thursday. Last night, I got a call from the son of the person identified on the POP. In the message, he said his father purchased the car when he (the son) was 16 years old. We have not spoken directly yet, but I plan to call him back tonight. I'm really excited to learn more.

--Neil

Let us know what happens Neil. It was pretty cool talking to the orginal owner of my 68. They were excited to hear it was still around. I have sent some pictures of it to them via e-mail.

Joe

I just got off the phone with my car's 2nd owner. I was a great conversation. He said he got really excited and emotional when he received my letter. He had not heard anything about the car in over 25 years. Here's a summary of what he told me:

Apparently, the first owner went to Vietnam and did not return. The family sold the car to a local used car lot. The 2nd owner (who I talked to) bought the car in 1970 from the used car lot for about $2,100. The car had 1,500 miles on it when he bought it. He was sixteen years old and his dad helped him with the loan which explains why his dad's name were on the papers. He confirmed the car was a Z28 (I did not tell him it was a Z, I let him tell me - Whew!) Back then, the car was white w/red interior as it is today. It had a flat hood, short rear spoiler, and no tach or gauges. Interestingly, he said the car had a console (it was not restored with one). Also, very interestingly, he said the car had red stripes and seemed to recall the stripes continuing under the front bumper. I assume the original owner must have painted the stripes red to match the interior or something. He told me he put a hose clamp tach on it, jacked it up, and put some M60's in the rear. He put a T-handle shifter on it too. Aside from plugs and wires he didn't make any other changes. He told me about how he used to race it against other great musclecars (his friend's SS396, 340 Dusters, 440 six-packs, etc.) and cruising the local drive-in. He told me how he used to launch the car at 5 grand and pull other cars off the line while they were still spinning. He took it to Columbus and Ripley(?) a few times and raced it. He told me how he used feed it with Sunoco 290 and how he used to baby it - washing it all the time and changing the oil every six weeks.

Overall, I feel like a made a new friend. I told him I would send some pictures and that made his day. He said he thought his mom might still have some 8mm of him washing the car back in the day and that he would look for it. We agreed to meet someday and go for a ride.

It was totally worth the effort and homework to find and speak to a previous owner. I hope some of you are successful in your efforts and learn more about the history of your rides.

--Neil

I made ground finally, I called a previous owner again that wasnt interested in helping much 2 years ago but now she said her son was more into my car at the time, so she had him call me and now I find out my car came thru a car broker in Alberquerqe NM who bought it from an estate in Texas. Now I need to find that dealer but the guy doesnt recall the name or have any paperwork. At least its another step. :)

Interesting Thread;
I recently had the opportunity to decode the POP for my 68 Z28.The original owners name and adress were on the POP, I did a search on the net and came up with a match a few miles from the original adress. I took a chance, picked up the 'phone and gave the guy a call. His son answered and said to call back in an hour or so when his Dad would be awake. An hour later I called, introduced myself and had a great conversation with the man that bought my car new off the lot at Larry Smith Chevrolet on June 4th 1968. He also gave me the name of the next 2 people that subsequently owned the vehicle. I am in the process of contacting them at this time. To speed things up a bit, I thought I might as well contact the person I bought it from and continue the search from both directions so to speak. Another member of this website just advised me that his sister bought a new car in 66 from Larry Smith Chevrolet. Believe it or not he lives in Stanley, NC. the same place the cars original owner lived when he bought the car new. Small world!! From my recent experience I wouldn't hesitate to take a chance and use the telephone, but I'm kind of impatient when it comes to stuff like this. BTW the original owner told me he sold the car in 73 or 74 for $1500.00. Owner #3 restored the car a few years later and invited him over to see it. He said it looked better than when it came off the lot new. Great stories, I'm looking forward to filling in all the blanks.

How does one go about finding out how many previous owners their car had?
& who they are?

Thanks,
Nick

Nick: You can check with your State DMV.They might be able to provide you with the past owners names, at least those with-in the State. However, I have been advised you may have to sign a waiver pledging NOT to contact any of the owners whose names were provided. I very much wanted to talk to each of the past owners and find out the history of my car. In my case I was lucky: The guy's name on the POP is alive and kicking, and a search on the web turned up his phone #. I am also trying to get in touch with the gentleman I bought the car from 10 years ago and found out last night he moved from KS to CO. Looks like I've got my work cut out for me. You just have to get busy on the telephone and the internet and persever. I am extremely lucky that a fellow member of this site has been most helpful as well. Without him I know I wouldn't be as far along as I am now.

I looked up the database for previous owners by region, but after calling about 55 "karen Reids" in the area, I'm gonna call it quts. With a female original owner, she could have gotten married and changed names, moved out of state, died, or whatever. I know that my car was purchased in Renton, Wa in 69, but I think too much time has passed... Why couldn't her name have been "Felicia Fishbeckerowsky" or something. lol Good luck to those who are still searching! :thumbsup:

Dano

A friend of mine's wife works at the DMV here in Delaware and under "the table" she found all the previous owners of my 69 Z for Delaware. Have spoken to one person out of all of them and found out what I needed to know since the car has been in Delaware (early 1989) I also have a name of one person in Maryland which is where my car came from originally "I think", but haven't been lucky enough to contact him. Anybody from the Elkton, Maryland area seen the car noted below in MY CAR...?

So far my drivetrain has been missing in action since at least 3/89 and before it came to Delaware.

Hum... I just looked up on four11.com and the first owner is still listed at the address as my POP. Perhaps when I get it back on the road, I'll see if he wants to see what it looks like.

Oh, and see if he is related to my wife (her maiden name is the same as his).

Hum... I just looked up on four11.com and the first owner is still listed at the address as my POP. Perhaps when I get it back on the road, I'll see if he wants to see what it looks like.

Oh, and see if he is related to my wife (her maiden name is the same as his).

I tried the four11.com and I got something about yahoo. Can you provide a link?

A few years ago I was informed my first Camaro, a 67 SS 350 was on EBAY. I called the seller who confirmed the equipment and condition. I wasn't interested in trying to buy it since I still have my second Camaro. When the sale was over I called the new owner and offered to give him the Protect-o-plate. I still had it after 35 years. He said he knew what it was and would call me back when he took delivery of the car. That's been at least 2 years ago and I still haven't heard from him.

That's funny you say EBay. I was selling my 67 RS/SS 396 a few years ago on EBay and received an email from the son in law of the origonal owner of the car. She still lived in Ca, a ways away from me at the time. He said she traded it in on a 65 SS Chevelle and then on a Datson 210 wagon? because it just never ran right. The motor would pop and back fire. I had all the owner history listed with the POP and owners name. Small world. Unfortuanately I sold it. Pretty cool to hear the story anyway.

Gary: I've had the best success with www.worldpages.com. Good luck with your search.

I have had really good luck with www.anywho.com Try it sometime. Kevin