I went back and checked out the thread on the 56 cool car and an awesome story. Quite a few cool Vettes on there as well.
What is the best way to trace an old VIN? I sure would like to find out what happened to my old 68 Chevelle.
Because of another thread on the HAMB, I dug out the old registration slips from the 61 Chevy ragtop my dad bought around 1970 for $32, for us boys to take apart when it quit running. I ended up overhauling the 283 engine several years later, and eventually sold it to a fellow here in Sierra Vista over 30 years ago. Anyways, I googled the VIN, and found the car! Seems it has somehow become a low mile factory 348 car. And it also seems to be worth quite a bit more than the $500 I sold it for.
While searching Craigslist for parts for the '58 Chevy that I had just inherited from my late father, I stumbled on a truck that looked surprisingly like the 1959 Studebaker Truck that formed some of my earliest memories, and was sold by my old man when I was still a rug rat. After a rash, last minute, inspection of the truck, I found a pair of old license plates jammed in one of the garnish moldings in the cab. Those numbers matched the plates in old pictures of my dad's truck, which quickly came back to the family. The truck in the '70s: The evidence that confirmed it as Dad's old rig: And, the truck after two and a half decades away from the family: The '59 Scotsman is now in the shop, in bare metal, waiting to get back on the road, hopefully this year.
Here you go... http://www.marketwatch.com/story/steve-mcqueens-bullitt-mustang-found-in-mexico-junk-yard-2017-03-08 And lest we forget...the chase starts at minute 54:
I've been able to keep track of almost all of the vehicles that I (or my parents) have sold over the years ... including (but not limited to): my '29 Model A Roadster (on Deuce rails) project car our '32 Roadster project car our Chopped '32 Tudor project car The Inman '57 Chrysler Custom our (Jet Black) '57 Chrysler 300 C Coupe (currently owned by @johnl) our (Copper Glow) '57 Chrysler 300 C Coupe (currently in Årjäng, Sweden) our (originally Ermine White) '58 Chrysler 300 D Coupe (w/ FI emblems) project car (last known to be in Texas) our (Mesa Tan) '58 Chrysler 300 D Coupe project car (currently in Tracy, CA) several "off-topic for the H.A.M.B." vehicles (i.e., '60s Muscle Cars). ... but the one car I would love to find is my parent's (Powder Blue) '59 Plymouth Sport Fury Convertible: In 1961, I was "brought home from the hospital" in this car: In 1962, we moved from Minnesota to California ... and flat-towed our (HEMI-powered) '32 5wd Coupe with this '59 Fury Vert. My parents sold this Plymouth in late 1965 (or early 1966) ... and replaced it with a '64 Plymouth Sport Fury Hardtop. Unfortunately, I have absolutely no knowledge of its whereabouts today All I have left of it are dozens of color slides & photographs ... and this "Owner ID Plate" that was attached to its glovebox door:
Movie productions involving chase scenes have been known to use duplicate cars. Makes you wonder what was found "sur de la frontera".
Back in the days of Dad and I flipping cars we'd score a really big winner now and then. In a local paper we found an ad for a 36 Ford 3W cpe. It was in Garden City, MI just a block north of Ford Rd, maybe 1/4 mile east of Merriman Rd. It had a SBC in it mated to an early V8 trans (39 maybe?). Car was black, the right front fender in "hock" at the local body shop. We bought it cheap and went to the body shop to be certain they'd "sell" the fender to us. The bill was $175. The car was shagged up for $1200. Yeah, it was that long ago. This is to this day the cleanest n rust ever 36 Ford I've ever seen. Had a bitchin stance, big "Moon" looking caps on the wheels, juice brakes, black with a copper and white interior, SW gauges in a filled dash, all completed by a 59 Impala wheel. We actually kept that one for a while as even Mom fell in love with it. Try as I did Dad decided it was time to sell it after about 6 weeks. We had all of about $1,500 in it and drove it everywhere that summer. He advertised it in the Detroit News Sunday classifieds for $3,850 "firm firm firm". I can't remember a car drawing that much attention that we'd flipped. 1st call came in at 7:30 am. and by 9 am we'd rec'd something like a dozen calls. 2 guys showed up at the same time, we thought they came together. After their brief argument over who was 1st Dad said, "Enough guys, the car's for sale. " So the actual 1st guy said "will you take..." and Dad said I said firm and I mean it." "Yeah, well..." and the 2nd guy whips out $1,000 in cash and says "I'll take it, give you a grand deposit and be back in an hour." "Sold." The 1st guy stormed off in protest. I was heart broken, Mom was even a little teary eyed but that was a handsome profit back then. I thought there was going to be a fight because the 1st guy was waiting for the 2nd. No fight, it turns out he'd offered the 1st guy $500 to walk away and let him buy it. 2-3 years later it was showing up at all the rod meets and bigger swaps, not for sale, just around. It had been pinstriped in red, Tru-Spokes added, and the engine was dressed a little, most notable was a flamed scoop on the carb that was styled like the Greer-Black-Prudhomme scoop in the early 60s. I recently put a topic up here wondering if it has been seen or if any locals even remember it. I'd trade my GTO AND my Packard for it. I loved that car, still do.
Don't recall that 36 around the Detroit area, have to go through my photos. Sent from my SGH-T399 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
There is one car I want back. But it's not gonna' happen. As special as the car is to me, for reasons too long to list, I let it get away. I know exactly where it is, and who has it, and I didn't have to search. Problem is it means as much to him as it does to me. I know it has a good home, and that's the important thing. At least it didn't wind up in Mexico!
I don't think I'd want that Bullitt mustang. As a used car, it was used pretty hard in the movie and might not be dependable....haha.
