Greetings! I tried a search first but didn’t find anything specific to my query. So, my apologies if this has been covered already and my search skills need honing. I’m curious as to the ownership history of my Model A hotrod before the gent I got it from. The problem I’m having is that every search on line is looking for a 17 digit VIN and mine is an “A” followed by 7 digits. I believe it may have originated in California going by information from the previous owner. Thanks for any help and be well Jeff
It’s not a VIN as we know it for modern cars, but a serial number which the Model A is ***led under. They go from 1 thru 4849340, which is sequentially the number of Model A’s built. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I was watching a short clip about VINs last night. They said something about cars before sometime in the 50s didn't have VIN, but what they had was a serial number
You can narrow down month and year made based on your serial number. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Registration history is pretty difficult to find. I've never bothered trying, since there really is no place to search for it, unless you have access to state records, and then it's only for official use. You can google the serial number and see if it pops up anywhere...I did that to a car I owned a long time ago, and found an ad selling the car several years ago. It was interesting the the seller had modified the car by adding expensive options, then claimed it was all original Good luck in your search, but don't expect to find much.
you would never find any of that sort info because of privacy laws. The best you can do is find the last owner, ask them where they got it and if you get an answer, go to the next one, etc. It actually leg work and call and stuff. If you are luck and you go a complete car, sometimes there is registration card. But as far as popping in the VIN and getting a list, no such site exists. Maybe if it were a Cadillac you can get the build sheet and some info.
Your other problem is that the car is at least 90 years old. 90 years ago everything was on paper. Computerization of files didn't take place until the late 70's or even mid to late 80's. I doubt that all files were loaded into the computer. There was probably a cut-off date and that was probably after WWII.
Some cars have stamped numbers on the body crossmembers which can help identify which ***embly facility it was built at. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
In the end you have it now,and thats all that really counts.Unless it was featured in a magazine,and got do***ented in hot rod history the rest is now.......history.
As far as it's history as a hot rod or custom it dies depend on how well known it was or who owned it, were it was shown, where it was raced or what awards it won. If the car has never changed much and you show up at an event with it sooner or later someone is going to mention that ____________ used to own it. Someone else might say and yes he bought it from __________ but changed the tail lights and painted it. That is how you usually find out about the history of a hot rod or custom that wasn't extremely well known to begin with. Sometimes you even meet a previous owner that way and get a bit of info on it. A few years ago I p***ed on buying a Model A roadster primarily because it was so connected to the long time previous owner who had painted murals on the whole car in the 70's that some folks might have a fit when you repainted it. That car will always be his old car in this area although it probably isn't known out of the area. I would have immediately stripped it down to bare metal and put a solid color paint job on it and was as much afraid of the flack from locals that I might get over getting rid of the art work as I was afraid of what I would find under it. Privacy laws are there to protect you even though it seems all too many outfits That are able to cir***navigate them to some degree. I had an issue with an Arizona ***le that someone had carried around folded up in his wallet for quite a while and the Vin number was right on one of the creases and part of it was hard to read. Arizona wouldn't even give us a yes or no as to if the ***le matched the vin off the car but we finally ran it that way and it was the correct ***le.
Another problem is that these records were kept by each state, with their own system. And years ago, one problem that popped up in Arizona, was that there had been a fire in a records office some time in the 1970s(?), and a lot of the old records were lost. And for later records, they go through and purge them pretty often. So even if you could gain access, the info is probably not there.
On a Model A the serial number is stamped on the left side of the engine just above the water outlet and on the top of the left frame rail just behind the front cowl bolt. To check there you would have to raise the body, remove the front fender and splash apron and the welting on top of the frame. Even then the are hard to read after 90 years of rust, the stock welting holds water and rusts the top of the frame. Should have a star A and then the serial number.
Within the last decade I asked Oregon DMV to do a ***le search. They will not give the owners name, but will do***ent each time the ***le changed hands with the date and location. The ***le had come from Washington in 1954. I determined the owners had bought a ***le and stamped the numbers in the frame. I knew that because they stamped the numbers in the front crossmember, not in the proper location in front of the firewall on the drivers side. They also used 1/8" stamps instead of the proper style Ford stamps. Prior verbal history had the car salvaged from a field in Klamath Falls and from SF Bay Area before that. It was purported to be a show car painted candy metallic orange, with stock rumble seat, a filled dash with 10 instruments, Tommy "The Greek" pinstriping and a Tbird engine. I haven't found any confirmation of the Bay Area story or how it ended up in a farmers field in K Falls.
Cars of the time in California went by engine numbers. There was an official form to change the number on the pink slip. My father worked at a Western Auto where they performed installation of rebuilt or remanufactured engines. In a portfolio he had I found one of these California cards that was filled out by the garage/shop performing the work. I’m sure there were many replacements done without changing what was become the Vin number. We just changed a 40 car from the engine number that was on the pink to the body and sequence number which is specific to the car by as attached tag during ***embly at the factory.
Even if California had the information, you cannot get access to it. That would literally be against privacy laws here. In any case, they probably don't even have it. All records that were deemed inactive were automatically purged after just a few years of inactivity, due to lack of storage space (an no way to expand it). That left many cars "out-of-the-system". There are about 35-million registered vehicles in this state, right now. They could not keep the old records. Not too long ago, we got a new computer system, with expandable storage. No records get purged now.
The feds required a VIN after 1954 (anything earlier is a serial number) but did not mandate any particular format until the 17 digit SAE VIN came into being about 1990. As others have said, what you can get varies by state (and most of what you could get is currently not available.) Oregon is one of the few exceptions. Its motor vehicle registrations are available online for 1911-46 (you need an Ancestry subscription, but many libraries provide access to Ancestry's databases.)
When I bought my 1929 Model A roadster in 1962, it was registered as a 1930, 6-cyl. I went to DMV and told them that it was a 1929 with a V-8 engine. They issued me a number to be stamped on the front frame rail. I drove down to a welding shop and they stamped the number on the right frame rail for $5. Drove back to the DMV and rang the bell at the drive-thru. A guy came out and said for me to open the hood on the left side. I told him it was on the right. Nope. Went back to the welding shop and they stamped it on the left side. Went back to DMV and they okayed it. Months later I got new registration -- 1930 6-cyl. Two ch***is later, I don't think the number is still there.
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