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Who.Me? Samba Member

Joined: July 14, 2014 Posts: 2462 Location: UK (South)
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Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 5:19 am Post subject: Any Campbell, California locals? |
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Hi
This is going to be a long shot, I know, but I've been trying to trace the history of my single cab, but can only get as far as the previous owner.
The truck is a 56 (57 MY) dove blue single cab. Last owner in the US was Dave from Peninsula Automotive in Campbell California. He had it for several years and thinks he bought it from a local woman (he gave me a name) whose father owned it from new. Based on that, I'm reasonably certain it was local to Campbell all its working life, prior to being shipped to Belgium by Bob at BBT, from whom I bought it.
I've tried an internet search for matching names in Campbell and found only one, who I wrote to last month, but have heard nothing back (so I'm guessing they are either not the right person, or have moved away, or don't want to help).
Some pictures below, (some are mine, some I borrowed from the interweb) in case anyone thinks they recognise it and might be able to give me some leads.
The truck was given a cosmetic refurb/restoration at some point (bondo and paint on the outside) and the bed and treasure chest were sprayed with black bed-liner. Cuts in the rear panels show that hit had later oval lights for a while and they look to have been replaced during the resto with the post-57 lights that it has now. A picture on Streetview image from 2011 suggests that it had a window-mounted passenger side mirror at the time rather than a hinge-mounted one.
Prior to the resto it had some lower nose damage and a crease on the left flank ahead of the rear wheel arch. Since the resto, it's had a whack in the backside (bent engine lid).
The last US registration number was 68884S (don't know if the registration stays with a vehicle all its life or changes with the owner in California?)
I know it's a real long shot, but I live in hope that someone might recognise it from the pictures or the description and can give me some leads?....
(credit Peninsula Automotive from their Facebook photo streams)
This one shows the rear end damage...
(Credit BBT - sales photo)
The old side damage was where the crack in the bondo is on this picture and runs back as far as the front of the rear wheel bucket...
(Credit BBT - sales photo)
(as it sits today)
Thanks
Andy |
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Red Fau Veh Samba Member

Joined: September 07, 2012 Posts: 3037 Location: Prescott Az.
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Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 7:51 am Post subject: |
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I can't see why this would be hard, it shouldn't take more than a few hours before someone that knows that bus speaks up.  _________________ 1971 Deluxe Sunroof Bay 1905 stroker, dual idf40's, 74mm Scat forged crank, engle 110 cam. CB 044 heads, AutoCraft rockers, chromoly push rods
1973 Orange transporter stock type 4 with dual 40 Dellortos and Empi single quiet pack
1969 Adventurewagen blue whale Gene Berg 1776 built by Dave Kawell dual 36 DRLA's, Vintage Speed exhaust, Bosch 019 screamer
1961 Swivel Seat camper, L345 grey
Touch Nicks Thing wrote: |
Swivel Seat panels are for people with no friends  |
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hoss Samba Member

Joined: May 01, 2003 Posts: 788 Location: San Jose, CA
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Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2015 1:36 pm Post subject: |
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Glad to see this truck pop up somewhere. I was wondering where it went. _________________ '54 Kombi | '57 356 Coupe | '57 Samba | '62 Notchback | '63 Beetle (36k Original Miles) | '66 Pigalle Sunroof Squareback | '70 Westy |
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Who.Me? Samba Member

Joined: July 14, 2014 Posts: 2462 Location: UK (South)
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Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2015 5:50 am Post subject: |
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hoss wrote: |
Glad to see this truck pop up somewhere. I was wondering where it went. |
Sorry missed this post. Any ideas about its history prior to Peninsula Automotive?
I'm also interested in any pictures while it was with them. Have found a few on the internet, but it's interesting to see what changes happened when etc.
Thanks
Andy |
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Big Bill Samba Member
Joined: June 21, 2005 Posts: 1804 Location: Fortuna Calif.
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Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 7:39 pm Post subject: |
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Is the name Dave from Peninsula Automotive gave you Lois Grace?? She had a SC that was her Dads that looked alot like yours. |
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Who.Me? Samba Member

