Dealer Info

[Jere]

Hey, how do I find out where my 1968 Ghia was imported to and the dealer that 1st sold it?
Jere
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1965 Karmann Ghia Coupe
1967 VW Beetle Convertible
1968 Karmann Ghia Convertible

[sputnick60]

[Jere]

Just looked at its Birth Certificate and it just shows country destination. Which in my case is USA. Still not what I'm looking for. But thanks for the reply.
Jere
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1965 Karmann Ghia Coupe
1967 VW Beetle Convertible
1968 Karmann Ghia Convertible

[sjbartnik]

Unless you have the paperwork from the dealer, then no way to really ever know.
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1965 Volkswagen 1500 Variant S
2000 Kawasaki W650

[Jere]

My Ghia is an original black plate (California). It was last registered in 1984 and was located in the San Francisco Bay area. I finished my restoration and registered it in 2019. I was hopeful that our DMV would have and would release the previous registration info. But alas, not.
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1965 Karmann Ghia Coupe
1967 VW Beetle Convertible
1968 Karmann Ghia Convertible

[camfella04]

It is interesting the types of information that you can get and where. I live in Ontario Canada and for every used vehicle sold, you are supposed to get a "used vehicle information package" that contains all the information on the registration of the vehicle in Ontario. I was able to trace mine right back to when it arrived in Canada. Not all provinces have this in place.

Again in Canada, we have the ability to formally ask provincial departments through provincial Access to Information legislation for info. Usually takes some time to dig up the correct form and where to send it to, as well as you have to phrase your question correctly to get possibly get an answer.

Searching the California DMV https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/customer-service/req...formation/ types of information page, they collect "Examples of data maintained in our registration records are owner name(s), lien holder name(s), address, vehicle identification numbers, vehicle plate numbers, registration expiration date, make, and type of vehicle."

Have you tried this page for request: https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/customer-service/req...d-request/

Good luck! Sometimes it takes navigating the bureaucratic ocean to find what should be simple!

[Jere]

I appreciate your in-depth approach to search for the history of my Ghia. Unfortunately, I tried that approach with the DMV. It only showed when I registered it.
It was last registered in 1984. This was according to the sticker on the license plate. I bought it in 2002. It just sat in my barn until November 2017 when I started on the restoration. As I said it was an original black plate. So when I went to registered it I did it under YOM (year of manufacture) to insure that I could keep those plates. After all, they were the ones that came with the car.
I’m disappointed with the DMV. It was previously registered with them. Surely somewhere in their records it shows change of ownership. Normally I would just go to the local branch and ask but this COVID thing has prevented me from doing that, for now.
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1965 Karmann Ghia Coupe
1967 VW Beetle Convertible
1968 Karmann Ghia Convertible