How to find your first car

[TastyBake]

I'm trying to look for the first car I ever owned.

I know if I had the vin I could use autocheck but I don't have any old papers. Is there another way? License plate? Based on owner?
The DMV said it can't recall based on owner names. Probably for security reasons which I respect.

Suggestions? I've been obssessed over this for several years.

[Brokinarrow]

Without the VIN I'd say you're SOL. Maybe if you took out a loan for it you could find the old loan papers, those would have the VIN... or old insurance papers maybe?

[The Stig]

Yea, without the VIN you're sort of stuck.

[steveo9043]

I'm in the same boat as you but I do have paperwork from the rebuilt trans with the vin on it. I was wondering how you actually find info so I will checkout autocheck.

Do you have ANYTHING? like old insurance cards or paperwork of any sort?

[TastyBake]

Never thought about insurance info. I'll go over my parents house today to take a peek as it was under their name as I was 16.

[G8GT4now]

What are your plans after you find it?

[TastyBake]

Go to see it if it’s not already owned.


History:
The car was a lemon when my parents bought it brand new so the warranty was used a lot. The binder of paperwork was huge. My dad loved cars until he got it because it was always in the garage on the ramp. Work light on the hood. Dad's leg's dangling with the sound of frustration.

But it was the car I grew up with and I share a ton of memories with it.
Dad teaching me to drive. Sitting in the back when a huge family incident occurred. Me and my dad working on it. I got my first strong sense of ownership, responsibility, and intimidation when it was handed to me. I used my lunch money all the time to fix it and started reading more on cars and how some components work. After 1.5 years, I had to get something else as the MPG was horrible and it could barely run. Gave it up in 1991.

It was an 1981 Lincoln MK VI with digital display (high tech back then), ornamental driving lights (Uber rare), auto lights,

The stats are sad and very laughable now. 130 HP/230 TQ, 14 MPG, 0.5 drag Coefficient.
But on occasion, I have dreams that I bought it and surprised my dad or it just being in the garage. 99% chance it was junked in 1991 by the dealer. But I just got to know what happened to it. Troubling me for years.

Here's the closest to what it looked like. Even in color.


Other pics just because. Not of the actual car.


Yea, we've seen this too many times.



It was always blinking "E" as it drank gas when we went up a hill.



This used to be relaxing to see on a quiet, summer night

[TOMS1SS]

Interesting topic.... For me I'm not sure I want to find my 92 Sun Bird. Its probably crushed in Chicago somewhere.

[TastyBake]

Update:

I went through my parents documentation. They have pretty old info but no luck finding the VIN. My father kept asking me why I wanted it. He probably thinks I'm going to unearth it.

I did I find VIN # to my brother's older car. Its a '77 olds w/ a 13 digital VIN so autocheck.com didn't like it. I'm curious about it as well but I'm very sure its in the crusher as it was towed off a lot some time ago.

The auto insurance it was under looks like its out of business so no such luck there.

My parents said they may have seen something years ago but they'll let me know.

Pretty much a dead end at this point.

[TastyBake]

I did find out some info on finding your old car.
http://the-lost-car-registry.com/phpbb/index.php

By law, I could hire a private investigator to pull DMV records of me. Probably won't go that route.

[IROCanSS]

OK... I can shed some light here.

Cliff's notes. Dad had a 89 IROC when I was a kid, sold it in 1991, I wanted it back. Took me 4 hours to find it.

First, call you insurance company, this is where I got the VIN. But you can have your dad, I assume it was registered to him, go to the DMV that it was registered at. They can give him the VIN. It should still be in there records if you sold it in 91.

Unfortunately, in 1971 they hadnt gone to the standardized VIN yet so its going to be a little more difficult.

I found the IROC by doing a VIN search on Carvax, finding the car in West Virginia. There was a title number provided on CarFax. I did an online records seach with the title number and found the owner. I bought the car 5 days later.

So... I suggest you first do whatever you need to do to get the VIN. Insurance or dad at the DMV are the best opotions. From there, just keep looking.

I got EXTREMELY lucky with mine. Best of luck to you.

[TastyBake]

The DMV stated once it leaves your hands, I couldn't get any info on the car. Even if the title belonged to me. They can only give me a title to a car I currently own. Its based on a 1994 privacy act.
http://the-lost-car-registry.com/resources.php

Unfortunately, the insurance company went out of business. It was bought by someone else and I'm WIP on contacting the new company now.

I know the VIN will be something like this. The first [x] is a constant and the 6-digit [xxxxxx] is specific to the car.
1MRBP95F[x]BY[xxxxxx]

At least its a 17 digit VIN. I tried some other cars like it and it does come up in carfax. So I just need to find the vin and I'm in business.