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General Discussion / My story and why to not give up looking.
« on: January 24, 2024, 03:59:46 PM »
The "On the Hunt" thread got me thinking about when I was hunting for the original owner of my 1968 Camaro Z28, ex-Bob Johnson drag car that I have owned since 1981. Here is a reason to never give up, and a pretty amazing story why.
Like I have previously mentioned, I was hunting for the original owner of my Camaro, not searching for the car itself, but maybe how I found him would be of interest and you might be able to use this in your search.
I originally had an LEO, who was a friend of a friend, do an NICB report on my car to see where it was sold, and a dealership in NH was given to me. (this was before the NCRS was doing this) The NH dealer made sense, because I was in RI, and knew the car was traded in at Scuncio in 1972 by a man in the navy stationed in CT. (I got that much info from Bob Johnson, who took the trade in and then bought the car from Scuncio to turn it into a drag car)
After contacting the dealer that was now occupying the space the original dealer was, and finding out they didn't have any records from the old dealer, that search ended.
Fast forward to when the NCRS offered the reports. I sent in my $50, (which I now believe is $60) and low and behold, I got my report stating my Z28 was originally shipped to and sold out of a dealership in Tennessee. Yup, the first LEO gathered report was totally wrong.
I had somewhere to look now. I decided to run an ad in the Tennessee Craigslist under the "wanted" section looking for the original owner of a Le Mans Blue 68 Z28, bought new at Varnell Chevrolet Company, or anyone who remembers the dealership, the car, etc....
I continually renewed the ad and got lots of emails from people who read it, trying to help with advice like checking the DMV. Running the VIN on online VIN decoders, etc....all stuff I had tried already. Some did say they remember the dealer, an few thought the remembered seeing the car in the show room.
Then one day, after years of running the ad, a guy named Harold messaged me and said he still lives in the town, knew the dealer ship , and knows a local mechanic named Monk that used to work there doing new car prep, and said he will contact him. Sure enough, the guy remembered the car. It was originally ordered by a guy named Ernie who grew impatient for it to come in, so found another yellow Z28 at another dealership. When my car arrived, another man maned Larry bought it, and incidentally traded in a black 67 Camaro that this Monk gentlemen bought and still owns today.
Monk also knew Mrs. Varnell,...who was still living,..and knew the book keeper, and she told her when the dealership was sold, all the records were burned.
Harold kept giving me phone numbers, addresses, etc..of all parties involved, but before I could follow up on anything, he did,..lol.
Harold then found a woman named Sharon who ho had put together the local family history/ genealogy (Larry's family) If anyone can find our Larry, it will be her. She agreed to try to help. She said she thought she might know but would check to verify. She was excited when he told her about the 68 Camaro. She said she thought it was her husbands car since he owned one also but he had wrecked his and totaled it....obviously not my car.
Harold then tracked down Larry's brother, and confirmed Larry was in the Navy and was the owner of my Camaro,....and Harold began trying to contact Larry via two phone numbers but was getting no answer.
Harold got in touch with Larry, and he confirmed he was the original owner, and that's when Harold told me this,..."Incidentally, I am a retired criminal investigator so these things are hard to turn loose once you get involved."
I then finally got in touch with the original owner and he answered all the questions I had, and sent me, though email. the few photos he had from when he owned it.
Turns out when he bought it he was at home on leave from the Navel base in CT, did all the paperwork, payed for it, but had to go back to the base before the car was ready, so his wife drove it all the way from Tennessee to CT to him. Brand new Z28, 302, 4 speed,...what a woman.
I always wondered why the car had no stripes on it, and thought it was a stripe delete car because it had the "-" on the data tag representing "special paint", but turns out, he installed a cowl induction hood on it in 1970, and because of the sandy roads in CT beating up the lower sections of the car, he had the whole car painted minus the stripes. The special paint was the black Z28 stripes that were originally ordered on the car.
He traveled over the CT - RI line to Scuncio Chevrolet in 1972 and traded the car in for a Chevelle SS and that's where Bob Johnson, high performance manager and salesman, took ownership of it. He owned, raced and or sponsored the car until 1977, then it was raced by the next owner from 77 though 81,..1981 was when I bought it.
