Any way of finding out the dealership...

[DC Turismo]

that my CSX was originally sent to but not sold at? Steve Thornton graciously provided me with the information that it was sent to some sort of rezoning department in North Dakota? I think... and that's what it listed on whatever list he had that showed the dealerships/CSX's sent to.

I know it's a long shot, but figured someone here may have been through teh same thing with another Whittier car, even if not a VNT? :o At least I hope so!

[Turbodave]

Billy, if you can get someone at a dealership to run the VIN in their computer it should come back with where it was originally sold at.

[DC Turismo]

Thanks Dave, I'll have to see what I can do then! :D

[DC Turismo]

OK guys, I've been able through a few helpful hands to track down the name of a gentleman who I believe to have been the original owner of my CSX.

Now, what types of questions would you ask someone who originally owned your numbered car if you were in the same type of ongoing research-situation that I'm currently doing?

Here is what I have so far, let me know if there's anything I missed:

To aid me in my research, I was wondering, as you being the original owner, if you may be able to shed some light the CSX’s beginning.

First of all, what is the name and location of the dealership that you purchased the CSX from?

Do you by chance have the build sheet, window sticker, brochures, owner’s manual, or any other dealer information that would have come with the purchase of the car originally?

What were the circumstances in which you decided to purchase this particular car? What appealed to you the most?

For how long did you drive it/how many miles did you log?

When did you opt to sell it/trade it in and where?

Did you, by any chance, remove the front and rear air dams to prevent them from breaking? Do you still have them if so?

Do you have any pictures of the car when it was brand new or even fairly new?

Had you purchased any extra parts for the car that you still have?

Any help with my project would be greatly appreciated! I’m more than willing to keep you updated on the car’s progress as I begin to bring it back to life!Once again, my contact information is provided above, so please do feel free to get in touch with me, hopefully with all of the answers I’m seeking to the questions above!

Thanks in advance guys. Cross your fingers for me that A) this guy will help me out and answer these questions :D

[Turbodave]

OK guys, I've been able through a few helpful hands to track down the name of a gentleman who I believe to have been the original owner of my CSX.

Now, what types of questions would you ask someone who originally owned your numbered car if you were in the same type of ongoing research-situation that I'm currently doing?

Here is what I have so far, let me know if there's anything I missed:

To aid me in my research, I was wondering, as you being the original owner, if you may be able to shed some light the CSX’s beginning.

First of all, what is the name and location of the dealership that you purchased the CSX from?

Do you by chance have the build sheet, window sticker, brochures, owner’s manual, or any other dealer information that would have come with the purchase of the car originally?

What were the circumstances in which you decided to purchase this particular car? What appealed to you the most?

For how long did you drive it/how many miles did you log?

When did you opt to sell it/trade it in and where?

Did you, by any chance, remove the front and rear air dams to prevent them from breaking? Do you still have them if so?

Do you have any pictures of the car when it was brand new or even fairly new?

Had you purchased any extra parts for the car that you still have?

Any help with my project would be greatly appreciated! I’m more than willing to keep you updated on the car’s progress as I begin to bring it back to life!Once again, my contact information is provided above, so please do feel free to get in touch with me, hopefully with all of the answers I’m seeking to the questions above!

Thanks in advance guys. Cross your fingers for me that A) this guy will help me out and answer these questions :D

Billy you've got the right questions, but if you've got him on the phone it would probably be best to word them a little less like a deposition and a little more like one car guy asking another questions. Most times people are happy to hear their old car is still around and are more than happy to share info. Best bet is to get them on the phone if you can.

[BadAssPerformance]

I was thinking the same thing. You also need to be careful in how you first get in contact with them and the first things you say. Some people get really freaky when they get a 'cold call' like that.

[speedfreek500]

i work at dodge dearlership i would be able to help you!Brian

[1FastCSX289]

I was thinking the same thing. You also need to be careful in how you first get in contact with them and the first things you say. Some people get really freaky when they get a 'cold call' like that.

I think most people would be cool about it. I had a guy call me out of the blue a week or two ago who got my name and phone number from someone on an RX7 forum (still dont know who it was). The guy bought a S/C and wanted to know who to contact for more info on the car and about SDAC membership. The guy called out of the blue and we talked for about half hour on the phone. So, if the guy is a car guy, chances are you will hit it off and you'll get your answers. Good luck, Billy.