The one car that I would like to get back was the 1929 rumble seat model A Ford that my Father had.What a sweety. Good luck.Have fun.Be safe. Leo
My brother's '53 Buick Special convertible. No dents, no rust. Ran like a dream. Bought in '65 for $75. He drove it for 6 months until the transmission blew. Off it went... A disposable car <<shudddder>>
There have been a lot of cars and trucks in my Dad's and my life that I would love to have back again. There are three that I would like to have back the most. One is the 1966 Charger that Dad bought new when is was 18 years old. It was gold with a gold interior. The 383 engine was a gas guzzler, but pushed that big car right along. The other was an Elva Courier, a fiberglass bodied English sports car. It weighed almost nothing allowing the MGA 1522 cc engine to haul it down the road quite well. It cornered like it was on rails. Then there was the Studebaker 2r6 pickup that I really loved but sold to buy the blue Champ pickup in my avatar. I like the later pickup but still miss the older one with its Commander six engine. Oh well, I guess wouldn't have room for them all if I did have them back.....
Up until the early 2000's, as I recall, you could pretty much keep whatever plate on your car as long as you had up to date tabs. Our '58 Chevy had '63 Truck plates on it for my entire childhood. After the 2000's though, the state saw revinue to be made in mandating new plates every seven or so years.
When my dad got out of the Army he bought a 64 Polara 426 Wedge and a 4 speed. For a long time it was the fastest car in our town. I was born in 65 and I remember it when I was a little kid. I would love to find it.
My dad and I built a 29 RPU back in 99 and sold it in 2005 I have a copy of the title and was able to track it to 2011 with calling past owners, but the DMV will not help me beyond telling me it is currently licensed. How do you go about finding something like this?
My first auto purchase was a Triumph Spitfire that I found while out on my paper route(age 14).The paint was tired and it was covered in dust,but 200.00 dollars later,she was mine.I buffed her out,had an upholsterer replace a seat bolster, polished the shit out of every piece that would take it,and generally sorted her out.I raced BMX professionally and also worked at a local bike shop,so.I took the wheels off,one at a time,and hauled them down to the shop to true them.I sold that car and repeated the process.I always stuck to European and American sports cars,with the occasional Hot Rod.During orientation my freshman year of college,I was talking to some guys before class and one of them said "How many cars have you owned?" After a few minutes, I said "32".He thought I was BS'ing him,but a high school buddy told him that number was probably low. To this day,I still think of that little car and a COPO Camaro that I had a few years after college.I've never seen the Triumph,but I got called to verify some info on the Camaro about 10 years ago,it's nice to be a part of that cars history.I never bought anything that I didn't like,so I kinda miss them all.
My grandpa (Opa) owned a '37-8 Buick sedan (painted by brush), a really nice '55 Ford 2 dr. sedan, a '55 chevy (reupholstered by my Oma in a paisley pattern) no one remembers if it was 2 or 4 dr, hardtop or sedan :-( , and later when I was little an o/t '59 split window. My Aunt also had a '55 chevy 4 dr sedan that I took many trips in, when sold it was still running strong with 350,000 MILES on the clock!....the coolest car my Mom ever owned was a primer red '55 Ford 4 dr. sedan in about 1980-1 it was just an old old beater by then but I loved it! The smell of the aging interior, the way it looked, but it broke down constantly so after one final catastrophe on a long distance road trip she traded it to my Aunt for a '67 Pontiac Beaumont (Chevelle) with a 283. That was supposed to be my first car (but she needed the money and sold it)....the ford was apparently seen after in someones yard but being a rusted out, bonded, 6 cyl., 4 door sedan I doubt if it has survived.......the one that got away for me was given to me when I was just 12. A family friend of ours owned a gorgeous '55 chev hrdtp and a '67 Mustang coupe. I was a car nut and was always pestering him for rides and information about the cars especially the '55. He had several parts vehicles one was a '56 pontiac 2 dr. hrdtp the other was a '55 chev 2 dr post. This was one of the few people I've ever known who fostered my interest in cars. One day he took me to see the sedan it had been painted entirely from top to bottom (yes windows too!) in thick brushed on black paint but mostly complete it had a 327 and 4 speed and a set of cragar mags (not painted lol) which he was taking along with a few interior parts after that the rest was MINE! I couldn't believe my luck! Our landlord at the time owned a local wrecking yard /speed shop/paint shop and kindly offered to remove the paint in exchange for work around the shop. He moved the car to his yard but after months of free work nothing was happening in fact it seemed like the car was slowly disappearing part by part....my family abruptly had to move far away but the guy promised he'd sand blast the car and primer it then give it back to the guy who gave it to me to hold for safe keeping.....that never happened after many calls our family friend went to take the car back he found that it had been completely stripped of all parts sand blasted to bare metal taken off it's frame and left in their junkyard to rust....we had no legal recourse as the car proved to have been stolen in the '70's ....a sad end to a cool car...never had another chance for the next 38 years
I would like to find my Dads 56 Chevy Del Ray , he ordered it new with a 265/ 225 hp dual quad , 3 speed , 4.11 rear axle. It was hit by a drunk on Vernor hwy in Detroit when new . My dad replaced a 1/4 panel , added 56 Packard taillights, wagon bumper nosed, decked and shaved the handles full moon wheelcovers, wide whites painted it solid black . My dad sold it back in the mid sixties to a friend, then I heard after it was resold the 265 blew up and replaced with a 350. Ive heard a few people say they knew where the car was but I could never get a solid lead
It would have a California DMV issued plate as it was an assembled car with no title and a mix of parts from different years. My uncle took it down to the DMV in 1949 to get the title work going so he could get plates for it.