History Ever wonder about your cars first owner?

I know that my car was bought in Charles City Iowa at Charles City Motor Company in Dec of '61. The gentleman lived in Des Moines. I have his name and address at the time, but it's in my glove box. I'll post later. I don't see any harm in that since he has probably passed away many years ago.
The car cost him $2846.65, he special ordered it in Castillian Gold.
Paid $41.20 for 700x14 WSW tires, $58.50 for radio, $24.30 for padded dash and visors.

It was assembled in Kansas City

What I wonder the most was what he looked like and what he felt driving it home for the first time. I wonder if he ever thought that it would still be around 50 years later. I can only wonder I guess

 

i know the original owner of my wife's '61 Rambler american convertible was a priest.

 

I did a thread about just this,4 years ago!
I wondered if it was somebodys first car. If he or she lost their virginity in the backseat. If it was used for the prom. Was it a family's first new car. Did they bring the kids home from the hospital in it. Why they had to sell it. etc,etc,etc...

 

I wonder the same thing about my 60. I know it was a late model around august of 60... Mine spent most of its life in Missouri so it had no floor rust or trunk rust. I found a coupon from 1960 when I redid my seats. It was for 3 cents off. Can you imagaine 3 cents being significant savings?

 

The mercury I am working on getting has its history all the way back to 1963.. Pretty cool!!!

 

Found out 25 years after I bought my Caprice that it was assemblled in California. Ended up in Nebraska. In 77 it was Lowered to the ground and was Pinstriped. I bought it 26 years ago looking like a muscle car with Keystone Classics. No pinstripes and raised back to stock heighth. A year later it looked like this. Did I mention, I had it pinstripped 15 years ago.

 

My F1 was bought new by my Grandpa in '51, I still have all the original paperwork and title. When he was still alive I used to love hearing stories about it. He brought my Mom home from the hospital in that truck. He and I got that flathead running like a top after sitting for 20years. Cool stuff. I love the history of these old cars, especially if you can get it straight from a WWII vet....

 

I do really wonder about mine, as it was abandoned to the junkyard in 1966 after being on the road all of 8 years. The PO blew up the powerflight and it sat out there till i bought it in 2004. Lucky for me the yard owners primary biz was repairing trannys, not selling parts. So it was pretty complete. Along the way someone had torched the front spindles off (probably for the brakes) but everything else was there.

That said i found a rocky mountain news and a bank statement from sept 1966 in it. I couldn't find anything with the name though. I wonder who bought my Copper glow, chromed out plymouth, it obviously was used in a rural area judging by the amount of dirt caked on the underside (and the area i bought it out of is rural). I wouldn't think a farmer would go for a blinged out Belvedere. Ah well, they abandoned the car long ago anyways.

 

I often wonder more about what they "fixed" (and I use those quotations sarcastically)

 

My 55 Chrysler New Yorker Deluxe was purchased new by my great grand father aka "Pop". He had ordered a 55 Chrysler Windsor but ordered it special with the mirrors mounted on the door instead of on the fender. They had traded in their 40 dodge a few days before the arrival of their windsor. When the windsor arrived the mirrors were mounted on the fender which was not how "Pop" ordered it. It even was written on the reciept (luckily) that he had it special ordered with the mirrors on the door. Unfortenatly for the dealership they had sold Pop's 40 dodge already. So the salesman had tried to tell Pop that they could replace the mirrors and drill new holes to mount the mirrors where they had requested. Pop asked the salesman if they were to do that, would they then sell it to him as a used car and for a used car price. Of course that was out of the question as well as giving Pop his 40 dodge back. So because of the huge pickle of a situation that the dealership was in, they ended up giving Pop the floor model 55 Chrysler New Yorker Deluxe, complete with the 331 Hemi, power windows, power steering, and power seats (forward and backwards). So he ended up with a New Yorker Deluxe for the Windsor price.

After Pop and Nana owned the car for about 15 years they gave it to their son; my great uncle (my grand fathers brother) his wife and him got married and used it as their limo. When I started working on the car, I found the paper sign that was hung on the trunk lid on their special day that read "JUST MARRIED" on it.

After my great uncle and his wife had it, about 2 years ago he gave it my my uncle, my mom's brother. My uncle lost interest in it and so I purchased it. So I am the third owner of the car, but the car has stayed in my family since new.

I plan to keep it in my family for many many years to come. Also I plan to use it in my wedding as well to add more memories to the many that the car has been involved in. I even have 8mm film of when it was new.. Such a pretty car..

Thanks,
Skrach
www.VividlyVintage.com

 

I never bought a car from the original owner but somehow many cars from guys who were the second owner and then kept it for 30-40 or 50 years. Go figure.

 

My truck was the ground keepers truck at a University in Northern California.

 

This is a cool post. I have wondered about a lot of my cars , a few I know the whole histroy of but not all of them. It has always seemed funny that most of the car you find rotting away were someone's pride and joy at one time! While the story of my model A coupe's first owner is a mystery It did spen 25 years delivering rual route mail with a home made wooden box in place of a trunk lid!

 

Both my cars are 79 years old.
So it is very doubtful the original buyer is still alive. 1932 was the
worse year of the Great Depression ... so it stands to reason the the original buyers were older and more financially stable. If they were 25 in 1932 ... they would be 104 years old now.

