tracking down grandfather's old car

[vortec]

a bit off-topic here. but still vehicle-related. is there any way to track down a car, knowing little more than the name of a former owner? my grandfather sold his corvair monza a few years before he and my grandmother died. it was no supercar, but my mom has sentimental attachment, and if i could find it for her (now that i have a little cash to toss at it) it would be pretty cool. i was too young to remember most of the specifics on it, so i know it's a longshot, and it's probably a cube now, but it can't hurt to hear some ideas. got any?

 

[fabjunkie]

Good luck with that. I would try the DMV to see if they will release any info. Would probably get more cooperation out of an older sweet lady in a smaller town than some not so sweet person just collecting a government paycheck in the city. I was bound at one time to find my dad's old Charger. One thing I ran into was that the local records only went back something like 10 years, so I had to go through the state level for the records. It was my great aunt working at the courthouse giving me info though too, so that might have helped.

 

[sweetk30]

police friend and have him run the make model year of car list comes out and compare names on list.

or dmv if thay will do same thing.

 

[ssped]

how bout vin or lic plate #? you can find it through the Dmv that way. also you can track the last known owner through them too. do you have any old pix? maybe with the lic plate?

 

[Metrodps]

NCIC is to be used for law enforcement purposes only! Be sure it is a good friend who won't be questioned. Like it has been said if you have the vin is the best bet for finding if it is licensed. Some states will do it for a small fee but you have to go to their DMV HQ.

Good Luck

 

[thatK30guy]

I've asked at the court house for the DMV records and they say they only go back 5 years.

Another idea popped in my head was, if you know where the vehicle was insured at, to ask the insurance company the vehicle was insured at for the records of your grandparents.
You would think most insurance companies keep records of all the policies they carry/carried on past and present vehicles. So that might be an idea to check out if you know where your g-folks were insured at.
And with this info, you can get the VIN and trace it at the DMV to see where the car is at today.

 

[1-ton]

If you have the VIN, then you could try a CARFAX search on it. A CARFAX search will not give the current owners name, but it will give the date of the last known smog inspection it had, and what state the inspection was done in. If it has had any reasonbly recent smog inspections, then at least you will now which state DMV department to go to, in order to find any records on it.

 

[70jimmy]

don't know about Texas but colorado for $2.20 they will check the records and headquarters goes further back than local DMV.

You also could ask for a title history.

 

[Metrodps]

Vortec the car has been sequestered by South West Research.... .. you will no longer discuss this or Men in Black suites will visit you. The car you are looking for was one of 3 known vehicles to run on water. It had a ceramic block and it has been hidden to protect the environment. "If everybody had one what would the bottled water cost?" Al Gore.


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