kt69

Hello,
I'm trying to locate my father's 442. I have found the window sticker and thought that it would be cool if anyone new of the car. The VIN number is 344879M351392. Any help would be appreciated.

Jamesbo

Color?

kt69

Gold with a black top and black interior.

joe_padavano

Wow. My 69 442 came from Alabama and the VIN is 344879M351483. It is also gold with black top and interior. A/C and TH400. Limited slip 3.23 axle. Still has the numbers-matching block. Close, but no cigar.

kt69

That's pretty wild! For my entire life, I heard my father talk about this car. He loved it! Thanks for the note.
Kris

Eddie Hansen

long shot but can't you find one of these vin search services??? I mean it could be anywhere or god forbid crushed or scrapped??? I think carfax only goes back so far, find and make friends with a cop maybe there is a national vin database ???

joe_padavano

I'm not aware of any of these services that can handle a VIN with fewer than 17 characters. Remember, there used to be a time BEFORE the internet when information was stored on paper in a file cabinet someplace.

Olds64

I always thought it would be cool to find Oldsguy's 71 Cutlass S he owned when I was young. I always imagined it rotting in a field in California just waiting for us to go find it.

kt69

I have no idea about vin searches. I found out that my father sold the car to his brother in the early 70s. I called my uncle and he said that he sold it to another guy in the mid 70s and the guy wrecked it and may have gotten killed in it. I'm sure that it went to a junk yard somewhere. I was hoping that someone may have found it and restored it. It sure would be cool for someone to have the origional window sticker that came with the car.

don71

This is a long shot...but you might take a look.

http://www.lost-car-registry.com/index.html

Lady72nRob71

kt69,

I asked my lady friend at the DMV about this...
She is going to try to run a VIN search on it Monday, but since the car was never in TX, then she does not expect to find much.

She recommends asking the Georgia DMV.
Here is what you can do...
When registering one of your other vehicles, go to the DMV and hopefully find a person that looks friendly (I know that is difficult!)
After completing your transaction, ask very nicely if he or she could check the "fate" of your dad's '69. Have the VIN written down and politely tell him or her it was your dad's and you just want to know if it still exists.
As long as you do not ask for the owners' personal information, he or she should easily be able tell you what state or city it is in or if it was destroyed (hopefully not!!!)

BTW, I met Mrs. DMV when I was transferring Lady's title last year. When she saw "1972 Oldsmobile", she about freaked out. She was my friend instantly. Reason - her dad worked the assembly line in Lansing in the late 60's - probably putting parts on your dad's 69! It was very memorable for her. She had sent some photos of the building and the line; very interesting to see... (Too bad she is married!!)

I will let you know what I find out.

FTW65W29

[quote=Lady72nRob71;38339]kt69,

I asked my lady friend at the DMV about this...
She is going to try to run a VIN search on it Monday, but since the car was never in TX, then she does not expect to find much.

I have been hitting the net trying to find out the history of mine as well. To this date I have not had any luck as records were not kept on a national level until the mandatory 17 digit VIN codes were put into place back in 1980. Any vehicle search before that will be a hit or miss proposition. I have been holding off going to the DMV / Tax office to aquire this information. The downside is they will not give you the previous owners names. They will be able to tell you how many times that it has changed hands and if it was originally registered in Texas. Correct me if I am wrong "Lady72nRob71".

By the way your 442 brings back memories of my dad's 70 442 convert. His was Tan w / tan top and interior. He traded in his burgundy 67 442 at David McDavid Pontiac back in 72. He then traded in the 70 to buy a new 73 Cutlass Supreme.

Later!

Lady72nRob71

kt69,

My friend at the DMV was able to give no info on your dad's car as it was never in TX. She did give me the Georgia DMV number to try 404 362 6500. Maybe you can try it, but maybe some things are just better left unknown.

She told me that my mom's former car, an almost immaculate 86 Olds CSB 4dr, was scrapped over 2 years ago. The dealer where she traded it sold it at auction and the one who bought it never transferred the title or registered it. It was found abandoned and the city of dallas hauled it to a scrap yard, under a rule that it could never come out as a car. Her name was on it the whole time and TX law would have made her responsible for any crime that car would have been involved in. Luckily there were none reported.
I sure miss that car for many good reasons and I will probably be upset with my mom for some time to come...

FW65W29,
I think you are right about not giving out names. My friend there may have, but only because we can trust each other. Also she noted that the DMV records are very vague in their system. Even she had difficulty in reading what the notes meant. Despite all their forms and data they collect, it is about as organized as a hurricane evacuation...

Oldsguy

I am ready for a father/son vacation. You do some research on junkyards in the bay area. We'll save up some vacation time and drive out in the '77 for a month. Leave the girls to tend house.....

Olds64

That would be AWSOME! I bet California has decent records. Chances are the car got scrapped though, unless the guy you sold it to was a gearhead or he sold it to a gearhead. Doesn't mom still stay in touch with some of those people you went to church with in CA?

Oldsguy

I sold it to a neighbor gal, here husband was away on deployment when she bought it. We moved onto base housing before he came back but saw the car a few times before we transferred over to Okinawa. He wasn't a gear head, I think he was a bos'n mate so that tells you something. It would be very hard to locate it, but we can still go.

Olds64

Ah, memories that I can't even recall!

kt69

Thanks for all of the input and ideas. I'm going to keep digging on this one.