Getting a few pics of the car and talking to him, (he was a real motor head back then) finally filled in those 4 years of history before Bob Johnson owned and raced it.
Like I have previously mentioned, I was hunting for the original owner of my Camaro, not searching for the car itself, but maybe how I found him would be of interest and you might be able to use this in your search.
I originally had an LEO, who was a friend of a friend, do an NICB report on my car to see where it was sold, and a dealership in NH was given to me. (this was before the NCRS was doing this) The NH dealer made sense, because I was in RI, and knew the car was traded in at Scuncio in 1972 by a man in the navy stationed in CT. (I got that much info from Bob Johnson, who took the trade in and then bought the car from Scuncio to turn it into a drag car)
After contacting the dealer that was now occupying the space the original dealer was, and finding out they didn't have any records from the old dealer, that search ended.
Fast forward to when the NCRS offered the reports. I sent in my $50, (which I now believe is $60) and low and behold, I got my report stating my Z28 was originally shipped to and sold out of a dealership in Tennessee. Yup, the first LEO gathered report was totally wrong.
I had somewhere to look now. I decided to run an ad in the Tennessee Craigslist under the "wanted" section looking for the original owner of a Le Mans Blue 68 Z28, bought new at Varnell Chevrolet Company, or anyone who remembers the dealership, the car, etc....
I continually renewed the ad and got lots of emails from people who read it, trying to help with advice like checking the DMV. Running the VIN on online VIN decoders, etc....all stuff I had tried already. Some did say they remember the dealer, an few thought the remembered seeing the car in the show room.
Then one day, after years of running the ad, a guy named Harold messaged me and said he still lives in the town, knew the dealer ship , and knows a local mechanic named Monk that used to work there doing new car prep, and said he will contact him. Sure enough, the guy remembered the car. It was originally ordered by a guy named Ernie who grew impatient for it to come in, so found another yellow Z28 at another dealership. When my car arrived, another man maned Larry bought it, and incidentally traded in a black 67 Camaro that this Monk gentlemen bought and still owns today.
Monk also knew Mrs. Varnell,...who was still living,..and knew the book keeper, and she told her when the dealership was sold, all the records were burned.
Harold kept giving me phone numbers, addresses, etc..of all parties involved, but before I could follow up on anything, he did,..lol.
Harold then found a woman named Sharon who ho had put together the local family history/ genealogy (Larry's family) If anyone can find our Larry, it will be her. She agreed to try to help. She said she thought she might know but would check to verify. She was excited when he told her about the 68 Camaro. She said she thought it was her husbands car since he owned one also but he had wrecked his and totaled it....obviously not my car.
Harold then tracked down Larry's brother, and confirmed Larry was in the Navy and was the owner of my Camaro,....and Harold began trying to contact Larry via two phone numbers but was getting no answer.
Harold got in touch with Larry, and he confirmed he was the original owner, and that's when Harold told me this,..."Incidentally, I am a retired criminal investigator so these things are hard to turn loose once you get involved."
I then finally got in touch with the original owner and he answered all the questions I had, and sent me, though email. the few photos he had from when he owned it.
Turns out when he bought it he was at home on leave from the Navel base in CT, did all the paperwork, payed for it, but had to go back to the base before the car was ready, so his wife drove it all the way from Tennessee to CT to him. Brand new Z28, 302, 4 speed,...what a woman.
I always wondered why the car had no stripes on it, and thought it was a stripe delete car because it had the "-" on the data tag representing "special paint", but turns out, he installed a cowl induction hood on it in 1970, and because of the sandy roads in CT beating up the lower sections of the car, he had the whole car painted minus the stripes. The special paint was the black Z28 stripes that were originally ordered on the car.
He traveled over the CT - RI line to Scuncio Chevrolet in 1972 and traded the car in for a Chevelle SS and that's where Bob Johnson, high performance manager and salesman, took ownership of it. He owned, raced and or sponsored the car until 1977, then it was raced by the next owner from 77 though 81,..1981 was when I bought it.
Getting a few pics of the car and talking to him, (he was a real motor head back then) finally filled in those 4 years of history before Bob Johnson owned and raced it.