 

I would just about give anything to know about the first owners of my Caddy. [FONT="Times New Roman","serif"]All I know is that she left the factory on 27th March 1949, destined for Harrisburg Pennsylvania to be then sold new at White Rose Motors in York Pennsylvania. Unfortunately from what I can find out they are no longer in business so the trail stops just as it starts.

I am fascinated to know the who, why, how about who bought the car and to what extent the car was involved in their life. Was it just a car to them, or was it something that was a part of and added to their life. Was there an excited kid waiting for it to pull into the driveway for the first time. Did someone new come home from the hospital in it, did someone get their first kiss or more in it or was it just a way of getting from A to B and as uninteresting to them as buying a new car now?

The history and life of the car is almost as important to me as the actual car,...but then to me car's have never just been about a way to get from A to B.

My 2 cents


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I'm pretty lucky I know the history and original owner of everyone of my cars. My favorite is my 49 ford. I still love hearing stories about that car even though I've heard most of them 3 time over atleast. Even though it was build to haul shine and modified with a caddy 331 and truck 4 spd. I still got every single piece to the car including the flattie, spare tire and jack.

 

Don't know who the first one was,but,before me,my Merc belonged to Axle...shortly passing throught the skilled hands of slddnmatt,haha!

 

I always wonder how many sandwitchs have been eatin in it, or cigerettes smoked, beers drank.

 

I don't own a Hot Rod (I have an S10) but If I had a Hot Rod I would love to know the whole build history behind it, all of the past owners, what they did with it, how it was used.
I would love to know about the History of cars I owned.

 

My 1969 Ford F-100 was bought new by my grandpa on August 2, 1969 for $2342.71. He traded in a 1952 F1 for $125.00. It was the only new car he ever bought. I was one year old, his first grandchild and only grandson and I lived 200 miles away. He wanted a new truck that was reliable so he could come see me.

 

I know mine had a chocolate covered coconut ice cream bar eaten in it not long before it died. I found the wrapper in the ashtray.

 

met the origional owners of our truck. there was a blue plastic "car bag" that was complimentary of the chevy dealer full of the owners history. he died, but up until then it was his work truck. we know he was a custodian who shopped in ontari, made four loads to the dump in 1978, wore rayban aviators, and had the seat refurbished. he also owned a jaguar, we found the registration for it in the bag. also met his wife, she wasnt as cool. all we kno is she didnt like the truck, and wanted alot of fences done.

 

My 88 GMC was customized by Hot Rods by Boyd and then brought to the Oakland GMC truck center.

my 1988 GMC Sierra 1500. Originally it was one of the trucks that was converted by Boyd Coddington Hot Rods as a partnership with the GMC truck center in So-cal. It was originally a charcoal gray with a light blue-ish gray interior. The first owner had purchased the truck and had installed all kinds of stereo equipment both in the cab and in the bed. He had added a tonneau cover to hide and protect his big speakers. He had brought the truck to many car shows both hot rod shows and stereo system oriented shows. The truck unfortunately didn't get much looks. The owner thought that it may be because of the dark color gray that it wasn't as eye catching as some of the other colors people had been painting their cars during the late 80's. So he decided to paint the truck Mercedes Benz bright white. Then the truck got some looks. after a while I guess the first owner wanted something new to keep up with the times and took all the stereo equipment out of the cab and out of the bed and basically brought it back to stock. Stock for this truck (from Coddingtons shop) meant that it remained lowered (no air bags, no 4 link, it still has leaf springs), the roll pan stayed on the truck, the center line wheels remained on the truck, the billet grill, and all the emblems were also still not present and the 350 v8 remained untouched. He sold it to my mentor and best friend who bought it in 1990 with only 34,000 miles on it. He kept the truck in great shape and even updated it a little bit. Adding a newer stereo, later model mirrors, and later model seats. My buddy decided to sell it to get into a newer truck. So as of march I bought it as you see it.


Thanks,
Skrach
www.VividlyVintage.com

 

I would love to track down where my 50 dodge and 55 Chevy were sold, i know my 55 was last registered for its intended purpose of delivering parisan sour dough bread in San Francisco. my 50.. who knows.. but it's a 50 dodge so i bet its history isn't too exciting...

 

The 64 Fury in my avatar was bought new by my next door neighbor the same year I started first grade. When I was in my early teens, I got to know him pretty well because he was retired by then, and we spent time talking about the car. I was a big Richard Petty Fan and built a bunch of the old Johan 64 Petty's Plymouth model kits. I told him I wanted the car in 1974, and he said he was not finished driving it. We moved away the next year. He passed away a year or two later, and I saw his wife driving the car occasionally for a few years. After she passed, the car disappeared. I lost hope of ever owning it. However, one day in 1987, I saw the car at a McDonalds! their son was driving it. He would not sell it, but did call me a year later and said he was ready to sell. I bought it without ever having driven it! After all that time, it is definitely a keeper!

 

I almost got a 66 chevelle ss that way.. The lady only drove it to the store abd back. obe mile round trip. And it was regularly serviced. Unfortenately the lady passed away and they gave.. Yes I said gave... It to the grand daughters boyfriend.. He looked like a smuck too..


I miss that car.. White with back interior.

Thanks,
Skrach
www.VividlyVintage.com

 

Im the original owner of my 32' and im only 32 years old. Of course than again my 32' was made in 2010! lol

 

"...or rubbers used!(or not)"

 

Some things are better unknown lol

 

I was lucky enough to get mine from the son of the original owner. His mother was sad to see the car sold. They were married and went on thier honeymoon in my car. I have tried to reach the family since I got it running and driving, with no luck.