Hello all. I bought a 1972 442 in 1981 then joined the USAF, shipped out to the Philippines in 1984 and left the car sit until 1987. When I got back, it was in pretty sad shape from Indiana seasons. I let my father-in-law have it to work on. I loved that car, but it was a time of flux and I was in Florida when I returned to the States. My FIL did some work on the car then sold it. I am hoping to learn what became of it. I'd love to have a chance to own it again, but if it's not for sale, I'd still like to know where it is and if it is happy and safe. I actually did find an old registration with the VIN 3J67K2M110463. Hopefully the current owner is a member here or knows members from here and someone will recognize the car from the info I am about to provide. It was a 1972 442 with a 350 and auto trans. The color was fairly uncommon, and I believe it was called saddle bronze with white interior. The top was also white. It had the non-functional hood inserts and white striping on the hood and down the sides. The side stripes were narrow. I also have some photos that I'll try to include soon. I lived in New Castle, IN, where the car was originally sold, and my FIL lived in Spiceland, IN, when he sold the car. Any info on the car is appreciated.

Photo of a curled photo makes axel look bent.

 

for a 1972 that is a typical color combination - you have the VIN, so post it - it's a "needle-in-a-haystack" odds of finding it WITH help of the VIN

 

I appreciate your input, but I think calling this color combo "typical" of any year is inaccurate. I have yet to see a 1972 442 vert with white interior and saddle bronze ext other than the one I owned. It is further differentiated by having the non functional inserts in the hood. Most of the saddle cars I see do not have WHITE interiors. If you have photos or can direct me to this trove of saddle bronze 72 442s, please send info. There were just over 1000 442 verts made that year, so no color would be common, but the saddle would not be one of the more common choices. I will post the VIN if someone asks for it because they think they know the car.

 

the earth-tones were the popular colors of choice for 1972 (greens, golds & browns) - most are currently painted red, blue & black (& black was not even available for '72)
is that a bench seat? the hood is STANDARD & was most common …… maybe not so much today
by the VIN it will be 1 of ~11,000 Cutlass Supreme convertibles, the 442 OPTION 45 years later is difficult to prove - lots of clones out there

good luck with your search & welcome to classicoldsmobile!

 

Good to know. I am aware it's hard to ID a 442 by VIN, but mine was clearly legit. I owned it before clones, especially of an Olds, were common practice. The only clones I saw then were 1969 z28s. The build sheet was probably still in it. At that time, no one I knew was looking for them. So if anyone sees this thread and knows the car, given the background, I hope they will let me know. I get that the hood was standard, but most all of the clones were over dressed with options and bright colors. Of course, if someone was foolish enough to change a real 442 into a version with the performance hood, dual exhaust, etc, that would make it harder to find. Mine had 2bbl carb and single exhaust.

Here is the VIN: 3J67K2M110463 (the last number is hard to read, but I am 90 percent sure it's a 3)

 

I have a list of 325 1972 Cutlass Supreme convertibles, mostly from eBay or auction sites - the above VIN is NOT among them

this unknown VIN, 442 convertible (claimed "clone") was at MECUM Chicago today - SOLD for $19,250 *** ($17,500 plus fees)



https://www.mecum.com/lots/CH1019-38...s-convertible/

 

not suggesting your car wasn't a 442 - but clones have existed from when the cars were nearly new
first pic - car was originally a red "cop car"
second pic - Cutlass S my brother purchased in '81

 

Threads like this pop up not infrequently on this site. In all of the instances where someone has come on here looking for a car they once owned, no one has ever come back, that I have seen, to report successfully finding the car.

WHEN did you last know of the car's wherabouts? It's not clear from these comments. The car sat until 1987, and then you gave it to your father-in-law. He worked on the car and then sold it. WHEN did he sell it? A week later? A year later? 1995? 2000? The longer ago the car's last-known whereabouts, the less likely you'll find it. While it's unlikely, given that the car is a collectible and that it stayed intact for at least 15 years since new, it's entirely possible the car no longer exists. Cars do wear out and end up in junkyards. But I'm guessing that's not the case with this one.

