69w31f85

Good evening all. I live in Ulster county NY and am looking to locate my 1972 Cutlass S coupe. I sold the car back in 1994 +/- to pay for the engine build in my '69 W-31.
I sold it to a guy I knew at the time Greg Van Name. of Modena NY. The car was a non original dark green with white pin stripes. It had the original green interior. Bench seat, column shift, 350 2bbl. I added a rear anti-sway bar to the original non-boxed lower control arms. Greg add dual exhaust, a tachometer, ugly chrome saw blade style wheels. Very unfortunately, Greg passed away some years back. He kept the car at what I recall was his mothers house in a red barn attached to a few rental apartments. Sadly his mother also passed and the property has been sold. I lost track of the car by the late 90's. I cannot find the Vin# anywhere but I have very vivid memories of details about this car.
I still own my '69 W-31 (30+ years now) and now my son is of driving range, my daughter isn't far behind. I would love to find this car and buy it back for the kids to have fun with.
Please contact me with any and I mean info, leads of any kind. (845)-392-3626
Take a look at the picture of when I owned it and jog your memory.
Thank you for your time.

Vintage Chief

Helping you out.

69w31f85

oh Man!!!!! Thank you sooooooo much. I was driving myself insane trying to do that. Very much appreciated.

Vintage Chief

No worries. Before you upload the image, it has to be in the correct orientation. Generally, you can right-click on the image and choose Rotate Right or Rotate Left. Depends on your OS and the imaging s/w you use.

If you upload via say an iPhone, you click Edit on the image then Rotate (Clockwise, etc.) the image before upload.

69w31f85

Here's the only other Picture I have

69w31f85

Norm, help.... hahaha

OLDSter Ralph

This is a long shot, but do you have old insurance policy papers that could show the VIN ?

Fun71

Good idea. The insurance company, and even the DMV should have vehicle registration documentation. That should be fairly easy.

69w31f85

i have already contacted DMV. Their records do not go back that far. I;m told I can try the vintage plate division to search that plate# as it is no longer in service,
The insurance company also told me that their records only back 20 years.

Vintage Chief

Hopefully, it never found it's way to the Iron Triangle (Willets Point) of NYC.

jaunty75

Keep in mind that, even if you found that the car was still on the road and registered in a particular state, privacy laws would prevent the state agencies from telling you who the owner is. I've used the Ohio DMV website a few times to check on cars as I used to live there. On that site, you type in the VIN and, if the car is registered anywhere in the state, it will tell you when the most recent title was issued and what county it was issued in, and that's it. I would be surprised if an insurance company would give out that information, even if they had it. I know I wouldn't be too happy with my insurance company if I found out they were giving out my contact information to anyone who walked in the door no matter what their story was. I trust them to keep information I give them confidential and use it only for insurance-related purposes, not to satisfy the curiosity of anyone who asks.

I've said this on other threads, and I'll say it again, if you REALLY want to find the car or find out what happened to it, hire a private detective and give him as much information as you can. VIN, name of the buyer, location of the sale, etc. The more you can give him, the more he has to go on. But to come on here or any enthusiast website and ask about a car you last knew the whereabouts of 25 years ago? Miracles are easy compared to that.

OLDSter Ralph

I was referring to an old policy/billing statement in your files. Having the VIN will help. Then you have to research from there. Every state has different privacy laws. You will need the VIN to know if you ever found the original car. A private detective is another possibility.

69w31f85

Well, thank you for the encouraging words.
I am well aware of the Privacy Protection Act. I was only hoping that my insurance company would be able to provide me with a list of all Vin #'s I've had insured with them over 30 years. Nothing more.
Of course, a professional entity of any kind, including law enforcement agencies are not able to provide anyone with any kind of personal information.
This is not new news.
Yeah, I threw one out there "by coming on here" to see if anyone has any info.
Miracles can happen
I doubt its in New Mexico so you're off the hook

Vintage Chief

Anything is worth a try. You never know unless you ask. There could always be the off-chance an Olds enthusiast on this forum site or any Olds/442 forum site may reside near Modena and happens to have some information or even purchased that vehicle. Whatever the case, good luck on your mission.

69w31f85

That's all one can hope for . Everyone has their "one that got away" right?
if its meant to be - it'll be

anthonyP

Good luck with your search. It was a good idea to ask on this site. Sometimes placing an ad on Craigslist or other for sale/car sites can also help locate a car sold or a missed purchase. It worked twice for me.

69w31f85

Now those ARE encouraging words. I have placed an ad on Craiglist with these same photos. This morning I stopped at a couple old time junkyards very near where the car used to be stored, Both places knew the gentleman I sold the car to. One even remembered the car! I even stopped in at the property where the car was stored and showed the new residents the pictures. They do not recognize the car. I'm trying and still holding out hope but ......no leads yet.

69w31f85

Good morning folks. Just looking to renew the search for this particular '72 Cutlass. I'm always on the hunt. I've spoken with the owner of a local junk yard (Scrams) who knew the man - Gregory VanName that I sold the car to. He remembered Greg being very proud of that car and agreed that he used to keep it in his mothers barn in Modena but has not seen the car since Gregs' passing. There were a couple nephews that lived in Connecticut and may have since moved to Florida. The trail has gotten fairly cold.....

69w31f85

Still nothing! As time goes on and reality sets in, I'm becoming more and more accepting of the notion that it may, in fact, be gone for good.
Maybe a similar Cutlass would suffice as a driver? While I still own my first for 32 years now - '69 F-85 W-31, the ' 72 is what I bought with the sole purpose of raising hell. And that I did ! What memories ! I'll continue to keep holding out hope.

Koda

I'd say the odds of you finding the car, that it exists at all, in the condition that it was or better, owned by someone who will sell it at a decent price to you, in the near future are about like winning the lottery without playing.

I believe what you need is a semi-neglected 72 S with decent paint and interior and a blown up 350. Get a 455 core and build it for street fun, then have a car to be a hooligan in and not care at all. Say goodbye to your old friend, and make a new one.