Looking for this 1989 Greenwood

[lost-1989]

Hello,

Wondering if anyone could offer some advice/direction here, please...

I grew up with different Corvettes around our house at different times...my dad was in the car business and there was always something interesting and fun in our driveway. Stories to tell and cars to remember, for sure. Short version, my dad passed away late last year and I'm looking for the 1989 Greenwood he owned from about 1993 - 2005. Somewhere in his stuff I'm guessing there are old records, but at the moment I unfortunately don't have the VIN. Is there a way to legitimately reverse-search back to the car/VIN with other information? State registrations/license plate he used? Have found some things online but they seem shady.

Car was delivered new to a guy in NY State, I think Long Island was where we went to pick it up. Then registered in Illinois when my dad owned it. Then in 2005 sold on eBay (they only now keep records for 2 years, so that's a dead end) and the buyer in 2005 came from, I'm pretty sure, Wisconsin. Buyer is the guy sitting in the driver's seat in my profile picture here. Car was a convertible, black on black on black leather, and 6 speed manual and an original/legit Greenwood built in 1989, I know my dad had paperwork records from Greenwood. Based on the production #s published, that's going to be a reasonably short list. I sent same inquiry to Nat'l Corvette Museum yesterday. I know it's not much (or likely enough) to go on at the moment, but figured it's worth posting here to see what kind of detective work others might recommend. Thanks so much.

(my dad also owned a 1953 that he bought for $1,000 in Ohio when he got out of the military in the late 50s. That one I found because I have the VIN, and some original paperwork/history on the car that I'd happily get to the owner if only Mecum Auctions would help...they're not. They sold the car in California but they've been unhelpful in me offering up the written records to whomever owns it...so if anyone knows where VIN # E53F001228 is today...let me know!)

 

[Tom Bryant]

I think your best bet is to search in your father's old paperwork for anything related to the car. Even a service repair order should have the VIN. Once you have that you will have a fighting chance of finding the car. As for the 53, many of these cars disappear into collections for many years at a time. A lot of these collectors don't follow forums or list cars in registries, so they are hard to locate. NCRS would have a record if it was ever judged. Contact the NCRS national judging chairman or list the docs you have in their orphaned docs forum.

Tom

 

[lost-1989]

I think your best bet is to search in your father's old paperwork for anything related to the car. Even a service repair order should have the VIN. Once you have that you will have a fighting chance of finding the car. As for the 53, many of these cars disappear into collections for many years at a time. A lot of these collectors don't follow forums or list cars in registries, so they are hard to locate. NCRS would have a record if it was ever judged. Contact the NCRS national judging chairman or list the docs you have in their orphaned docs forum.

Tom

I appreciate that, Tom, absolutely. Frustrating at the moment because my dad was a great record keeper, and I know there was a file on that car after the sale. I have his files on other family cars which came and went, including his other Vettes. So if it's just misplaced and shows up at some point then, like his other car folders, it'll have copies of his IL title and I can dig in from there.

Thanks for the advice on his old 1953. Mecum sold it and it dropped off the radar afterward. I have copies of my dad's (as the second owner) Ohio title/registration, some service records, even the sale documentation from the dealer he bought it from along with his loan documents (he paid $950 for the car).

 

[lost-1989]

I appreciate that, Tom, absolutely. Frustrating at the moment because my dad was a great record keeper, and I know there was a file on that car after the sale. I have his files on other family cars which came and went, including his other Vettes. So if it's just misplaced and shows up at some point then, like his other car folders, it'll have copies of his IL title and I can dig in from there.

Thanks for the advice on his old 1953. Mecum sold it and it dropped off the radar afterward. I have copies of my dad's (as the second owner) Ohio title/registration, some service records, even the sale documentation from the dealer he bought it from along with his loan documents (he paid $950 for the car).

Well...persistence! I found the VIN for this car I'm looking for. Ran across my dad's old IL registration tucked into a folder on another unrelated Vette. So, the 1989 Greenwood I'm looking for is:

1G1YY3183K5123338

So far I'm not getting much of anything searching the VIN online, have used multiple search engines. I ran a report on some site called Bumper.com, basically a competitor to Carfax I guess. Fairly worthless. Only thing it did show was, as I remembered it, the car did go up to Wisconsin when my dad sold it. There's a very generic notation on the Bumper report showing that the car was registered there in 2005 but that's it so far.

Wondering what others would recommend from here? What's my best course of action to unearth more specifics?

Thanks!