Vehicle history research

[Ronald67]

Hello everybody,

first of all let me introduce myself.
I am Ronald and a few weeks ago I made my dream come true and bought a Mercedes Pagoda 230 SL, Mj 1967 here in Germany where I am very happy with.

In order to bring some light into the dark I am trying to research for the vehicles history as the car has been owned by somebody unknown in Los Angeles in the 70th/ 80th.

The VIN of my car is: 113 042 12 019287.

I would be very much appreciated if you would help me to work out, who has been the vehicle owner at that point.

Anything else or any other contact names would be a big help also.

Is there any official car registration office in the US, which I could contact also?

This is of big interest for me as it is one important puzzle piece for the vehicles history.

Thank you very much in advance for your help

best regards from Germany,
Ronald

[KevinC]

Ronald,

Welcome to the clubs...both ownership and the group! When you have the chance, try the search tool for some of the questions that might come up. Of course, feel free to post too of you dont receive the answer you are looking for. I personally have never heard of a US car registration office here as registration is typically a function kept at the State as opposed to Federal government level. Further, historical "tracking" by VIN is relatively new here and our VIN numbers simply have too few characters for the system.

For some interesting details about your specific car and how it was delivered, search "Data Card" using the search tool.

Best of Luck with your SL. Interestingly our VINs are only 74 apart!

Kevin

PS: If I am incorrect on any of the above, someone will correct me for sure!   

[66andBlue]

Hello Ronald,
the same question was asked earlier this year by Dirk ("dirks1408") and he had some success receiving information from the California DMV:
http://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=16051.0
You might want to send him an email through the web site here and ask what he had done to get that far.
Good luck!

[twistedtree]

It can't hurt to try making a few calls, but I think you will find that DMV records are not public information, so you might not be able to get much.

[Ronald67]

it´s worth a try. I did send the request back to DMV and will see, what kind of information they will provide.
What other opportunities do you see in the US in oder to find out about the car history?
Any feedback is appreciated
cheers,
Ronald

[114015]

Best of Luck with your SL. Interestingly our VINs are only 74 apart!

That's not too much of a surprise.
I know the car (pretty well) which is one number ahead of mine, and also the car three numbers younger.
Also know the car 7 numbers ahead of mine but sadly (just) missed the car 4 numbers ahead.

Well, that's life...


Achim