[BadAssPerformance]

The guy I bought my '92 Dakota from in '01 comes up to me at every other car show and askes "How's my truck?"

[Clay]

when I had 87 GLHS 208 I found the original owner by a name on the box the Mopar Performance computer came in. I found the original dealer, and so I had a location. Low and behold there was a guy with the same name who lived with in a few miles of the dealership (thanks to whitepages.com), and so I let my fingers do the walking.

talked with the original owner of the car for an hour on the phone. Found out he was a big Shelby Mustang guy and bought the car as a driver. Even had a custom car cover for it with the number of the car on it, which he still has to this day. I got lots of good info, a picture of the car when it was new, and a photo copy of the original title out of the deal. (The original title was finally found with a different owner). He finally sold that car to make room for a Shelby GT 500 in his collection ;)

clay

[BadAssPerformance]

...Even had a custom car cover for it with the number of the car on it, which he still has to this day.

Some people like to keep souveniers... I'm sure that is where some dash plaques end up :(

[DC Turismo]

Well I took your advice and just did a Live search to find the guy's phone number. What do ya know?! It worked! I talked to a lady who said it was her son's car back then and that he will be home tonight to call back. She sounded excited and started telling me that 'That little Shelby was yellow with a black stripe for a while!" I don't know if that's true or not (I really think its a different car completely that she's talking about) but either way, it's going to be cool to get some answerS!!!

I'll keep ya posted after I get done talking with the gentleman tonight :)

[DC Turismo]

Well, just got off of the phone with the original owner of my car!!! His name is Rick, and here is the interesting info he provided me with tonight.

- He bought the car after test driving it in 1990 from a Buick/GM/Dodge dealership in Scott's Bluff, NE.
- He said that while driving it, it was a true blast. He drag raced it a number of times and said he whooped up on Iroc's day in and day out :D
- He owned the car for roughly 20,000 miles until trading it back into the same dealership that he bought it from in 1991 because he and his wife needed a more convenient car to compensate their children.
- He traded the car in with the rear and front air dams as well as fiberides intact.
- He did not purchase any spare parts, performance or spare, for the car at the time because he said it ran so good.
- The best part, he said he has a ton of pictures from when the car was brand new and he's going to send me copies of them!!! :D :D

He was a real cool dude to talk to and I think it is better that I called him after all. I had my brother look at the way I worded teh questions as well and he, too, said it sounded demanding. I wanted to sound legit but I think I sounded too serious rather than, like Dave said, being just a car guy.

I told him about all of the history I had so far about the car, how it was sold again in Colorado in 1994 to the owners I had purchased it from, who took it to Maryland then were stationed in Germany from 1997 - 2000. They returned to the U.S. with the CSX to Virginia, moving to PA and parking the car in 2002.

He thought that was really cool and couldn't believe that the topic of this old car came up hahaa....

So now, I want to find out who the owner(s) was/were from the time it was resold after he traded it in until the time that the previous owner who I bought it from purchased it in CO in 1994.

Do you think the dealership will release any info to me in regards to getting into contact with the second owner? Has anyone tried this before?

[BadAssPerformance]

Cool history :thumb:

[Turbodave]

Cool history to have, Scottsbluff, NE is out at the western end of the state not too far from Colorado. You can drive to the top of the bluff, which would make for some nice CSX pics, hopefully he's got a few like that in his collection.

[DC Turismo]

I sure hope so!!! I'll post what pics he ends up sending me.

[DC Turismo]

Well tonight I reviewed my carfax report that I had ran on the car after getting the title back for it.

It only goes back to 2/17/93 where it states the car is sold at an auto auction with 15,298 miles on it. I emailed the original owner and asked if he can give me more specific detail on when he traded the car back in and with how many miles since his 20k was a good guess but apparently not accurate.

From there, it was
- titled on 2/19/1993 in Aurora, CO. no mileage given here
- titled on 4/21/1993 in Hotchkiss, CO with 16,688 miles on the odo.
- titled on 3/21/1995 in Aurora, CO. with 72,399 miles on the odo.
- titled on 5/23/1995 in Aurora, CO no mileage given here

Now if I'm reading this right and judging by the two month pattern between the entries, I am thinking:

Perhaps the original owner traded it in either in 91, 92, or early 93 (I'll find out soon enough) and the dealership could not sell it so they put it up for auction.

