I am in touch with the original owner of a custom built by Barris in the late 50s. I have the original license plate number for the car when it was in CA. I thought there was a way to find out who the last owner of the car was by simply the license plate number. I searched the CA DMV site and couldnt find anything.
a license plate number from the 50's will no longer be in the system. ""I thought there was a way to find out who the last owner of the car was by simply the license plate number."" I'd say you have to be a cop.
not from the 50's. in 1963 all cars registered in California got new black background/yellow letter plates and tuned in all the old ones You can sell the car, keep the plates, and register them to other vehicles. Or they can also stay with the vehicle when you sell...plates are a seperate entity. not standard issue plates. you must be talking about YOM or personalized. standard issue plates stay with the car and can not be put on another vehicle. if you take them off you are supposed to turn them in.
Ehh damn. The year on the plate we have from the picture is 1958. He sold the car in 1963 to a guy in East LA named "Something" Del-Rio. This Del_rio guy was shot and killed in his front yard a year later. Sooo....we think it still might be in East LA.
I am intouch with the original owner. Ed Sloan is alive and well. I only have license plate numbers up to 1961. Barris doesn't remember anything about this car. I contacted the museum and that have no record of it. So now what?
Here are some more pics of it. I've always loved that car. Kind of an ugly duckling but still so good looking. It would be awesome to find it. http://public.fotki.com/Rikster/11_car_photos/beautiful_custom_cars/barris-1/ed_sloans_53_plymouth/
I think it was in at least one custom car annual back in the early 60's. That spot the car was photographed in was one of George B's favorite photo shoot locations and that may be the Barris connection. Or it only got a bit of work in Barris's shop and the majority of it somewhere else. The skirts look like a later date afterthought on that car though and don't flow with the car at all.
The privacy act usually precludes tracking the owner of a vehicle by vin or tag number unless you are in law enforcement or working in a dmv office making sure the info is correct. That keeps a guy from seeing a photo of your car in some show thread and then knocking on your door and asking about the car or worse.
Here is the man himself with the car. It's a well known fact Barris did work on this car. What they did I don't know. Hosted on Fotki
Barris chopped the top 3 inches in the front, and 5 in the back. The rear windshield was handformed in plexiglass. Up front, the grille was custom made using Ford components. Barris took two 1953 Ford center bars, two 1949 Ford top bars, and combined them with grille teeth from a 1953 Ford pickup. The headlights were frenched and the bumpers were smoothed. The dual exhaust were routed trough the rear bumper. The door handles were removed, the hood and trunk were shaved and the hood was also peaked. The original taillights were replaced by taillights from a 1953 Lincoln. Appleton spotlights and fender skirts were added to the car. The rear fenders were reshaped and fit with functional air scoops. The side trim was made from a 1953 Chevrolet. The car was lowered 3.5 inches in the front and 6 inches in the back. Inside, it was upholstered with pleated light green leatherette and dark green mohair. Once the bodywork was completed, it was painted Dark Green Metallic-and-Lime Mist. The engine was kept stock and was not hopped up in any way. That info was given to me by Ed and one of the little books I have verify it.
PS---I own a 1953 Plymouth 2dr HT and I am thinking of replicating Ed Sloan's custom. How do people feel about doing something like that?
Would love to see a recreation of this car. If you're currently in touch with Ed, can't you ask if he has any more photos of the car?
He said he would look, but I dont want to pester him. The pictures that are currently available help out quite a bit. Think the colors are so bold and truely stand out. The rear glass is what would trouble me. Plexiglass scratches so easy. I know thats what he used, but besides having a one off piece of glass made. What are my other options.
Yeah, the general public just can't simply have plates and VIN's run for privacy reasons. I'd wager that "somewhere" in Sacramento, the DMV has the means to run the '56 plates and have a VIN and/or the '63 issued plate # and run it right up to the last registered owner-even if they had to go through microfische. One of the problems is that an old car can pass through several sales w/o being registered/retitled by each new owner. Hence, the latest DMV record could be several owners stale, especially if the car was to the point of being partially parted out and considered a "parts car". Being extremely hypothetical; If a long lost photo of this car/plate showed up placing the car at the scene of an assasination, the FBI would be able to track it down quicker than we could.