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Seeking historical background of my CS

Stacey Enderle

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 14, 2006
Messages
181
I just located the old dealer that my car was originally ordered from and got their phone number. Here's a crazy question. Are some dealers out there that sometimes archive the old orders, build sheets, etc. at all? I found the phone number to that dealer just today. They're still going after 40 years! My dad bought that mustang from that same dealer 38 years ago. I'm also wondering if they can do a title search as long as they are a dealer. If they can get some history on the vehicle.

Stacey
 
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PNewitt

Guest
It seems like there is a lot of interest in finding previous owners, and/or the original dealer. This is something I should address in the upcoming book.

Well, Stacey, you could call the dealer! Ask for a "customer representative", and that should get you some sort of answer. Sometimes, you find an "old timer" that's been at a dealer for many years, that you could ask for--to see what they might remember, or know.

It's almost waay beyond most dealer's records to find anything, but some of the family-type dealerships keep everything. You might consider "schmoosing" over at the dealer to see who knows what.

It's kinda like this: drive to the dealership. The hot shot salesman greets you...and you ask for the customer rep (the dealer Public Relations person), and then ask if there's anyone there who remembers 1968! ( which breaks the ice) then they give you a phone number of someone who was there in '68 and retired from the dealership, and you go over to visit them, buy them lunch, and talk for hours and hours, and you'll know more than you'd ever hope for!

Well, sometimes it works like that.

Paul.
 

J_Speegle

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 19, 2006
Messages
488
Stacey Enderle said:
I'm also wondering if they can do a title search as long as they are a dealer. If they can get some history on the vehicle.

Stalker laws have limited your abilty to search for past owners so little chance there. Since Calif dealerships (compared to most fo the rest of the country) change hands more often and are relocated I've heard of few owners finding much at all. But its always worth a shot. I got lucky with one of my cars since the dealership owner stayed in the general area (now owns a Toyota dealership) and had a fairly historical background so others had searched him out.

Still no paperwork though
 

BroadwayBlue

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 26, 2005
Messages
2,900
Location
Hudson Valley Area, NY
PNewitt said:
It seems like there is a lot of interest in finding previous owners, and/or the original dealer. This is something I should address in the upcoming book.

Paul.

Uhhh ... YEAH!! I agree! :grin: You have my blessing to include it :cool:
 
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Stacey Enderle

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 14, 2006
Messages
181
Historical Interest,...

PNewitt said:
It seems like there is a lot of interest in finding previous owners, and/or the original dealer. This is something I should address in the upcoming book.

Well, Stacey, you could call the dealer! Ask for a "customer representative", and that should get you some sort of answer. Sometimes, you find an "old timer" that's been at a dealer for many years, that you could ask for--to see what they might remember, or know.

It's almost waay beyond most dealer's records to find anything, but some of the family-type dealerships keep everything. You might consider "schmoosing" over at the dealer to see who knows what.

It's kinda like this: drive to the dealership. The hot shot salesman greets you...and you ask for the customer rep (the dealer Public Relations person), and then ask if there's anyone there who remembers 1968! ( which breaks the ice) then they give you a phone number of someone who was there in '68 and retired from the dealership, and you go over to visit them, buy them lunch, and talk for hours and hours, and you'll know more than you'd ever hope for!

Well, sometimes it works like that.

Paul.


Sounds like a good plan to me!::smile: Wish me luck!
Stacey
 

GTCSMustang

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 16, 2003
Messages
719
Stacey,

Getting the original dealer to help doesn't work very often, but sometimes it does. It often depends on how helpful they WANT to be. It's best to try to find a "real" car person at the dealership that can somewhat relate to what you are trying to do. And showing up at the dealership in person is the best approach. Take pictures of the car too. About a year ago I purchased a Shelby Mustang. I went to the origanl selling dealership In Ohio (I live in CA) and met with the son of the owner of the dealership. He not only remembered the Shelby being delivered in 1968, but had a stack of paperwork on the car. I got the shipping invoice from Shelby Automotive, bank paperwork from where the dealership had financed the car, letter from Shelby Automotive releasing the car to the dealership for sale (and envelope), bill-of-lading from the company that delivered the car to the dealership, pre-delivery service sheet, templates for mounting the front license plate bracket, and most importantly, the sons personal recollection of the car and what all the paperwork meant. You never know until you ask, but be prepared to be dissapointed. I've gotten some incredible stuff from original owners too. But first you have to find them.

Good luck,

Scott
 
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Stacey Enderle

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 14, 2006
Messages
181
Historical back ground,..

GTCSMustang said:
Stacey,

Getting the original dealer to help doesn't work very often, but sometimes it does. It often depends on how helpful they WANT to be. It's best to try to find a "real" car person at the dealership that can somewhat relate to what you are trying to do. And showing up at the dealership in person is the best approach. Take pictures of the car too. About a year ago I purchased a Shelby Mustang. I went to the origanl selling dealership In Ohio (I live in CA) and met with the son of the owner of the dealership. He not only remembered the Shelby being delivered in 1968, but had a stack of paperwork on the car. I got the shipping invoice from Shelby Automotive, bank paperwork from where the dealership had financed the car, letter from Shelby Automotive releasing the car to the dealership for sale (and envelope), bill-of-lading from the company that delivered the car to the dealership, pre-delivery service sheet, templates for mounting the front license plate bracket, and most importantly, the sons personal recollection of the car and what all the paperwork meant. You never know until you ask, but be prepared to be dissapointed. I've gotten some incredible stuff from original owners too. But first you have to find them.

Good luck,

Scott

Thankyou for the good advice! Believe me, I've had alot of practice of running into dead ends. When I did alot of genealogy, I had alot of that. Just by getting alittle tid bit here and there is a nice little treat for me.:smile:

Stacey
 

Mustanglvr

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 4, 2004
Messages
3,258
Hey Stacy, I do genealogy research too. Do you do it professionally or for your own ancestors?
 
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Stacey Enderle

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 14, 2006
Messages
181
Genealogy

Mustanglvr said:
Hey Stacy, I do genealogy research too. Do you do it professionally or for your own ancestors?

Hi Rhonda!

I don't do genealogy professionally, but the genealogy I did was on my grandmother's side. She was an adoptee and she tried for years to find more about her biological mother. She had 3 letters that were about 60 years old that she kept as her only link to her biological side. 2 of them were dead ends, but the 3rd one, I nick name it as the "rosetta stone" hit pay dirt. During the whole process in searching, I learned alot on how to do genealogy research for adoptees. Believe me, it was definitely a learning experience. By the time I somewhat finished (not entirely done) I have a album full of photos and documents on her biological side, including a photo of her half brother she never seen. If we plan on discussing more about genealogy, I'd suggest we start a thread on the non-CS related section of this forum, so that we don't end up going off on a tangent, so this way we can keep the subject on the historical background of our CS's focused.

Stacey:grin:
 
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