Ideas on how to locate a car by Vin?

[MP4 Motorsports]

Hi All:
Does the group have any ideas on how to locate (the last registered owner) of a car by Vin number? I am trying to track down a Porsche 911 73S, Vin number 9113301323. Any ideas or direction you can point me would be great. Some of the current companies like Carfax don't start until early 80's.
Thanks,
Todd

[mattC2993]

With privacy laws these days I would think it would be difficult.

[bleucamaro]

try early 911S registry?

[faapgar]

You need a police officer friend with few scruples and you will find current owner if it is currently registered.

[faapgar]

You could approach him by saying you want to make sure this car was not stolen as you wish to buy it.

[MP4 Motorsports]

ok, all good tips........thank you!

[Sebscst]

It might be a long shot but there an app called VINwiki I’ve used it before to find newer cars.

[Bucketlist]

Originally Posted by Sebscst

It might be a long shot but there an app called VINwiki I’ve used it before to find newer cars.

I don't usually try things like VINwiki but this time I did. Here is the GOOD, BAD and UGLY of my experience:

I already have a Carfax report on my car which has more information on my 41 year old car than was expected so something equal was the expectation.

The Bad: Absolutely no information on my car except that it is a 1981 Porsche 911 SC built in Germany.
and....
At the point of entering information they say this only costs $1.00 which almost made me back out because it sounded too cheap. Yes I entered my debit card and got a report which was a dangerous waste of time.

The UGLY: After seeing the report I checked my bank account and was charged $23.95.

The Good: Through their contact button a chat opened and I asked for a refund.
I got a refund of my full $23.95 right away.

Please don't waste your time.

[maninblack]

I've successfully used a P.I. when researching cars a couple times. I had one guy I really liked but he's retired now. Seems others advertise similar services.

https://getevidencenow.com/service/vehicle-history/

https://robisonlegalservices.com/vehicle-history/

If you can narrow your investigation to a geographic region it can help. I used to be able to get anything on a car's history in Texas from a friendly government contact and years ago I was referred to a California DMV employee who, for $100, got me an immense amount of data on my 69S. I would assume local P.I.'s would have these contacts as well.

[Pends27]

Due to privacy law I think it will be difficult

[Alan Brase]

Funny thing, years ago, ALL published for sale ads in some states required VINs. Seemed strange at first, but it made sense: If it was stolen possibly authorities might show up at your door?
If there were any of these ads in a searchable database, some info might be gleaned? But possibly that was before the newspapers were on the internet.
Quite a few of these ancient bargains were advertised in the classifieds. I know of at least (2) 1964 built 911s that were. 30049 was bought by my friend Rev Ron. Then I looked at one in Minneapolis that was either 30149 or 30150. Either 100 or 101 digits higher.
Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda. But $3000 seemed a lot in 1982.