The search for my '67 L78 Chevelle SS (New Info)

[L78fanatic]

I found some more paperwork in my Dad's files recently where he logged in the day I sold my '67...it was on July 14, 1970. No name of the buyer though.

I am wondering, now that I know the date of the sale, which was in Illinois, would it be easier to contact the DMV's of both IL & IN to request information on 1967 Chevelle's registered in the month of July 1970? I could also provide the VIN. Just a thought. It's been long enough surely they have some kind of records for new registrations, even that long ago. If I could get the buyer's name that way, my search could soldier on! I started looking seriously in the early 2000's and when I joined the Chevelle Forum in 2007. I subsequently found the original order paperwork (when I walked into the dealer and ordered it) and the window sticker but no name of the buyer. My Dad kept good records but back in the day you simply handed the buyer the title and signed off as the seller. Times were so simple in the good ole days!

It was so funny, the salesman didn't know what the L78 option was, until he did a little checking. He then said, "Well Johnny you know your stuff! Chevrolet only recently started allowing that option from the factory!" Don't let anyone tell you the L78 was a dealer installed option...WRONG!

 

[Shovelrick]

Since you have the VIN it should be possible to find out where the car is unless some Privacy type act won’t allow the DMV to tell you, for a cpl months in 1979/80 I repoed cars and use to go to the post office to get the registered owners new address, Not OK anymore

 

[L78fanatic]

Since you have the VIN it should be possible to find out where the car is unless some Privacy type act won’t allow the DMV to tell you, for a cpl months in 1979/80 I repoed cars and use to go to the post office to get the registered owners new address, Not OK anymore

I agree but it been over 50 years ago. I’m not asking for the current owners name so maybe it’s at least worth a try.

 

[Alwhite00]

If it was sold in Illinois in 1970 there is a very good chance it's been made into soup cans a couple times over.

 

[Derek69SS]

There's a Facebook page called "Lost Muscle Cars"
The guy who runs the page does real research into finding the cars. It's the same guy who wrote the "Lost Muscle Cars" book.

With the VIN, he may be able to help. I'm not sure how he's doing it, but he's VIN searching a lot of these cars.

 

[Shovelrick]

Having the VIN gives you possibilities anyway, like said might be soup cans, might be parts of other 67’s, might still be around

 

[L78fanatic]

There's a Facebook page called "Lost Muscle Cars"
The guy who runs the page does real research into finding the cars. It's the same guy who wrote the "Lost Muscle Cars" book.

With the VIN, he may be able to help. I'm not sure how he's doing it, but he's VIN searching a lot of these cars.

That's interesting! I could be wrong, but if you know the right police officer they can access a database basically anywhere in the country!

 

[L78fanatic]

If it was sold in Illinois in 1970 there is a very good chance it's been made into soup cans a couple times over.

Likely what happened to it, I agree. Especially under the circumstances. I was about to be drafted during Vietnam & quit college, and I'd owned the car from new in '67 but I wasn't in the right frame of mind...so I sold it for $1,700 and that was basically 1/2 of the price new and after owning and customizing it with numerous wheel & tire combos, took a trip to Florida for spring break in '68 (4.10 posi rear end too boot!), etc. How was I suppose to know I had one of only 612 L78 Chevelle SS's made in '67?

I do recall the guy coming over with his son...Dad was buying him a car (I think he was 16...but he looked like a child).....my Chevelle was a smokin fast car complete with Mickey Thompson Super Scavenger Headers (I know now that it was likely pumping out well over 450 hp! And, get this, it only had drum brakes! I just hope the kid didn't kill himself, but it's highly likely he wrecked it because it was a handful if not careful! Ask me how I know? It had a 10,000rpm Sun Super Tach on it and that solid lifter engine would rev to the moon! I only broke 2 or 3 valve springs during ownership (a known weakness)....carried a kit with me in the car just in case to change out a broken spring! You could hear them go....so destroying the engine is another likelihood if in the wrong hands. I was actually pretty easy on the car, as I knew it was fast & I knew how to drive it. The 4.10 posi, 4-speed and all that horsepower made for a perfect combination! It was even legal to run slicks on the street back then, so of course I had to try that too! And, oh the wonderful sound of those solid lifters...nothing like that trust me!

It would be fun to find it regardless.

 

[cheveslakr]

I can hear and feel the vibes while reading your post. Add a short and unrestricted exhaust behind those scavenger headers and I can only imagine all that at the control of a kid.
Back before 9/11 I got the full history on my '69 and it was probably 30 pages deep, virtually every dmv transaction and more than a half dozen owners......addresses and even a couple phone numbers early on. Big bonus. You can still run a check through dmv to see the latest entry, just no specifics of ownership. Forgive my ignorance if you've already done any of this.

 

[Nashville Cat]

Likely what happened to it, I agree. Especially under the circumstances. I was about to be drafted during Vietnam & quit college, and I'd owned the car from new in '67 but I wasn't in the right frame of mind...so I sold it for $1,700 and that was basically 1/2 of the price new and after owning and customizing it with numerous wheel & tire combos, took a trip to Florida for spring break in '68 (4.10 posi rear end too boot!), etc. How was I suppose to know I had one of only 612 L78 Chevelle SS's made in '67?

