History Ever wonder about your cars first owner?

Not really..I dont think he would recognise it anyways

 

I know a little about the history of 3 of my cars. But it is sketchy at best.

The Wife's '38 was a Tennessee car came to us by way of Wichita Falls, Texas. I don't know who the first owner was but I do know that is saw plenty of back road use and may have been used to haul contraband.

I don't know who originally owned my Stude but I do know at least one owner's name and old adress, it was a Dallas Texas car, I have a month's worth of canceled checks in the bank envelope, along with the bank statement. Judging by the silk glove I found under the rear console it saw the prom at least once, sorry no panties. It is a mid length navy Blue glove so it would no doubt be from the mid to later '60s. Full length gloves were popular in the '50s from the pictures I have seen.

My third car is an old Gas Roadster (body only) turned Gas Altered with the rule change. It ran A/GA when last run. Made its last pass at a Nor Cal track in 1964, I am thinking Half Moon Bay. It belonged to a fella who we will call JC. I sat with him when he breathed his last breath, but I didn't get the car until almost 2 years after he passed one of the fellas found it in Arizona. I could tell you some pretty funny stories about the car, I was there the entire time it was raced. I do know that JC was not the original owner but he bought it in Santa Clara from the original owner.

I would not post anyone's name or addy on line, just not Kosher.

 

My '64 Studebaker Daytona was shipped to Sacramento, CA according to the build sheet. While no paperwork came with it, there were only two Studebaker dealers in Sacramento. The rear window has a 'vintage' San Jose St. university decal (my car has higher education). Unsure if the car was built to order or stock. I'm not sure why anyone would order the 289-2V engine and a 4-speed.

My Studebaker Commander has a reasonably complete history showing the little 6 cylinder has over 200,000 miles on it.

One of my daily drivers was a stolen & recovered vehicle that I bought from the insurance company. The other is a Chrysler corporate lease vehicle.

 

I got my 39 from the son of the original owner in 79 after it was finally parked in 71 after many hard years on gravel roads and some outright abuse....

The original owner passed before I moved into the area. The car was bought new 25 miles from where it spent it's whole life.

 

all i know is my 54 was built in Janesville. How would i find out where it was sold?

 

My 63 was purchased new in Bardstown, KY and probably never ventured far from home. I found her back in March with 56,000 miles on the odometer, about 30 miles down the road.

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My '64 GTO still has the Protecto-Plate in the glovebox door with the original owner's name and address. I drove to the city where it was and tried to find his house, but it's the middle of a traffic circle now.

 

I know the full history of my '53 Chevy and I'm the fourth owner. A teacher bought it new, owned it for 20-30 years, sold it to a high school kid who blew the motor, who then sold it to a "collector"/dealer who had it in a field for almost exactly 20 years before I came along and resurrected it. Still had a lot of documents in it.
My '51 Chevy, however, I don't even know exactly where it's from let alone who owned it originally! All I know is someone put lowering blocks on the rear end decades ago.

 

I have often wondered about my Belair's history. I have owned it since 1975, so it has been mine longer than anyone else before me.

I bought it in North Carolina from a guy who was in his early 20's, but it was built in Van Nuys CA. So I'm thinking at least two owners before me. How it got to NC I'll never know, but it came along way and I'm thinking not many people did alot of cross country traveling back in the day. I don't remember the mileage, I guess it is on the car title, but the origanal engine had been replaced. The cast iron PG was still in the car along with a wonder bar radio.

 

My 51 chevy was well documented back to the first tax bill in 1952, I was able to track the original owners name to a monument in Yalesville CT of WWI veterans, the car has spent its whole life within 20 miles of the original owner.

found lots of the old-style beer can tabs in the ash tray that were drank in the 60's-70's, as well as a document from the DMV in the 50's that explained how to "duck and cover"

 

Our car was purchased brand new by Mrs. Murat Boyle on December 15, 1950. Her first name was Claudine but she always signed her name using her husbands full name. She lived at 535 W. 58th Street Kansas City, MO. The car was purchased at Jerry Smith's Crosstown Motors Chrysler-Plymouth of 5835 Troost Ave, Kansas City.

The original car cost was 1780.00 but if you add in the heater, anti freeze, undercoating, weed chains, and white wall tires the total cost came to 1941.85.

she traded in a 1939 Buick Roadmaster sedan that they gave her 400.00 for. She put a 100.00 deposit on her new Plym. The salesman at the time of the sale was Clif Spurlock.

Mrs. Claudine Boyle was the wife/widow of Mr. Murat Boyle; a well-to-do lawyer in the Kansas City area. He was the president of the Missourri Bar Association. He died in a plane crash on his way home from a fishing trip with friends in Corpus Christi, Texas in the 30's or 40's.

Mrs. Boyle traded the car back in to Jerry Smith in 1965 and according to US Census records, she was about 70 years old then. Jerry Smith held onto that car in his private collection until 1982, 2 years before his death...when he sold to to a man in CT. Jerry Smith was a multi-millionaire known for his extensive car collection and toy collection.