The best you might be able to do, if you get VERY lucky, is determine that it is still titled in one of the 50 states.

Titling and registration is state-by-state. There is no central database of VIN numbers. States vary in what they'll let you do as far as searching for the existence of a title for a particular VIN. For example, Ohio, where I once lived, will let you do a VIN search at no charge. If a title for the car was ever issued in Ohio, it will tell you the date the most recent title was issued, whether the car's registration is still active or not, and what county the owner resides in. But that's it. Unless you're a law-enforcement agency or an attorney or finance company or something like that with a valid, legal reason to know it, you will not be able to find out the current owner's name, address, etc. Privacy laws have changed considerably over the last couple of decades.

I tried the same thing at the Indiana DMV site as that's the state where the car was last known to be and thus the most likely place for it to still be. Unfortunately, Indiana is far less generous than Ohio. You can't do a VIN search unless you have an account with the DMV. To get an account, you have to fill out a 5-page form where you indicate, among other things, the reason you need access, and there is a $95 annual fee. The basic service only yields what Ohio's site tells you. To access owner information, you have to be one of five things: a government agency at any level, a representative of a legal proceeding, an insurance company, a towing company, or a licensed private investigator. If you're an investigator, you have to give the specific reason you need the access, and it has to be a reason allowed under Indiana law.

In short, the layman isn't going to find anything at the Indiana site. Each state is different, and you'd have to investigate them all. No state will likely give you more information than Ohio does.

For the record, I searched on your VIN at the Ohio site, and it came up empty. Your car is not currently titled in Ohio. Only 49 more to go!

This is your only real hope, and it's a very slim one. But you won't know if you don't try. It's been about a week now since you started this thread, and apparently nothing has turned up. It doesn't look good.

 

I did a little more looking at DMV sites for the states around Indiana.

For a title search in Michigan, you fill out a form and submit it with an $11 fee. As in Indiana, you have to indicate from a list of approved reasons why you need the information. This would probably be a show-stopper.


But I got a little lucky at Illinois. There you can do a "Title and Registration Status Inquiry" at no charge. I put in your car's VIN and got a hit. The result is below. It doesn't tell you much, but it does tell you that the car existed and was in Illinois as late as February 27, 2008. That's not so long ago. I'm not sure what "Issued out of State" means for "Type of Title." I'm assuming it means it was issued to a car that came into Illinois from another state?

 

Actually, I suspect he's talking about the stripes. Unlike today, when every 70-72 car has a repro O.A.I. hood and W-30 striping, 1972 442s came from the factory with the hood and stripes shown on yours. It wasn't just "typical", it was how they all came unless you did order W-30 or W-25 (which was a lot less common than people think). Also unlike today, in 1972 there were 21 different exterior colors available and seven different interior colors available (not just grey and tan). There was no "typical" color combination, though GM did offer suggested interior colors to go with each exterior color.

 

I live in Indiana and bought a 1967 442 from another Indiana resident. I had the Protecto-Plate and knew the car was originally purchased in Texas and that it still had the 1989 Oklahoma Safety Inspection sticker on the windshield. All I had to do was fill in the blanks. Both the Texas and Oklahoma BMV's were somewhat helpful however they have the same restrictions as to who they will share information with, police, finance companies, insurance etc. I simply went to my insurance agent and asked them to submit the request on my behalf and they got responses. I now have an almost complete history of the car however I was not able to find the name of the person from Michigan who sold the car to the guy in Indiana that I bought the car from. When I had my insurance agent submit a request to the Indiana BMV he got a response that listed all the statutes that prohibited them from sharing all the information that I was looking for however they were able to share with him that I OWNED THE CAR. Priceless !

 

In a Lansing car? Seriously doubt it. Broadcast card maybe, but highly unlikely a build sheet would be found. They probably had a job listing at Lansing for the sole job of sweeping out cars of build documentation like that. Probably listed as a "build sheet remover". Whoever that was did a great job. Other plants probably stuffed them in places in the car just so they didn't have to take out the trash.