Joined: July 14, 2014 Posts: 2462 Location: UK (South)
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Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 11:22 pm Post subject: |
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Big Bill wrote: |
Is the name Dave from Peninsula Automotive gave you Lois Grace?? She had a SC that was her Dads that looked alot like yours. |
Hi Big Bill
I've sent you a PM.
Thanks
Andy _________________ Andy
Looking for info on my truck's history. Are you from Campbell California or nearby. Do you recognise it? ... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=636786 |
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Who.Me? Samba Member

Joined: July 14, 2014 Posts: 2462 Location: UK (South)
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Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2016 12:32 pm Post subject: Re: Any Campbell, California locals? |
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Think I've managed to fill in a couple of blanks on the history of my truck.
I'd tried Googling the name that Dave at Peninsula Automotive gave me a few times and had a likely address that I wrote to, but got no reply.
I Googled the address last weekend and remembered that Streetview has a timeline slider that allows you to look at older images.
The title that I got with the truck (sale from Dave to Bob at BBT) was dated October 2008. Streetview had images for October 2007 and April 2008, so I had a look and...
So I had a closer look...
And in later images it was gone.
Shiny blue bullet-indicator truck with black bedliner outside the likely address before the date on Dave's title document. Looks like a match and looks to confirm what Dave had said about how he came by the truck.
Dave also said that the woman who sold him the truck said it had been her father's from new. Some further Google searches suggested a likely name. Still don't know for sure what he might have used it for, but what info I found online makes me think it was a personal vehicle, rather than used for a business, which might explain how it survived so intact.
Maybe oneday I'll find out some more. _________________ Andy
Looking for info on my truck's history. Are you from Campbell California or nearby. Do you recognise it? ... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=636786 |
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Wade Samba Member

Joined: February 13, 2007 Posts: 127 Location: NorCal
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Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2016 2:23 pm Post subject: Re: Any Campbell, California locals? |
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Hello,
According to the Redfin real estate site, the house at that address hasn't sold since 1996, so it's likely that whoever lives there now either knows about your bus or is renting from someone who does. I google searched on the address and came up with some phone numbers. Have you tried just calling them?
Good luck with your search!
-Greg |
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BarryL  Samba Member

Joined: November 01, 2004 Posts: 14985 Location: Casa de Oro, California
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Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2016 6:36 pm Post subject: Re: Any Campbell, California locals? |
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It is simply stupendous that you got that far, even. |
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Who.Me? Samba Member

Joined: July 14, 2014 Posts: 2462 Location: UK (South)
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Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2016 6:16 am Post subject: Re: Any Campbell, California locals? |
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BarryL wrote: |
It is simply stupendous that you got that far, even. |
Thanks, I'm still plugging away.
My truck turned 60 on Saturday (8th Oct), so I decided to have a go at calling the lady who I'm sure owned the truck in 2007 and 2008 like Greg suggested. I'd not wanted to intrude as I wrote to that address last November and assumed the lack of response meant they had either gone away or didn't want to know.
After trying a couple of times and having it just ring out, I got a standard voicemail and left a message and my email address. No response yet, but I'm still checking every email alert on the off-chance. Not holding out much hope though.
This lunchtime, I tried a paid VIN Search through InstaVIN (a NMVTIS search). I wasn't sure if it take my payment or allow me to do a search as I'm not a US citizen, but they took my payment and it threw back two interesting results.
According to the search it was on the DMVs' books in Washington on 02/08/10 and in Ohio on 05/17/90. The Washington record says that it was a classic car and mileage exempt. The Ohio record says that the odometer reading is not the actual reading. No other info.
Washington only keep records for six years, so I'm kicking myself for not trying this earlier. I'm going to email them anyhow in case they purge records at the end of each year, rather than on the fly. Not sure what the situation is with Ohio though (can any Ohioans reading this confirm?).
The searches I've done to date suggest that the lady I tried calling lived in Seattle Washington at some point, but the above dates don't make sense. The streetview images show the truck in Cambell CA in 2007 and 2008 and the title that I have says it was sold to the last US owner in Campbell in October 2008.
I haven't found any connection to Ohio through names associated with the above though.
Not sure how much faith to put in the VIN Search.
Edit to the above - The Ohio DMV record was accessible online. It says it's for a 1966 Frolic travel trailor. So that's another dead end  _________________ Andy
Looking for info on my truck's history. Are you from Campbell California or nearby. Do you recognise it? ... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=636786 |
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Who.Me? Samba Member

