In today's market, documentation is a key aspect in determining the true value of your Corvette.  Documentation such as a tank sticker, a dealer invoice, or a protect-o-plate are key artifacts confirming the authenticity of the Corvette.

 

So what happens when your Corvette is not accompanied with any supporting documentation?  This article will provide you tips and tricks to tracing the full history of your Corvette when it does not have any supporting documentation. 

 

My 1978 Pace Car Corvette and 1967 Corvette had minimal supporting documentation when I started the search. As a result of my searches, I have the complete history of the 1978 pace car corvette back to its origins at Humberview Chevrolet and I have the history of the 1967 corvette back to 1970 (I am in arm's reach of the original dealership).  The 1978 pace car was a Canadian delivered vehicle and the 1967 corvette was an American delivered vehicle.  The historical tracking strategies are drastically different for Canadian vehicles versus American vehicles.

 

Canadian delivered vehicle historical search strategy:

 

Step 1: All Canadian delivered vehicles are recorded by GM Vintage Vehicle Services Canada.  GM Vintage Vehicle Services Canada offers a service that produces are report containing essentially all of the information contained on the original dealer invoice (and in most cases more information).  This report authenticates the state of your vehicle as it was when it was originally delivered to a Canadian dealership.  The following link provide more information about GM Vintage Vehicle Services: http://gm.ca/gm/english/shopping/parts/vintage

 

Step 2:  The state of the vehicle as it was delivered to the original dealership is only part of the vehicle's history.  Many owners wish to confirm the condition and mileage of the vehicle as it was passed from owner to owner.  Most provinces have the equivalent to a Used Vehicle Package which in Ontario documents the full ownership history of the vehicle.  Many owners keep records/receipts of work performed on the vehicle.  Most of these records/receipts have odometer readings.  These can be used to validated the odometer reading.

 

American delivered vehicle historical search strategy:

 

Unfortunately, our American friends do not have a service equivalent to the GM Vintage Vehicle Service Canada.  As a result, the search for the original dealership is much more challenging for US vehicles.  Through my experience, the search for the original dealership usually requires tracing the full history of the vehicle.  The vehicle titling services offered state by state vary greatly.  As a result, the search for the full history of your US vehicle requires quite a bit of patience and persistence.  As I mentioned, I was successful in tracking the ownership of the 1967 corvette from my dad back to 1970.  I would like to share a couple creative tricks I picked up along the way. 

 

Trick 1:  Most states have older records located in actual file folders or on Microfiche.  Most states will provide photocopies of titles, registration slips, etc..., with the information of the actual owner blacked-out for privacy reasons.  The documentation is useful in tracking the location, odometer reading, and condition of the vehicle historically.  My recommendation is to start with the last know state to which the vehicle was titled before it came to Canada.  The state title search will produce titles both in-state and out-of-state.  If the history of the vehicle takes you to a new state, simply continue the search within the new state.  Eventually, you will be able to trace the vehicle back to its original dealership.

 

Trick 2:  Offer the original dealership a bag of money for any documentation related to your vehicle.  The record keeping practices of dealerships vary dramatically and some of them may still have documentation related to your vehicle stored in some rafter of there facility.  Make it worth their while to look for the documentation because it will be worth the money if they find something.

 

Trick 3:  Some states may not black-out owner information if the owner is not located in-state.  That is, when an owner presents a title from another state to title the vehicle for the first time within the state, the personal information located on the out-of-state title may not be blacked-out.  As a result, you can use a variety of online facilities to locate the phone number of the historical owner.  The following are some sites I found extremely useful: http://www.whitepages.com, http://www.switchboard.com, http://people.yahoo.com, and http://find.intelius.com (pay-per service).   

 

We wish you the best of luck in your search for the truth!