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Camaro Research Group Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: 69Z28-RS on October 23, 2016, 05:28:22 PM

Title: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: 69Z28-RS on October 23, 2016, 05:28:22 PM
When I purchased my '69 in April 1976, I learned about the prior owner (before the seller), but when contacting that prior owner who had purchased the car (almost new) for his 16 yr old daughter, I found out almost nothing... he either didn't remember, or didn't care about passing anything along... so after 40 yrs, I tried again earlier this year and found out that 'father' had passed, but found a son who had the same name.   As it turned out, I'd never been able to locate/talk to the daughter owner, but in talking to the son (also a car nut) he told me many stories about his sister having the car, her having a bf who was a car nut and camaro owner, and himself (a Mustang owner) and all their attempts to set up races between all the cars, until their father put a stop to that! :)   But he also remembered where the car had been purchased (local Chevy dealer at the time), AND that the original owner was a young policeman!   So since then, I've been trying to identify a policeman contact who had been on the force in the 1970 timeframe!   Well, this week, I found one, who is also a car nut, and who still consults with the HPD... after talking to him yesterday morning, he spent the day calling a dozen of his old contacts...  he told me last night that he WOULD find the original owner for me!  (although it's a possibility that the orig owner passed away earlier this year)..   I've sent him photos of my car to help 'old memory recollections'.. :)   Besides identifying the original owner (a huge goal of mine for  along time), I'm also holding a tiny hope that one of those owners *might* have hung onto the PTP...  :)

So THIS has been a good weekend, that has me smiling today, in spite of my soreness from setting fence posts yesterday!

and Darrell:  How was that Texas A&M game yesterday??   Another reason to smile?  :)
Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: janobyte on October 23, 2016, 11:59:08 PM
Pretty cool when you talk to the person who ordered the car. I spoke with Bill last, around 6-7 years ago I'm guessing, lost track of time. He's not that old, maybe 70 at most. He's a bit of a "fast talker" and I've since not made contact. None the less, going to call him this spring to get a few pics of him with the Z in it's current stage. Last we spoke he offered to write up some history of the car when he owned it.
Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: maroman on October 24, 2016, 12:55:12 AM
I know the original owner of my car even though I'm about the 11th owner. Related story to your owner being a girl, there used to be an AC Cobra in Harrisburg owned by a girl.  She used to cruise the circuit. She had a licence plate on the front that said "if you can beat me you can e-t me". I often wondered if she left it on when she went home.
Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: 6667ss138 on October 24, 2016, 01:31:44 AM
Congrats, Gary!!
I know we were thrilled when we tracked down the original owner or our 69Z. He didn't have the POP but was kind enough to send us an original polaroid from shortly after he had purchased it new along with some stories and a signed/notarized original owner history document.
Keep us posted!
Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: 69Z28-RS on October 24, 2016, 12:16:58 PM
I know the original owner of my car even though I'm about the 11th owner. Related story to your owner being a girl, there used to be an AC Cobra in Harrisburg owned by a girl.  She used to cruise the circuit. She had a licence plate on the front that said "if you can beat me you can e-t me". I often wondered if she left it on when she went home.

Some gals are "fast" in multiple ways...    :)
Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: motorman on October 26, 2016, 08:23:30 PM
why would any original owner want to get involved after what happened to me on my Z/28 ???
Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: JKZ27 on October 27, 2016, 09:55:28 AM
Gary, I hope you find the original owner. I learned a lot about my car when I talked its original owner, most importantly why it was ordered the way it was. Good luck, man!!
Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: 69Z28-RS on October 27, 2016, 01:03:21 PM
Thanks John... Yesterday was a good one with some progress...  I spent quite a while talking to the lady who had owned my car from 25 May 1973 (her sixteenth birthday) until Jan 1976, and it was great to hear her excited to learn that 'her camaro' was still around.  I sent her some photos of it now, and she's promised to send me some from when she owned it.  She also told me her parents had *never thrown anything* away, and she has a couple of barrels of paperwork of theirs she needs to go thru... I told her about the possibility of a PTP... and I'm hoping....  :)

I also spoke again with the policeman who has been querying other retired HPD officers to figure out which one of them owned my car originally...  He definitely recognized the car from the photos I sent him, so I think that is just a matter of time.

After 40 yrs of having 'given up' on all that, what I've learned this past week has been very encouraging about finding more info from the first couple of years of my Camaro's history!
Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: bcmiller on October 27, 2016, 02:27:31 PM
Nice that you found some more history on it Gary.  I bet those previous owners would really appreciate a ride in the car now.
Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: 69Z28-RS on October 27, 2016, 06:22:10 PM
Nice that you found some more history on it Gary.  I bet those previous owners would really appreciate a ride in the car now.

:).. Yes, a ride they will get.. and if someone comes up with the PtP, they will get to drive it too...  :)
Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: BULLITT65 on October 27, 2016, 06:38:59 PM
Thought it was all apart? how soon would they driving it?? ;D
Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: 69Z28-RS on October 27, 2016, 06:48:56 PM
 ::)  with sufficient incentive, it could be back together in short order..  :)
Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: 69Z28-RS on October 28, 2016, 02:08:48 AM
I received an email with additional information on the car today; She told me that 'its name is Lucy!'...  Noooo, I can't call my car Lucy!~   :) :) :)   

But she did say she had pix and would look for more photos and documents this weekend..  :)   If she finds the ProtectoPlate, we'll call it whatever she wants!  :)
Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: 6667ss138 on October 28, 2016, 02:24:52 AM
Here's Lucy!!   ;D

Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: 69Z28-RS on October 28, 2016, 02:40:35 AM
THAT Lucy is a 'hugger orange' too..  :)
Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: BULLITT65 on October 28, 2016, 03:38:10 AM
Well calling it Lucy reminds me of GONE IN 60 SECONDS... so you can't go wrong with that reference, since you ended up with the car.
and actually with your fleet of "ladies" you could film the movie right out of your own garage.. 8)
Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: 69Z28-RS on October 28, 2016, 03:19:56 PM
I just received an email response to an email I sent the lady owner (who owned my car in the early '70's when she was 16-18 yrs old)  that I thought might make most of us men smile (or grimace?).. :)   This was after she had told me that she named it 'Lucy' at the time...


