Vehicle history: Previous owners.

[rknight89]

Anybody have any suggestions as to how I would find out who the previous owners of my car were? I obviously know the name of the guy that I bought it from, but, he's dead & never married so there's no family to ask. He bought the car at an auction back in the early or mid 70's and lost the title. When I bought the car from him I had to go through the hassle of getting a new title. I know where the car was sold new, but again, the dealer is long gone and the guy who ran the dealership is dead. I found some old service papers in the glove box but they had no owners name. I contacted one of the service facilities on the paper work and, although the guy I talked to found it interesting I had 40+ year old service records from the place he worked, he had no records going back that far. 'Professional' title history companies (i.e. Carfax) are completely useless if you don't have the 17 didgit VIN # that, required by the NTSB, became the industry standard in 1981. The state DMV is very hit and miss on the older VIN #s that aren't the 17 didgit format. I know the car spent all of it's functional life in the South Suburbs of Chicago but there is about a 12-14 year span that I would like to know more. I don't know who the original owner was and I don't know who else may have owned it before the auction in the 70's. Any thoughts anybody?

[8E45E]

Look through older SDC Rosters. Look for cars that match the description of yours that are/were in the same area and go from there.

Craig

[rknight89]

I may be wrong but I'm guessing it was never in the SDC. From now back to 1989 I've had it in the garage. From '89 back to the early-mid 70's it was in a barn being used as a peacock nest and before that I think it was just and abused rust belt well used Studebaker.

[wolfie]

Is it that rumble seat Lark in your sig pic? I think there was a discussion here about the history of that car over the past few years, Steve

[Blue 15G]

With the privacy laws which I believe were enacted in the mid to late 90s (?) it's difficult if not impossible to get any help from the state DMV. At least that's been my experience in PA. I would like to know more of the early ownership history of my '54 but I faced similar problems as you did when I tried to trace it back and I don't know what the solution is, if there is one. Others here will chime in.

Dave Bonn
'54 Champion Starliner

[rknight89]

Is it that rumble seat Lark in your sig pic? I think there was a discussion here about the history of that car over the past few years, Steve

Yes, it's the Rumble Seat Lark. All th info that's been posted in the past doesn't fill in the history 'hole' that I'm trying to find. It talks about me and the auction buyer but nobody else. The 'hole' is from '61 thru mid 70's.

[lark63]

Hope to see your Lark some day ! I am here in central IL too, by Bloomington. my Studebaker addiction, for which there is no cure ! I too am trying to track down some past owner info , not easy.

[rknight89]

Hope to see your Lark some day ! I am here in central IL too, by Bloomington. my Studebaker addiction, for which there is no cure ! I too am trying to track down some past owner info , not easy.

Send me a message any time if you want to stop by. I live in East Peoria - The Lark sleeps in dad's garage in Metamora - currently it's returning to the upholstery shop near Chillicothe now that the river is dropping. You can visit it any time!

[sasquatch]

I knew where my truck was sold new so with some Google searching, I found a website for that town where you could post messages. I posted a message stating I was looking for information about that dealer and after a few months I received an email from a nephew of the owner. He gave me some information and a couple of photos of the dealership from about 1948. I sent him copies of the original purchase information with his uncle's signature that I got with the truck. Worth a try.

[Pat Dilling]

You might go to the local newspaper in the town where the service records were made. Newspapers are always looking for personal interest stories, your search for the owners of your car might be one they would like. If not that, you could put a classified ad in their paper, maybe someone there remembers the car and the owner(s). People, especially older folks, still read newspapers. I would think that is the audience you should be looking for.

[jackb]

old car ancestry.com

[rknight89]

I'm going to guess that website is B.S. but I'm gonna check just to make sure!

[sasquatch]

I believe it's carancestry.com.

[rknight89]

OK fine....I have to appologize. It is a real website! Will do some more in depth checking there! THANKS!

[qsanford]

I have heard that the Museum has some of the cards with the original purchaser's name. I think they were filled in by the Dealer when you took delivery of your new Studebaker. I am unaware of the procedure to get a copy of the cards but I would be interested in finding out the name of the original owner of my '61 Lark VI Deluxe two door sedan,too.