I started the old fashion way with the guy I sold it to. That ended in a dead end real fast since he couldn't remember where he sold the car other than it went to Wichita, KS. Alot of people knew the car as well since I'm from a town of about 12,000 and have always been in the car scene so I asked around some of the quilting circle but that didn't bring any help either. I put the VIN in a search engine one day just goofing around and it pulled up in Florida Tax records and gave a name and an address but no other information. With nothing else to go on, I wrote the person a letter asking about the car and telling my story of the car. I also included a photograph of the vehicle to show it was not a scam and left some of my basic contact information and put it in the mail. Luckily this sparked an interest in the owner to contact me to find more of the history of the car. This opened up the door to build a bond with the current owner which did not want to sale the vehicle. I have a career where I'm a salesman. I sale a product that is very difficult to sale but people still buy my product......"jailtime". Over the years I have taught myself anytime two people are involved with something they are both trying make a sale. One person trying to pitch a sale of a product and the other trying to sale the idea why they do not need the product. In the end only one persons sales pitch wins. Having this thinking and being patient with my sales approach the owner decided she would like to sale the car back to me. She shot me a price and I told her it was sold. I didn't even try to get her to come down on price since I felt it was a fair price. Ironically, I later learned from her that she shot me the high end so we were both happy. The biggest things which helped me locate it were technology and knowing how to use it, patients, dedication, and alot of luck. It was a long search but one day I just got lucky.
Great story! I sold my 69 Camaro a few years ago. I could kick myself in the *** for doing that. Good luck on getting her back on the road.
Cool story with a happy ending. Good luck on the build and keep us up to date so we can follow along. It's going to be awesome!
Thanks everyone. I am excited about it and the build. I am going to tell Jeff (Finkd) the color and the basic style I want and let him go nuts, work his magic and do what he thinks would look good on a Chevy II. Since I am not planning on getting rid of the car I think I am going to go all out with it but keep it a driver as well. I am not really worried about a budget with it since it will be a family hand me down for my kids and besides, I think it will be pretty cool having a cool custom built by Jeff.
The Jalopy Journal
