Old Cars Weekly – 22 August 2019

4 ❘ August22, 2019

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EDITORAngeloVanBogart

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Hop in FROM THE EDITOR

Old Cars (ISSN 0048-1637) is published three times a month except four

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K

nowing the history of an old car or truck can improve a ve-

hicle’s value when it comes to sale time. Even for those like

me who are more interested in acquiring than selling, tracking

a car’s history can add one more layer of interest to enjoying

the vehicle.

It’s been a while since I have talked about tracking the history of a car,

but even though I haven’t been writing about it, I have been practicing it.

Eventually, I plan to use what I’ve learned to write an article to help others

trace the history of their car. I’ve had a few lucky breaks from others when it

comes to piecing together the past of our 1955 Cadillac Series 62 coupe. But

I couldn’t have done it without sharing the car with John Q. Public.

Several years ago, a gentleman approached my father while he was show-

ing our Cadillac at a cruise-in. The man, Jay Sletten, said he thought our

car had been owned by his uncle in 1980. Sletten and my dad swapped ’

Cadillac stories and since the stories jibed with each other, Sletten contacted

his uncle, Sherwin Linton, who still had a picture of the 1955 Cadillac he

once owned. Sure enough, the Minnesota license plate pictured in the 1980

photo matched those on the car when we bought it. Linton thought he might

still have the California plates that were with the car when he bought it. Just

a few weeks ago, he found them and mailed them to us.

In the meantime, I had posted pictures of our Cadillac on a Facebook

page for unrestored “survivor” cars. A member of the Facebook group said

his aunt in California used to buy 1-year-old Cadillacs from a General Mo-

tors executive there. In 1956, she bought a 1955 Cadillac coupe that matched

our unusual yellow-and-black car down to the green interior. We know from

GM records that our car was a “factory car,” meaning it had been built for

use by someone at GM. Could it be the same car? The Facebook member is

still looking through his aunt’s numerous slides for an image of her

old ’55 Cadillac. Perhaps its California plates will match those

that werewiththe Cadillac when Linton bought it and

thatarenowin our possession.

Wecouldn’t have learned this much about our Ca-

dillacbyleaving it in the garage. By putting your ve-

hicleoutinto the real world and in the cyber world,

youcanhelp track its history. Even when you hit a

deadend,the leads can come to you — but those peo-

plewithconnections to your vehicle need the chance

tobeexposed to it. It’s just one more excuse to get

outand enjoy your vehicles at shows or even

inthe computer world. After all, that’s why

they were built!

Angelo Van Bogart, Editor

When John Q. Public

knows more than you