how to trace ownership of my car back to original purchase

[retroguy]

I'd like to trace ownership of my car back as far as I can.  The VIN search sites require a 17 or 19 digit vin, which of course my car does not have.  The vin of my 54 km car is 003764.  Any ideas on how to do this?

[joefrazer]

Tracing ownership back thru department of motor vehicle records will be next to impossible. Aside from privacy concerns, states retain title and registration records for only a certain amount of time...and each state differs from the next. So, even if you could research thru state department records, you'd soon hit a dead end given the trail is some 60 plus years long.

Your best bet it work back thru the owners. If you know who previously owned the car, check with them to see if they know who had it before them, and so on. While most vintage cars have had several owners, once in a while there are those who've had long term ownership. My Darrin has had exactly three owners, including myself and I know the two who previously held title to it.

[Gordie]

Joe Frazer is absolutely correct but if you bought it from a dealer or auction see if they wiil give you the information.  You should also check in our club registry and see if your car was previously registered to a club member.

[konrad]

You should also check in our club registry and see if your car was previously registered to a club member.

Definitely a valid starting point, though that may ultimately prove to be something of a dead end.  For example, I know from the club registry that a member (Duane Sell by name) previously owned my car, and he had it at least as far back as 2004 when he took it to the Auburn IN show where it won an award (as shown in a club quarterly from that time).  How long he had it previous to that, I do not know.  It was restored previous to that show, but I do not know if Duane had the restoration done or not (though I suspect so, and I'm inferring he had it for at least a few years prior).

Duane has sadly passed on, and given I bought the car from a place that specializes in buying and selling classic cars (the only thing they could tell me was that it was previously titled in MI, which is where Duane resided...hence being able to link it that far back along with the club registry) I can only guess his heirs or estate sold the car off after his passing.  That still leaves 50+ years of previous ownership unknown. 

I don't know if he had any heirs, but given they simply sold the car off and didn't retain it, my inference would be that they didn't really care about it, or its history...and if I could find/contact them, I doubt they'd be of much help in tracing it further back...and therein lies the rub.  Children (and estates) often care not one whit for the indulgences/collections/interests of their elders once they are gone...all they see is something frivolous to be rid of, hopefully for some decent remuneration.  The stories I could tell you about prominent authors in the fantastic fiction realm who died, basically as paupers...their rare book collections, papers, letters from other prominent authors, unfinished and unpublished manuscripts simply thrown in a dumpster by uncaring progeny...it would make you sick.

Ultimately, I know this about my car.  It was nicely restored sometime prior to 2004, it was well stored, and while there are mechanicals that I'm now fixing due to prolonged disuse...there is this:

It's mine now!!!  Muahahahahahaha!!!!

And I'll take good care of it as long as I can...hopefully pass it on to my son who has taken an interest in it. 

[Fid]

Retroguy's car is listed in the registry as being owned by "Kuhn" in Ohio.  Likely former KFOC member Ted Kuhn.  I don't know if Ted is still with us and keep in mind just because he reported it does not necessarily mean he owned it (Harold made an effort to distinguish "Owned by" vrs "Reported By" in registery.)  Check the roster and see if "Kuhn" is still listed there and if so, reach out, you may find some answers.

[Gordie]

Ted Kuhn is listed in the 1990 roster as being from Dublin Ohio and his relative Dean apparently lived next door.

[G.B. (All Vinyl Dragon)]

This is How I do Tracing in Our Club like Gordie said. Motor Vehicle in States works Very hard on Keeping Privacy.
This is Why You Join a Club. If made it to Regional or National Meets that’s a Good Start. A Name with a Vehicle & Owner all Related.

I have late Night in Big City called & got Dispatch. I had Old License Plate & Vin. He said I can’t tell You that...
I said Pretend We just pulled this Vehicle Over. Tell Me is still Active Registered. It was apparently a Slow Night. He told Me what Year last active Good Plate.

I did Find Vehicle. Owner said Yes That’s last Year I Tagged it.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

The Kuhn family were K-F dealers in Ohio and their stable of trade-ins kept included what was for some time, the other 1951 Kaiser Special Business Coupe in the club registry besides mine (a few others have surfaced since)

Forget the VIN information; it is worthless for tracing info back as it covers only engine number.  If the door post serial number of the car is not in the registry (and many of the surviving cars are not listed) or if the listing is incomplete (including owner who listed the car) the only chance you have are the papers (if any) that you got with the car.  For example, if the car still has its original owners manual and Owner Service Policy, you have the selling dealer listed in it as well as the date the car was delivered plus who it was delivered to.  Otherwise, for 1947-53 model years the production information part of the various car overviews in KFOCI HANDBOOK will identify what month the car came off the production line.   For 1954 and 1955, existing records are so bad as to be next to useless.

[retroguy]

A lot of interesting info. Thanks alot. I bought the car at a Carrick auction and the auctioneer told me that Mr Kuhn had died and that his wife had decided to sell the car.  The Ohio title said previous owner was a dealer.  The only original receipt that came with the car was from Speedy Muffler King in Columbus, Ohio for a custom pipe in 06/06/85.  Service stickers on the door pillar state:
     7/9/63 oil, filter, lube in Bucyrus, Ohio, odo 76,174
     9/24/80 oil, filter, lube in Sugarcreek, Ohio, odo 77,553                                               
     6/6/85 custom pipe installed in Columbus, Ohio. D. C. Kuhn signed the bill, but the bill showed sold to T. C. Coach of Columbus. odo 77,754
     odo as of 5/30/20 at my purchase 77,864
     odo as of 9/3/20 78,935
It may be that Mr Coach had to replace an exhaust pipe before Mr Kuhn would buy it. I'm going to write to Mr Coach. I was told that Mr Kuhn was fussy about the cars he collected, and that the car had been in storage several years,  but that it started and ran in Oct 2019 during preparation for the auction.

[joefrazer]

I knew the Kuhns and the TC Coach was the name of their RV company - Travel n Camp, which was located near Sugarcreek, Ohio. They put the car in the company name likely for tax purposes.