When the car sold at auction, someone purchased it, in February, and something took place with the title for them owning it two months and two days after?

Then they sold it in early 95 to previous owner, and again, two months later and two days later, something else goes on with the title to show up again?

Can someone shed some light on perhaps how CO titles work??

It does give title #'s for each time these entries show up. Would I be able to call the DMV there in those towns with the VIN and title numbers to see what was up? Think they'd have the records still?

[TurboRon25]

I called the original owner of my Daytona over turkey weekend. He had it for about 10 years and it took me 10 years to call him. I said that I thought you might like to know that your car isn't in a junk yard. He was really cool and gave me a lot of the story.
Funny thing is that I worked at a Dodge dealership in the late 90s. I bought the Daytona off a used car lot during that time. He bought the car off the showroom floor from that same dealership that I worked at (when I was still in grade school).

Ron

[Clay]

Billy - did you ever ask the guy if his car was yellow? ;)

[DC Turismo]

HAHAHA Yea, he said his mom was thinking of 70 Cuda he had at one time... FAR more different than a P-body lol!

So any ideas on this title business with how there are two title transfer/registrations within two months of each other both in 93 and 95? Do you think I'm right by guessing that even though there's four total entries that it probably only applies to Owner B and the previous owners who I bought it from?

[Turbodave]

Those might be title re-assignments from one dealer to another or soemthing, hard to tell. Car-fax while helpful is usually not too accurate on our older cars, so don't put too much weight on it.

[DC Turismo]

Alright, thanks Dave. I'm simply going to have to rely on the info given to me by the original owner and the folks who I bought the car from this past year to piece together what happened between the time Owner A traded the car in and the time that the previous owners purchased it (roughly 1991 - 1993 time span). This is due to the Colorado DMV - who I just got off of the phone with - only having records dating back to 1995, which is the year I presume the previous owners purchased the car in. Ugh.

I've printed out a title records search form to gather whatever information they from back then, so we'll see what that turns up here in two weeks. I'm pretty sure it will verify that the previous owner bought it in '95 though.

After showing the carfax to my dad, he's thinking the same thing I am, that the two month & two day period between those title transfers are first, the day a new owner purchased the car and then the second being the day the new title was put in their name by the state/sent out? This then would make me the fourth owner.

P.S. Sorry if I'm wasting anyone's time with this and just ranting... I'm real excited about this though :D It's like recovering the real identity of my car haha

[DC Turismo]

In addition, I retrieved the phone number from the dealership that originally sold the car and was where it was also traded in for the first time as well. I spoke to the main records keeper there and he's going to scour their files to see what, if anything he can find on the car since they sold it and all and get back to me Monday with any results, good or bad. Cross your fingers for me!

[DC Turismo]

Well, tried to get some information from the dealership that handled the selling of my CSX as well as it's trading in, but after a week of searching, the head record keeper there found that all records prior to 97 had been destroyed. :(

Currently, I have a records request taking place in the Colorado DMV to retrieve any records (they tell me from 95 on), but I am hopeful with the supplying of the title # from 1993 that they will be able to pull that info up as well. Still waiting on the original owner to send me pictures he said he had of the car when it was new though.

What other route can I go? I'm thinking about writing some of the guys on Moparts to see what routes they have taken to find out the history on their vehicles when the road ends after an owner and the DMV/dealerships aren't able to assist.

[Clay]

In indiana you can go to the DMV/BMV (what ever you call it in your state) and fill out a report to get the owners info on your car over the last 10 years. I did it with my 69 road runner years ago. If your state offers something similar, I would go with that.

[DC Turismo]

In indiana you can go to the DMV/BMV (what ever you call it in your state) and fill out a report to get the owners info on your car over the last 10 years. I did it with my 69 road runner years ago. If your state offers something similar, I would go with that.

That's what I'm doing now with the state of Colorado, where the previous owner's purchased and had the car titled, as well as the owner before that. They said their records only go back to 95, and that's when the previous owner whom I bought the car from purchased it. Before that, in 93, was when another person had owned the car, and that's who I am trying to track down next now, but don't know which route to go.