I do recall the guy coming over with his son...Dad was buying him a car (I think we was 16...but he looked like a child).....my Chevelle was a smokin fast car complete with Mickey Thompson Super Scavenger Headers (I know now that it was likely pumping out well over 450 hp! And, get this, it only had drum brakes! I just hope the kid didn't kill himself, but it's highly likely he wrecked it because it was a handful if not careful! Ask me how I know? It had a 10,000rpm Sun Super Tach on it and that solid lifter engine would rev to the moon! I only broke 2 or 3 valve springs during ownership (a known weakness)....carried a kit with me in the car just in case to change out a broken spring! You could hear them go....so destroying the engine is another likelihood if in the wrong hands. I was actually pretty easy on the car, as I knew it was fast & I knew how to drive it. The 4.10 posi, 4-speed and all that horsepower made for a perfect combination! It was even legal to run slicks on the street back then, so of course I had to try that too! And, oh the wonderful sound of those solid lifters...nothing like that trust me!

It would be fun to find it regardless.

How did the salesman ever let you order that car without disc brakes ?
My 66 had drums, but discs weren't available in 66 !
Why would GM sell that car with drum brakes ?
BTW, my present 67 SS had drum brakes. But it definitely wasn't a 375 hp model

 

[L78fanatic]

How did the salesman ever let you order that car without disc brakes ?
My 66 had drums, but discs weren't available in 66 !
Why would GM sell that car with drum brakes ?
BTW, my present 67 SS had drum brakes. But it definitely wasn't a 375 hp model

Well, I was only 17 and honestly, all I wanted was a 4 speed, 4.10 posi & the 375 hp (yeah right...he he) engine.

My Dad had bought cars from the dealer over the years and I ended up working there one summer in the Parts Dept! Loved it!

The salesman was a good guy just not a car guy if you know what I mean. The L78 was very unique and being released late in the production year, and only enthusiasts and a handful of dealers, like Nickey, were on top of things & new releases.

Also, I ordered power steering but had limited funds (borrowed from my Dad), so buying disc brakes didn’t even occur to me...they were new in ‘67 anyway. Would have been money well spent but I wanted that engine!!!!!!

I will never forget ordering that car. Sold my ‘55 Chevy with a new 327 that I installed all by myself....I miss that one too but it was a 4 door.

 

[Derek69SS]

That's interesting! I could be wrong, but if you know the right police officer they can access a database basically anywhere in the country!

They can, but none of them seem to be willing to risk their job to do it anymore.

 

[Chevelle_Nut]

They can, but none of them seem to be willing to risk their job to do it anymore.

If you contact the DMV can they not do a search to at least say if the VIN exists? BUT if it is in some field somewhere for 10 years unregistered it may have dropped out of the system.

 

[Shovelrick]

If you contact the DMV can they not do a search to at least say if the VIN exists? BUT if it is in some field somewhere for 10 years unregistered it may have dropped out of the system.

Or one of those cars that “I’m gonna restore that someday”

 

[Shovelrick]

I registered my 68 as soon as I got it home before any $ went into it just to make sure no problems with title getting into my name but I know a few guys that have projects for years WO changing the title into their name, Not good IMHO

 

[Chevelle_Nut]

I ran into an issue with a boat trailer title. The previous owner had a signed totle from that previous owner. Before I could register it, he had to title it, get the title back, assign it to me and then I could register it. I always get titles in my name ASAP.

 

[Derek69SS]

If you contact the DMV can they not do a search to at least say if the VIN exists? BUT if it is in some field somewhere for 10 years unregistered it may have dropped out of the system.

I think they can, but they're not allowed to share the info.
I know my brother had one that the girl at the counter turned the screen towards him and looked away while he leaned over and jotted down the name.

I don't think they can get into the national database though, just the state's, and it had to be registered recent enough to be in the computer.

 

[Shovelrick]

I got a deal on a 72 Sportster needing a lot of parts and No title in the mid 80’s and it sat in my garage for a few yrs then I decided to see about a title to put it back together instead of just using it for parts so went to the DMV around 88-89 and the gal gave me the last known registered owners name and address, she said send a Cert letter to the owner letting him know you want to title the bike, if you get the letter back Do Not open it bring it back here and we can then issue a new title which is what I did and sold the bike with a new title but don’t know if that happens anymore and Fl has some different types of laws on vehicles, both my Harleys I built myself and they have ASPT ( Assembled from parts) titles

 

[L78fanatic]

I think they can, but they're not allowed to share the info.
I know my brother had one that the girl at the counter turned the screen towards him and looked away while he leaned over and jotted down the name.

I don't think they can get into the national database though, just the state's, and it had to be registered recent enough to be in the computer.

I know for a fact that Illinois doesn't keep records with VINs beyond so many years back, because I wrote to the DMV back circa 2007 and they actually wrote me a response letter! But, I was thinking "now" about the registration records alone...they might have something on microfiche or such for back in 1970 for a particular month ("July"). Just seems like knowing the approx. date that the new owner registered the change of ownership might be in their system somewhere.

 

[PHX396]

Post on Lost Muscle Cars. Wes is a great guy who runs it. The 2nd owner of my 67SS posted on there on and only had the California black plate number in a picture of the car. He used that to get the vin and tracked the car to me in 2 days. I had no info on the car so it would pretty cool to get more information.