Any tricks to go up the paper trail?

[Brudock]

Seeing the What's the story behind your 911 thread, made me wish I had more information on the past of my car.

The only information I have is from the previous owner right now and from what he's told me that car came from Texas (I'm based in Montreal, Canada). Since I don't have the complete documentation, only for the past 15 years of his ownership, it's hard for me to go back up.

Any of you have any trick to be able to follow the trail up to the original owner? I doubt it's possible to know where it was bought based on VIN only?

[Brudock]

Oh and not my first post, but whatever. 1982 SC Targa

[tirwin]

Beautiful car!

I had some luck but haven't pieced together the whole story. I believe I am the 4th owner of my '83. The 3rd owner was a friend of mine and I had known the car for about 10 years before I bought it. The 3rd owner had all the documentation from the 2nd owner. I knew the area of the country he lived in so I posted a thread here and a local PCA member contacted me that knew the guy. He helped us connect and we ended up talking by phone. The 2nd owner bought the car off a used car lot in St. Louis, MO in 1990. Just happened to see it before he moved out of town and bought it.

I would love to know the history before 1990 but he said the dealer had no info. I have some papers in the owners manual that suggest it was sold new in the New Jersey area. So from 1983-1990 is a black hole.

I'm curious to know if others have been able to do some sleuthing that far back in time. Is there a way to find out what states a VIN has been previously registered in?

[Dmitry at Pelican Parts]

+1 beautiful car, and I see that you're a Petrolicious fan. Like mentioned, you can go about finding info based on vin #; but that will only go so far. You can also try to get a certificate of authenticity through Porsche which will tell you details about production and various #s. Best of luck!


-Dmitry

[Brudock]

Thanks for the good words and yes, I'm a fan of Petrolicious!

Going through the papers I have yesterday, I did find another owner's name.

I sent a bunch of Facebook messages to try to reach that person to see if the hold any parts of the car's history.

@Dmitry. I did think about the COA, however they don't provide where it was sold initially. Also reached out to Porsche directly, they can't really do anything since nothing was computerized back in 82'.

Thanks for the tips!

[LM3929]

I used Carfax which told me where mine came into the USA and up to I bought it but no owners names.

Lorne M.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by Brudock

I did think about the COA, however they don't provide where it was sold initially. Also reached out to Porsche directly, they can't really do anything since nothing was computerized back in 82'.

My COA gave the Dallas dealership where the car was delivered. The dealership no longer exists.

I will say I am pretty sure it did and can check when I get home. The COA was purchased in maybe 1993. Olaf Lang signed it. I think his title was something to do with Porsche North America. If I find it, you will know.

I was lucky to get a pile of receipts. It was a lease car. Four doctors and the petroleum engineer I bought it from. Talked to all of them but one doctor had passed away.

To tell a story of how "valid" receipts are, one of the doctors told me he heard a rattle from the rear. Kremer in Atlanta tore the engine apart and found nothing. Ended up being a CB radio mount on the rear glass that made the rattle.

No receipt for that one.

Also, Mayo Performance rebuilt my transmission in 2008. Nicely done. Pics and text from e-mails showed me where this and that was repaired incorrectly. Torque spec on some big important nut that requires a deep well socket on steroids, like ten inches deep, was 15 ft lbs rather than 160 ft lbs.

No receipt for that one.

If you can find the dealership of origin, that would be cool.