[jjflash]

Interesting question. I hope there is some activity on this thread. I don't know of any way to get the prior owner's information from public records, but that's not to say that it isn't possible.
A good starting point is calling PCNA--(800) 545-8039). If you give them the VIN they will look up some information including the dealer where the car was originally sold and the first sale date. They will also supply you with the option codes as listed by the factory.

I had very good luck with my 2002 Boxster S, which I bought at an auction and had NO records for. The original dealer had serviced the car its whole life and was willing to fax me copies of all the service records, but with the original owner's name and info redacted -- looked like something from the Freedom of Information Act! But it was helpful as it showed some major things had been done to the car, etc. On some other cars, I've not had so much luck and, in fact, the last time I called a dealer and asked for this information they said that privacy laws prohibited them from disclosing anything to anyone but the original owner, or the person on the service records. About all I could get from them was whether the car had ever been seen by them.

I'm starting on a similar search again for a 1987 944 Turbo I bought with 20K on the clock and not much documentation beyond the Carfax. The story is that it belonged to a collector and was stored for many years in a heated/climate controlled warehouse. It looks as though this could be the case, but no proof. The seller I purchased it from knows very little. The dealer who sold it to him bought it on eBay, of all places, about 2 years ago and he is the source of the "collector" story. So we'll see what comes of it.

It's just kind of detective work and I'm eager to learn new techniques!