Tracking Down Old Vehicle

[Hepar]

Long story short. My grandfather had a 1936 Ford Model-T pickup and it's always been my dream to get it back. I have the vin #. Will the DOL give out the current owners info? Does anyone have any experience with trying to track down an old car?

 

[RunninInGA]

I don't think it is that easy and I doubt the local officials would willingly give you the info to the current owner - that'd be a violation of privacy and would make tracking down these older cars much less time consuming.

 

[bofa]

I doubt it, given current privacy laws and all. If you have an idea where it's located, maybe plan to attend a local show or two?

 

[hearno]

You'll get nowhere with any govt agency but maybe a carfax type service will show where it was registered last? I'm sure it's not a 17 digit VIN as that standard didn't exist until 79/80 or so but you might get lucky.

 

[Hepar]

Yeah, I figured it would be hard with just the vin#. Hoping my mom might have kept some sort of record of who they sold it to and go from there.

 

[ddnww]

^^^ this, you'll need to use a service that you pay for to track it down.
You may have dead ends, or leads to someone who already sold it. It'll
Take time, patience, and money. Good luck with your search.

Check this out

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CS3SvdWcAks

 

[bofa]

Another shot in the dark... sometimes these things end up on ebay. You should be able to search current and closed listings and sometimes they will list the VIN. If you happen to find it, you could message the buyer.

 

[IanB]

I'd start by just googling the VIN and see if you get any hits, if it has been on ebay, or the VIN was posted on an enthusiast forum or something like that you might just get lucky. Privacy laws are going to stonewall you on this as far as gov't agencies are concernced, unless you know someone with access to their computer systems.

 

[ddnww]

you will probably use all resources you can think of, and get little info or nowhere, you may give up after who know how long(months , years) ,you may take a break and start searching again .

How bout trying to find a forum for Model T's and Im sure you can
get some helpful people on there to aid in your search. You may also try facebook groups.

Best thing is use all resources you can think of.

 

[Nervo19]

Google the vin. A particular 60's car forum I belong to enters serial numbers of cars seen in junkyards so they will show up in a google. Maybe there's a good forum for model T's. FWIW it's not actually a vin. Vins have 17 digits and were introduced in 1981. Before that every car company made up its own serial #.
When did your family sell the vehicle? If your mother still has the info of the people it was sold to that's the obvious place to start. Find them and phone them. You might want to try a forum called the H.A.M.B. Take a few minutes to understand the culture of that forum. Do not ever mention a vehicle made before 1964 and don't speak of Toyota. I've read quite a few reunion stories on there. It would be very helpful if you have a picture. Here's a link:

THE H.A.M.B. - Powered by vBulletin

 

[Hepar]

Thanks for all the tips and advice. I did a few searches with the vin, but didn't come up with anything. Hoping I can get a name and then go from there.

 

[RunninInGA]

Good luck, OP - keep us posted.

 

[Hepar]

Was able to track down a name of who my family sold it to. Not much, but it's a start!

 

[1engineer]

I was adopted and had no idea who my parents were. It took me over 10 years but I finally tracked her down. You just gotta start at the beginning and trace the lineage. Sorta similar I guess but at least the owner didn't change her last name...six f*&Kin times!