Joined: July 14, 2014 Posts: 2462 Location: UK (South)
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 3:32 am Post subject: Re: Any Campbell, California locals? |
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Edited to tidy up, as Everett has kindly added the Gallery links into the original post. _________________ Andy
Looking for info on my truck's history. Are you from Campbell California or nearby. Do you recognise it? ... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=636786
Last edited by Who.Me? on Mon Jan 01, 2018 10:46 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Clara  Samba Member

Joined: June 14, 2003 Posts: 12541
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 8:07 am Post subject: Re: Any Campbell, California locals? |
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A 57 truck has a VIN something like 267 548
If a travel trailer has the same VIN, maybe it could come up on the search.
If it was in Seattle in 2010, try contacting the Cascade Kombis, as the owner might be a member.
You can call the WA state DMV on the phone. They will tell you if the vehicle is in the system, but won't tell you much about it. But it could clear up confusion about if the was in WA, like if the vehicle listed with the VIN was actually for a VW truck, rather than some other make & model
WA does have a program where you can register the vehicle as a classic car. After it is registered as a classic, you do not have to pay tags again. I have not paid for tags on my 53 since the nineties. Think we registered the 56 westy as a classic before 2009.
I would hope they don't purge the records of the classic cars.  |
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Who.Me? Samba Member

Joined: July 14, 2014 Posts: 2462 Location: UK (South)
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 10:09 am Post subject: Re: Any Campbell, California locals? |
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Clara wrote: |
A 57 truck has a VIN something like 267 548
If a travel trailer has the same VIN, maybe it could come up on the search.
If it was in Seattle in 2010, try contacting the Cascade Kombis, as the owner might be a member.
You can call the WA state DMV on the phone. They will tell you if the vehicle is in the system, but won't tell you much about it. But it could clear up confusion about if the was in WA, like if the vehicle listed with the VIN was actually for a VW truck, rather than some other make & model
WA does have a program where you can register the vehicle as a classic car. After it is registered as a classic, you do not have to pay tags again. I have not paid for tags on my 53 since the nineties. Think we registered the 56 westy as a classic before 2009.
I would hope they don't purge the records of the classic cars.  |
Thanks Clara. The Washington result must have been a travel trailer with a matching VIN. Since I made that post I've found photos of the truck online that confirm it must have been with the last US owner in California in 2010.
I emailed Washington DMV before I'd confirmed that and their reply confirmed that they purge records automatically. I'm not surprised though - retaining information for longer than necessary for their original purpose causes Data Protection issues and the ongoing liabilities can be onerous. I deal with information security at work. If they purge records automatically, they can't be made to spend time searching for them to support legal cases etc. _________________ Andy
Looking for info on my truck's history. Are you from Campbell California or nearby. Do you recognise it? ... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=636786 |
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TomSimon Samba Member
Joined: January 13, 2004 Posts: 751
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2020 10:45 am Post subject: |
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Big Bill wrote: |
Is the name Dave from Peninsula Automotive gave you Lois Grace?? She had a SC that was her Dads that looked alot like yours. |
That's exactly whom I was thinking of, Lois Grace, a super nice lady, at one time she was a fixture in the Golden Gate Chapter of the VW Club of America (The club that puts on the famous Kelly Park meet, San Jose CA). I met her back in the late 1980's I think, when I was somewhat active in the club.
If I recall the story correctly, it was in the family forever, her and her dad restored it together, I think? she named the truck Norman, Harold, or some name like that. If you walked up to chat, she'd give you the entire story.
I'd reach out to past club presidents Rick Spaun, Jon Peters, or real acive members back then Camencita Vallaro and Denise Flick, big Larry, or Speedwell Ray. Likely other long-time members from the club remember, Lois and her story are hard to forget. _________________ 2-time NASA Pro Racing Champion, Bonneville 130 Club and 150 Club Memeber, BRS Pro Gas racer |
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velvetgreen Samba Member

