Previous Owners

[Dano 1]

Has anyone stayed in touch with the previous owner(s) of their cars? When I bought my Charger the seller asked if I would let him know how the car was every once and a while and maybe send a picture or two when I get it back on the road. Is this something anyone has done before, and if so how did it go?
If you saw my intro thread then you know I got my car at a considerable bargain so I would hate to reach out to the guy in good faith and have there be sellers remorse or other bad feelings. I have a title clean and clear so there's nothing he could legally do I'd just hate to try and do something nice and end up paying for it. He was disappointed he had to sell the car but knew it was the right thing to do, and really wanted it to go to a good home. I'd like to be able to let him know it wasn't flipped/resold and that it went to the best possible home.

[LeesRT]

I recently contacted the previous owner of my car.  I hadn't talked to him since July 26, 1983 (the day I bought the car).  To say the lease, he was blown away that the car still existed.  He had always wanted to find it and buy it back.  He knows I'm not interested in selling it, and he's ok with that.  He's found a replacement to what he once had.  He's found a 1969 Charger R/T body that was an original 426 Hemi, 4-speed car, and he's going to build it the way he wants to have it.  The reason I even contacted him was to see if he was still around and into Mopars, and if he knew what happened to my original power train.  We have since become good friends and will be helping each other with parts that we both need for our cars.  It turns out he has my original 4-speed and Dana, and that I have parts he needs so we can do some trading.  He even knows what happened to my original engine.  He put it in one of his other cars (1970 Plum Crazy Challenger R/T), white stripe car that he sold to some guy in New Mexico in the 1990s.  It's been fun reconnecting with this guy.  My experience has been a positive one when contacting previous owners.

[chargerperson]

I met the previous owner of my car at the Carlisle show as he goes every year.  I bought the car in 2000 and it was at Carlisle in Building T as part of the 50th anniversary of the Dodge Charger.  When he owned the car he was a young kid who didn't have the funds to really upgrade the car.  He was pretty excited to see the work completed on the car.

[42TIM]

Has anyone stayed in touch with the previous owner(s) of their cars?

Yes, and it is great to share pictures and memories: his kids in my car, like 20 yrs ago. Now it's my kids in 'his' car. I was able to track the history back til 1999. Maybe 1989 cos as far as I know the car was stored in an old hangar for a decade or so. Everything earlier than 1999 is a blur but hey - I reckon it's okay.

Tim

[RECHRGD]

As of three weeks ago I am a previous owner.  So far we've stayed in touch and he has sent pictures.  I don't know how long that will last, but I do enjoy knowing how the old girl is doing.....

[smithenhiven]

I email the previous owner pics every now and then, he was a long term owner of the car for some 30 years, from the early 80s till a few years ago.  He always seems to appreciate seeing how the car is doing, so I suspect I'll keep in touch for years to come.

[cdr]

I am friends on Facebook with The guy that owned my Charger from 1974ish to the early 2000's & then the next owner the guy I bought it from in 2011. they both love seeing pictures.

[BDF]

I see the previous (original) owner frequently. He's my father! 

[Dano 1]

Great feedback guys, thanks! This makes me feel a lot better about reaching out to the PO when the time is right, the car is still a good ways away from being on the road again but I feel a lot better having heard everyone's positive stories.

[sean257]

After finishing ours, we found the original owner and took her for a ride while she told stories about it.

I wrote about our whole Charger experience on our family website.
http://normalfam.com/index.php/2017/12/01/1970-charger-rt/

[Dano 1]

That's awesome, Sean, really cool story.

[Bronzedodge]

I see the original owner of my Charger regularly also.  He worked w/ my day, the car was driven daily to Sparrows Point where they were Steamfitters together.  I still see him every few months, clean his boiler in the fall, etc.  He enjoys hearing about his car's trips to Carlisle and local cruises.

[c00nhunterjoe]

I know the last 2 owners of my 69 taking it back to the early 80s. Never looked any further back. I know the history of the 63 dodge and the 72 nova back to the beginning.

[Johnnys440Charger]

I'm in Toronto Canada.   I have kept in contact with my previous owner via facebook.  I would love to contact the owner prior to him.   I think he has my original 440 engine.   
The previous owner has lost track of him.   The ministry of transportation records only go back to the previous owner back to 1980.   I would love to know the story about my car and engine prior to that. 

[Dano 1]

Sounds like everyone has had positive experiences which is great. Once my car is further along I'll reach out to the PO and see how it goes. I would like to know if he can remember any more details about who he got the car from, we didn't get into it when I bought the car but it sure would be cool to track down the ownership even farther back.