If you own a classic car then chances are you would like to know the life it lead before you owned it. Unless you are the original owner there may be a little mystery behind its past. If you are fully restoring the vehicle then you certainly want to know as much as possible about the car. Having a full history can actually increase the value of the vehicle in some cases. Imagine that you find out your classic car or truck was one of the first to roll off the manufacturing line. This would magnify the importance of your vehicle considerably!
Just as important as knowing when and where your car was manufactured is the history of the previous owners. If it was ever owned by someone famous or influential this too could increase the car’s value. Finding out who owned it can also help you understand what kind of a life your vehicle experienced before finding a home with you.
Here are three steps that you can take to help uncover your classic car’s history.
1. Decipher the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)
The very first pace to star when researching your classic car is the VIN. This series of numbers is the single most important clue. It contains all the original facts about your car or truck. The VIN will tell you when and where your vehicle was manufactured and the date it was built. The VIN also has codes that can be deciphered to tell you what color schemes were originally used for the interior and exterior.
When tracking down your vehicle’s history, the when and where are the most important. Major auto manufacturers have multiple locations that the assembled vehicles. The VIN can tell you which assembly line your car was assembled on which can help to target the original geographical location. It isn’t impossible, but it is very unlikely that your 1954 Corvette was built in Michigan and then shipped to California. It is more likely that it was built in St. Louis (Yes we know that Corvettes are now produced in Bowling Green, Kentucky).
The date of manufacturing can inform you where your car was during the production run or if any engineering changes were made to your car during the production run. Having this information is very important to collectors and can significantly change the value of your car or truck. Most experts will research a VIN before making a purchase because there are unscrupulous sellers that will try to make claims about a vehicle when it simply isn’t true. The VIN always tells the truth.
The first place to start your VIN research is the Internet. A quick Google search for classic car vin decoder will provide you with plenty of tools to decipher your VIN. Books are also available for your specific make and model. It is best practice to get the information from as many sources as possible. That way you can cross reference everything to make sure the information you uncover is correct. If there is any way you can find out the name of the original dealer you can contact them directly to get the purchase records.
2. The DMV
The DMV often gets a bad rap, but it is actually an excellent resource when tracing previous owners of your vehicle. With a little patience you can put in requests to get all the information you need. You might even be able to get all the info you need without ever stepping foot into a DMV. Online title searches can be performed on almost any vehicle. The National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS) was created to help combat the selling of stolen vehicles, but has become a very valuable tool for those trying to research their vehicle’s history.
If NMVTIS does not turn up enough information you may need to visit the DMV in the state you purchased your car and work backwards from there. It is common to find titles showing when the vehicle entered that state. There will be a copy of the previous title and the state that issued it. You can then use that information to contact the next DMV and so on…
There are small fees associated with title research, but it will be money well spent to get the right information. You might want to consider the states main DMV (usually located in the state’s capital city) rather than relying on a smaller branch office. Here is a helpful website that will assist you in finding the right DMV. www.dmvwebsites.com
You might even be lucky enough to do a title search completely online once you have located the correct DMV. Many provide this service online in an attempt to reduce foot traffic into their offices. Its a win-win for everyone! The key is to remain patient while performing these title searches. These searches can sometimes take some time, especially if your vehicle was titled in multiple states. In some cases a trace can take months, but fining out who the previous owners are is worth the wait.
3. Contact the Owners
Chances are you will not be able to contact the original owner unless you get really lucky. Some of the older titles might have names and addresses on them. You can use this information to try and track down those owners as long as they are still living, haven’t moved or are still listed in a phone directory.
If you are unable to find one owner simply move on to the next one until you have exhausted all the avenues. Anyone that has owned the car before you might have valuable information that only they would know or might have contact info for other owners you are unable to locate.
Uncovering the history of your classic car or truck should be and exciting adventure and not a hassle. Take your time with it. It night take as long as the restoration itself. You might reach some dead ends, but if you follow all the leads you are bound to find the history you are looking for.