Joined: August 17, 2004 Posts: 2859 Location: Canada
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2020 11:37 am Post subject: Re: Any Campbell, California locals? |
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as I recall lois posted about her bus extensively in Old Bus Review (NEATO) might try searching old copies |
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mdege Samba Member

Joined: January 16, 2018 Posts: 1034 Location: Niederkruechten, Germany
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2020 11:41 am Post subject: Re: Any Campbell, California locals? |
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Back in the 90ies I met an elderly man with a truck just like yours at the Foothill College electronics flea market and some time (years) later at an electronics surplus place close to Moffet Field. He was a very nice fellow and we had nice talks when we met. Could have very well been the previous owner of you truck. _________________ - Michael
1965 21F: Restoration of a former '65 firetruck
1963 Typ3 Notchback project
1988 Multivan Magnum 112i
1984 Standard: My son wanted a bug for his first car
Last edited by mdege on Mon Apr 06, 2020 11:42 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Who.Me? Samba Member

Joined: July 14, 2014 Posts: 2462 Location: UK (South)
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2020 11:41 am Post subject: Re: Any Campbell, California locals? |
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Thanks both. I made contact with Lois in 2015. She still has (or at least had) her truck then. _________________ Andy
Looking for info on my truck's history. Are you from Campbell California or nearby. Do you recognise it? ... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=636786 |
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velvetgreen Samba Member

Joined: August 17, 2004 Posts: 2859 Location: Canada
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2020 11:42 am Post subject: Re: Any Campbell, California locals? |
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Just pulled out my July/August (1990!!) copy of OBR and Lois Grace's 1959 Single Cab "Vernon". Article says she was based out of San Jose, CA |
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Who.Me? Samba Member

Joined: July 14, 2014 Posts: 2462 Location: UK (South)
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2020 11:54 am Post subject: Re: Any Campbell, California locals? |
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mdege wrote: |
Back in the 90ies I met an elderly man with a truck just like yours at the Foothill College electronics flea market and some time (years) later at an electronics surplus place. He was a very nice fellow and we had nice talks when we met. Could have very well been the previous owner of you truck. |
It could have been. Starting with the info I was given by Dave at Peninsula automotive and adding information that I could get from online phonebooks, I was able to work out who I think the original owner was, assuming the story Dave was told was correct.
I think he was called Fred J Kuster and that he had been a teacher, although I think much younger kids.
I found old addresses in Campbell, Valley Springs, Los Gatos covering at least a few decades and his name came up in connection with some charity work in that area.
I tried writing to the most recent address, as well as his daughter's address that Dave gave me, but got no responses. _________________ Andy
Looking for info on my truck's history. Are you from Campbell California or nearby. Do you recognise it? ... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=636786 |
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bobrk Samba Member

Joined: March 07, 2002 Posts: 290 Location: Beautiful Downtown San Jose
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Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2020 12:48 pm Post subject: Re: Any Campbell, California locals? |
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Thought this pickup looked familiar. I took some pics of it on Highway 17 in San Jose in April of 2011.
Probably not helpful now, but I thought you'd be interested... _________________ 1959 Single Cab “Otto”
1500 single port | 1963 small nut/big brake transaxle | CSP Disc Brakes | dual circuit m/c | Deutsch Polster seats |
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