This past sunday; the car turned 23,000 original miles...

 

Skrach,

I was pretty heavy into the truckin and minitrucking scene back in the early 90's. Your truck brought back a flood of great memories! My Highschool sweetheart had a 89 GMC just like yours, But it was factory white with the red bucket seat interior. I have many many memories of all night thrashes trying to get ready for a show. Man it was a great time. Thanks for post and bringing back memories long forgoten.

Your truck is sweet. Keep it just like it is.



Sorry if I got off topic!

 

I have the all the info with my Olds. Window sticker, bill of sale and picture of original owner with the car when he picked it up. Clues in the car were that he worked for NYSEG and was a Mason. A bit of checking and he died in 1985. His wife must have continued to care for the car but not drive it except for the oil change done in 1992 with almost the same mileage as the 1982 oil change sticker. I also have the estate sale flier listing the car in 1996 when she died. Naming cars is a bit corney but her name was Violet and so is the car now. I feel responsible now to contine to care for it like they did.

He traded in a 1955 caddy model 62(?). They gave him like $421.35 for it so his total would come out an even number. I like even numbers too. There was a smoke stashed under the ash tray thou the ash tray is spotless. Those with this syle ash tray know the stash spot, right?

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=589665&highlight=super+88

 

I have talked to the wife half of the 1st owners of my 67 GTO and she was real interesting. Said her hubby was a Kansas Highway Patrolman and special ordered a new Pontiac every 2 years. She said they had a black 65 Bonneville, the blue 67 GTO, a green 69 LeMans and then a blue 71 Grand Prix. They divorced that year and I don't know if he kept it up. They used to let their teenage son take the GTO out until they found out that he was "gunning it to make the front end come up". She also said earlier they had a black/white 56 Ford Victoria

I haven't tried to research my 40 Ford PU history yet but I do know the previous owner bought it in 1968.

 

I'm the 3rd owner of my 61 Dodge. the original owners name and address is on a coupon book that was in the glove box, it also has the address and name of the dealership where it was bought. got it around 1990 with 77,000 on it.

wonder if the guy still lives in that house? maybe I ought to drive by.. it is about 1/2 hour from where I live.

 

I know my '51 F1 was built in Long Beach and spent the first 30 years or so in Arizona, and somewhere along that line someone was a pretty crappy driver as there is a lot of the old style brass weld type bodywork done on it. The truck was shipped to Hawaii in the mid 80s by a serviceman and bought by the p.o. in 1989. I got it last March.
I also just found out last week that the '54 Chevy Belair that my grandma had was bought new in Sioux Falls, SD. by my Granddad. Currently it has less than 60,000 miles on it and my Dad has it.

 

I bought this F100 from an 80 year old woman whose husband had already passed.... He bought it knew in 56.... She stood in her house and watched out the curtain the whole time I loaded it up, she was sad to see it leave their old farm. I imagine there were a lot of old memories in that truck. I hope I can get it running before she goes on .... promised her id stop by once it was running again.

 

I know very little about the history of my Chevy. The guy I bought it from intended to restore it, but needed to sell it after life dealt him a couple of bad cards. I know that the guy HE bought it from thougt that Bondo by the 55 gallon drum, crappy wheels and body colored bumpers were a good idea. That's all I know for sure.

The speculation are slightly interesting, though: It's a Special, not a Deluxe, so whomever bought it originally was more interested in frugality than frills. As far as creature comfort- radio and dome light are the only options. The cheap basic heater, aloong with adding the oil filkter and full oil bath air filter makes me wonder if it was originally bought in the Southwest. Then I look at the floorboards, and am certain it was owned by someone who lived in a foot of salt water.

So, I don't know much at all about its' past. I got a pretty good idea about its' future, though.

 

iv been wondering the history of my o/t camaro. luckily when i bought the car from the 2nd owner he still had the original owners manual and all kinda of original paperwork that still had the first owners name and information on it. once iv got the car back to 100% im gona attempt to contact the original owner of the car on facebook. (who doesnt have one of those these days well besides me lol) or possibly just drive to the house and see if the person still lives there sense its not to far from me.

 

I've often wondered about where my car has been, who owned it, or what it has seen. I know it was assembled in the Chicago factory, but the old man I bought the body from found the body in the UT desert almost 20 years ago. I don't think it had seen use in a long time before I bought it. The newest artifact I found in it was a bar keychain from the 50's. I almost wonder just as much, both with my car, or any old car I see in non-operational condition or sitting, what was the final straw, or nail in the coffin that made someone stop driving the car, and park it that final time.

 

my 1946 international was a phone 22 coal truck in wisconsin from 46 to 66 when it was retired, i bought it in antigo and drove it onto the trailor and towed her home
to Mississippi. ben working on her ever since.

