Finding former owners?

[Tiki-Al]

anyone know how i can find a previous owner of my bus from years gone by?

It's only had one but in between it was owned by a trader who hasn't got any records of them.

It's an import so is from the US of A

Would be cool to know exactly where it came from etc.

Thanks

 

[birchyman]

i met the guy who owned mine for 31 years got his name off a engine receipt from 1977 and used the US
white pages to find address and phone number
first you need to know which state and which city and take it from there
do you have a name for them?

 

[Tiki-Al]

nah nothing, I might pester the dealer a bit more.

Do you think the DVLA might of been able to help? would make a change :mrgreen:

 

[giraffeinbath]

Clicky here :wink:


and ** THIS ** tells you all about it....

You'll receive photo copies of the previous registration documents. I got mine last year, Sunday evening I started drafting a letter to send to the previous owners to see if I can get any history or stories of previous times and places the van has had and been. Of course after 40 years there's every chance that some of the early owners may not be around anymore but I think even if their family picked up the letter they would find it pleasing to know that their loved ones old van is still on the road rather then finding it upsetting.

Fingers crossed, I'd love it if the original owner or their family would be kind enough to share a family photo of the van when it was new, how cool would that be!

 

[Tiki-Al]

Hi Giraffeinbath hows the cover

Do you think this will cover the USA though?

 

[giraffeinbath]

Hi Giraffeinbath hows the cover

Just the job cheers, snug as a bug....... :wink:

Do you think this will cover the USA though?

Ah bummer, I forgot yours was a US bus so I guess not. There must be a US equivalent to the DVLA though, I'm sure there must be someone on here with experience of trying to chase the history of a US bus.



cue useful answer from someone who knows what they're talking about.........

 

[Bookwus]

Hiya dub,

....... There must be a US equivalent to the DVLA though............

Each state over here has its own Department of Motor Vehicles. Rules and regulations regarding the licensing of motor vehicles vary somewhat from state to state in detail but generally they are much the same. One area in which most of the states do agree is the right to privacy. That means that the various DMVs will not release the names of previous owners. If you want to find the name of a previous owner you will most likely have to do so without any official cooperation.

 

[Benyon]

Clicky here :wink:


and ** THIS ** tells you all about it....

You'll receive photo copies of the previous registration documents. I got mine last year, Sunday evening I started drafting a letter to send to the previous owners to see if I can get any history or stories of previous times and places the van has had and been. Of course after 40 years there's every chance that some of the early owners may not be around anymore but I think even if their family picked up the letter they would find it pleasing to know that their loved ones old van is still on the road rather then finding it upsetting.

Fingers crossed, I'd love it if the original owner or their family would be kind enough to share a family photo of the van when it was new, how cool would that be!

I nearly replied with a similar answer to this yesterday!

I did this in August Giraffe and out of 12 previous owners, got 4 letters returned "No longer at this address", 6 no replies, 1 detailed reply for who I thought was the original owner (the DVLA had him as the first owner but he bought it 6 months old off a band leader - anyone heard of the Arthur Rowberry band?!), and more recently an email off a guy who restored the van in Swansea in 2000.

Not sure how many responses I was expecting, but was certainly useful to learn of some of the vans history, if only to know where it has lived!!

Anyway, good luck with your hunt for information!! Would be good to hear what you find out!

 

[sparkywig]

When I did this a few years ago, I put a stamped addressed envelope with each letter. Got replies to every enquiry.