Me: "And I always thought it was a 'boy car'..      I guess I'll have to call her 'Lucy' from now on… 
I will greatly appreciate anything at all that you can find on the car..  Feel free to call or email anytime."


Her Response:  "Oh no…with that sassy look and that bad attitude   …..you know it had to be a woman..lol  "

She may be right at that!  :)

Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: BULLITT65 on October 28, 2016, 03:55:43 PM
Hey good luck. Even though I got a plethora of docs and the Protect-o-plate, I was hoping the original owner or a family member would have snapped one pic of my car over the 38 years that he owned it, so far no results. Hard to believe. I am looking forward to seeing the pics of your car that turn up.
Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: 69Z28-RS on September 18, 2017, 05:12:36 PM
Well.. today I was driving by the workplace for the early owner of my Z28, so I stopped by.   Last time I talked to her on the phone, she told me she'd been sick and had not had time to search for early photos or docs..   So when I stopped by today it was the first time I'd met her face to face.. after introducing myself, she started towards her office and told me.. 'I found a photo'... (actually she had found 3, but they were small - instamatic type - from 1973, so the quality is not the greatest, but she allowed me to bring the photos home with me to scan...  Photos are attached below. 

Her father purchased the car for her 16th birthday - 25May1973.  I suspect a couple of these photos date to that date, but one is obviously like a Prom photo, so it was probably a few months later.  She sold the car in early 1976 after she got married; I traded for the car right after she sold it in April 1976.  Although these photos are not perfect, I'm very pleased to finally get some early photos of the car..  :)
Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: Z28Project on September 18, 2017, 06:01:17 PM
Great to get those pictures!  She doesn't look the type to be rowing the gears on a Z28, but kudos to her for enjoying a car like that. 8)

First pic looks like header mufflers as the only exhaust.  I used to roll that way with mine in the 70's.  A high comp, solid lifter engine sounds really good like that.
Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: BULLITT65 on September 18, 2017, 07:11:18 PM
Very cool Gary. Is it me or does the car look like it is sitting extra high in the rear on that second pic?
Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: 69Z28-RS on September 18, 2017, 07:55:27 PM
Great to get those pictures!  She doesn't look the type to be rowing the gears on a Z28, but kudos to her for enjoying a car like that. 8)

First pic looks like header mufflers as the only exhaust.  I used to roll that way with mine in the 70's.  A high comp, solid lifter engine

Yes..  after 44 yrs... getting anything is a treat.. :)     No, she doesn't... not in that photo, but I know from prior conversations with her and with her bf of the time, that they/he did some pretty serious street racing.  He owned a '69 Camaro BB 4-speed himself...  He told me he was never beat on the street driving Cindy's Z28.. :)   (explained why the engine needed some work when I got it..   including having had a rocker stud pulled out of the head sometime before I got it..

Yes, it does look like mufflers dumping right out of the headers in that photo...  I really can't recall the exact exhaust configuration when I purchased it, but I know it had headers (as 99% of Z28 did) and I bought/installed all new GM exhausts right after purchase.

She's 60 now, and was sure smiling as we talked about the car and what I'd learned about it and that it was essentially all original still today...  I promised her that I'd bring it by and take her for a ride when I got the engine back together.. :)
Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: 69Z28-RS on September 18, 2017, 07:58:01 PM
Very cool Gary. Is it me or does the car look like it is sitting extra high in the rear on that second pic?

I agree Austin....  I don't recall it having traction bars on the rear when I purchased it, but it may have had..?
Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: 6667ss138 on September 18, 2017, 07:59:50 PM
Gary that is super cool. Congrats!!
Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: 69Z28-RS on September 18, 2017, 08:01:38 PM
Gary that is super cool. Congrats!!

Yep.. :)   I'm still smiling.. especially since the earliest photos I ever took of the car was well after I quit driving it... sometime in the 80's...   I'm still hoping that she finds more... and possibly even the PTP...  :)
Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: Daytona Yellow 69 Z/28 on September 18, 2017, 09:55:47 PM
Very cool sir!!
Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: BillOhio on September 18, 2017, 11:35:46 PM
Great pictures Gary.
Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: 69Z28-RS on October 11, 2017, 02:48:43 PM
Thanks guys!  :)  I'm very glad to have those early photos (provided by Cindy - of her 'lucy' - as she'd named the car!).. :)

While CRG was down, I was rummaging thru moving boxes that I'd never unpacked (from 14 yrs ago!).. :)  and I did happen to find some prints I'd forgotten I had.   These were made in 1989 ... right after I removed the original engine (to install an LT1-350 I'd rebuilt) .  Sans engine - note how the front is sitting so high.. :)

Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: BULLITT65 on October 12, 2017, 02:00:54 AM
Never noticed the mud flaps before. Another thing our cars have in common.  Looks like your front bumper alignment was off some back then as well?
Title: Re: 'Closer' to identifying original owner of my Z28... :)
Post by: 69Z28-RS on October 12, 2017, 02:12:41 AM
Never noticed the mud flaps before. Another thing our cars have in common.  Looks like your front bumper alignment was off some back then as well?

Yes, it was... way off..  from the time I purchased the car, and I never aligned it... was too interested in going *fast/quick* to bother with bumper alignment!  :)