I am looking for a 1969 Oldsmobile Cutlass W31 that belonged to my father. Original color is Autumn Gold (Special Toronado Color) with Red stripes. Basic options on the car, bucket seats, no power steering, ect. I know it's hunting a needle in a haystack but I figure'd it would be worth a try.

My father bought this car when he was 21 years old and the other day I asked him what his biggest regret is when it comes to the cars he has owned. His reply was this W31 I am looking for. I have no VIN number or anything other than what he placed on the order for the car.

Any help would be appreciated in finding either the fate of this car or it's current resting place, if it still running, or sitting in a field some place.

 

I would at least start with any information you have about where it last was that you know. What town ect and what year did he get rid of it.

 

Unfortunately all I know about it's last location was 1970-1971 was sold to someone in Lansing, MI. So odds are I may never find the car. However it's a shot in the dark and I'm willing to take that shot.

 

Wish you luck.

 

I think you best thing is to consider finding a similar car and restoring it for your Dad. Without a VIN, there is no way of knowing if you found the actual car. Good luck.

 

I've heard rumors of a way to look up the build sheets for these cars. I have no problem doing so if I knew where to start. And to be honest I really don't want to just find a similar car. I want to find the fate of his car. It's not just about purchasing it, it's not just about the destination for me. This is about finding a car that once belonged to my father, finding the fate of the car and if available for purchase; purchasing it.

For me this is a project and something to work on. For me finding on similar and calling it the car is a cheating way and an easy way. Call me crazy but it's how I feel about it.

 

There is no way to "look up" the build sheet of this or any car. Build sheets were not meant to be saved, and there was never a reason for anyone then or now to create a database of them. The best anyone can do is hope they one day find the one in their car, if there is one. Lansing cars did not as a rule have them.

If your father had lost track of his car much more recently, such as perhaps in the last 10 years, you might have a snowball's chance in hell of locating it now or at least determining its fate. But if he last saw the car 43 years ago, I'd rather be the snowball in hell. Especially if all you know about the car is what color it was.

Does he know the name of the person in Lansing he sold the car to? If so, see if that guy is still in the phone book, and go from there. If he's not in the book, consider hiring a private detective, or at least conferring with one to see what he might think. It'll certainly cost you something, but if you really want to know, maybe it's worth the money. Of course, if you don't know the buyer's name, there's no hope at all for this line of attack.

I think reoldsman, though, is right. It's been so long that it's time to be realistic, forget about trying to find the original car, and get something just like it as a tribute to your father. You don't have to call it "the" car, and getting a tribute car is not "cheating."

 

Doesn't sound crazy to me at all.

Last year while driving, I spotted an old bus, a 1953 GMC PD4103, with a for sale sign. My Dad, who passed away in 1990, owned one; it had been converted into a motorhome back in the 70s. Without getting into too many details, the bus disapeared around the time of his death under mysterious circumstances (had been stored at a "friend's house, story went that it was judged as abandoned and sold for scrap as my father lingered in the hospital before he died).

Sure enough, this was my Dad's old bus. Didn't even show the two decades worth of deterioration I would have expected, making me think it was stored out of the elements for all this time. I called the number on the for sale sign, guy couldn't give a SH*T about my story (all I really wanted to know what some history on how he came to own it, where it has been for all these years, etc.). All he knew is I wasn't buying it, so he couldn't be bothered.

I would drive by it now and then; finally after a few months it disappeared. Wonder if I'll live long enough to see it again. Brought back a lot of good memories, and a year on, I keep thinking I should have tried to buy it (despite my having no use for it, nowhere to store it, and HAD I bought it, likely no more wife!). Or what might have happened had I "poked around a bit". I took a bunch of photos of the thing (had none from back when my father owned it), so there was a silver lining to seeing it again, even if only briefly.

Point of the story is I can appreciate the quest, in particular the desire to find out what became of your own father's ACTUAL vehicle, as opposed to trying to find one that is merely just like it.

 

My 2 cents look up Octania on here, he lives in Lansing been there at least 25 years I've known him. A car like that can sometimes stick in a persons memory. Best of luck I support you in a quest like, it's the principle.

 

Good luck with your quest. It seems you will need to contact some old time Oldsmobile enthusiasts in the Lansing MI to find out if anyone remembers the 442, and what information they might have about your Dad's car. Maybe even post some wanted ads on Craigslist, eBay, and other auto websites.

Though these stories do not have the same time frame as yours, they are similar.

I had lost out on a specially ordered '71 Cutlass on eBay back in 2010. The Cutlass was in Winnipeg and being sold by the original owner's nephew. Unbeknownst to me, it was sold to a buyer in Abernathy, Saskatchewan, a small town of a few hundred people, 500 miles further away from Pennsylvania. I thought I would never see the Cutlass again. I started placing Wanted Ads everywhere, then heard about Kijiji, a Canadian type of eBay. To my surprise, a few years later, the owner of the black Cutlass "S" saw my ad while looking for another Cutlass and contacted me. After verifying it was the same Cutlass, I made arrangements to purchase and ship the Cutlass, in addition to the many Customs & Export/Import matters. After seeing the Cutlass, it "taken" by my brother, as it reminded him of his special ordered '70 Cutlass "S" that was totaled many years before, but was enjoyed by him and his future wife. Besides the different years, both had been factory ordered with a 350 4bbl, dual exhaust, automatic, positraction, sport mirrors, bucket seats/console, disc brakes, FE-2 suspension, and no A/C. It is currently being restored.

My second story involves my other brother, who ordered a new 442 in February 1971. It was later totaled by my younger brother, almost 30 years ago. It was stripped and the body salvaged at the time. Dumb move at the time - should had found a new frame and repaired it at the time. This was the car I learned to drive in and drove during my high school years and beyond. I was heartbroken when the 442 was totaled, and made a pact that the 442 would someday be back on the road. After years of looking for a donor car, I finally found a good one out in Colorado, and am currently looking for a reliable shipper to bring it back east for the eventual transformation to that long gone '71 442 and new memories.

 

Hell, I don't think you even have a haystack in which to look! Good luck.

 

Ok, I'll bite, IMHO your crazy but we all need a hobby, have a safe trip.

 

Three or four years ago I found a gold '69 W-31 in the Lansing area. The car had a long term owner who passed away and the car went to the daughter if I remember right. The car was barn stored for many, many years. It was a four speed, and the original engine was gone. The car was a project but still had the air cleaner, and the original ram air brackets, ducts, etc... that appeared to be 40 years old. I wasn't interested in the car but passed the deal along to a guy out east (VA I think). He subsequently bought the car, and went through the whole car looking for W31 paper documentation. Never found any. He restored the car and I remember it being on Ebay a few times. Don't know if it ever sold. If this is something you want to follow-up on send me a pm; I should be able to find the owner's name and number.