 

I don't wonder about the first owner as much as I wonder about those who BUILT it.
Whether it be my '29 Sedan, my 75 Duster, even the 07 HHR, I wonder how many good folks did their level best to build my car.

Who worked in the Ford foundry back in '28-'29?
Who put the interior together in Hamtramack in 1975?
Who put the wiring in my HHR in Mexico?

All good folks doing a good job.

 

I am the second owner on my '58 Apache. It was bought new off the showroom floor at Morris Chevrolet in Oklahoma City in June of 1958 by Hugh Perry. I have all of the original dealer paperwork and registration papers including the Protecto-Plate, owners manual (which is still in the glovebox) and the warranty paperwork for the tires.

Hugh met me at the tag agency and transferred to title to my name in June of 1995. He told me that he paid $1840.00 for the truck and didn't get the oil filter option on the truck because he didn't have any more money. He saved up and paid cash for the truck. The truck was originally painted gold metallic/cream two tone and the paint code just says "Spec".

I have two road maps that were in the glove box that have notes written on them and pencil lines outlining a family vacation trip to California and back to Oklahoma in June 1959. Jenny's notes tell about the sites they saw and places they camped during the trip.

 

I had a 64 Coupe De Ville, I had the OG paperwork and it was originally sold in beverly hills and the owner info was listed as "private". Probly someone famous? This was back before internet so I had no way of investigating but I was always and still am curious.

 

My 1956 Chevy was bought new by my aunt, from Taylor Motors in Taylor, TX, She parked it in about 1968 or so and I was able to buy it from her ($300) in '71.
We nieces and nephews used to ride in it as kids every summer when we visited. I think we were the only ones to ever ride in the back seat!
I drove it longer than her, keeping it going with a new motor, transmission, etc... until 1983. Kids, divorces, hurricanes, etc... have kept it in the garage ever since. This is my retirement project. It really needs a frame-off, but I don't think it'll get one right away, just get running and drivable, so I can take the grandkids for rides.

 

One of my cars, 1947, was bought from the second owner and I have all the info from the original purchase including all the pics of the makeover done over 20 years ago!

 

I actually wonder all the time about exactly the opposite. . .

Who were the jackasses who owned my cars in between the factory and now, and why the hell did they think the "modifications" they made were safe or sane?

(She says to herself under her breath as she is still "undoing" what has been done between 1959/1960 and 2011 )

 

My grandmother purchased the 1954 Ford wagon to use as a delivery vehicle for her florist. I would stand up in the seat and help my granddaddy steer, when we were delivering flowers. As I grew up I learned to drive the car all by myself. Had some great times hauling my friends around. You can put a lot of people in a station wagon. In the early sixties my grandmother had replaced the wagon with an VW Van. She gave the Wagon to my Daddy as his fishing car. I was still having great times in the wagon. Then in 1980, I overheard my Daddy offer to sell the wagon to a man he worked with. I explained that he could not sell the car as it was "family". He reached into his pocket and handed me the keys. He said he was tired of paying taxes on all the cars and trucks at the house. ( He had seven other cars and trucks) i drove the car for about a year, every day. In the days before child restraints I just loaded our twin girls in the back and let them play. Then one day the brakes went out. WILD RIDE ! The car was taken back to the house and parked in the back yard. Danny promised to fix it over the weekend. A few years later he put up a pole building shelter over it, the a few years after that he closed the building in around it. Then in 2003 he PULLED it out of the building. After pulling the car apart and sandblasting the body he kicked the tires looked it over carefully and announced he was trashing it because it was too far gone and he would by me another wagon. I explained very carefully that he WAS NOT. He could build it or he could put it right back in the hole he pulled it out of. He waited around for a few days, for me to change my mind. Knowing that that was not going to happen.

Question...DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS GOING TO COST?

Answer...DO YOU THINK I CARE! !

And so it began... My husbands long and difficult journey of restoring my car to match the memories of my life long affair with the 1954 Ford 2 door Ranch Wagon. With the help of good friends like Dave Doolin and Randy Nash and the encouragement of lots of car people, my car will soon be back on the road and better than brand new.

 

We're the second owners of the '60 Biscayne we're fixing up.

The first owner was a chicken farmer that lived up almost at the top of the mountain on Wade's Gap Road in Virginia. He bought it in '59, actually. It's titled as a '59 but it's a '60 body style.

The original owner died a few years back, but his son and daughter are still living.

I've met the daughter and she told me about her and her brother learning to drive in that car, and how her mom wanted a new car with an automatic and PS/PB because she was tired of driving a 3-speed manual with no power anything up the mountain, so in '72 her dad bought the new car and stashed this one in the chicken house until we bought it at the estate auction, etc. Cool stuff to know!

My wife and I drive by that farm from time to time, it's beautiful up there. Truth be told, when we were looking to buy a place in Roanoke a few years back, that farm was for sale, and we considered buying it.

 

Her words verbatim. HRP