I am an old duffer now, but I had my dream ride when I was 18 in 1970 - a 1964 Oldsmobile 442 - first year for the muscle-car model. Yellow with a white top, black leather, 4-speed, 4-barrel, dual-exhaust, and all the engine any red-blooded boy could want. I averaged 6 mpg, but gas wax < 50 cents/gallon. And I looked darned GOOD behind the wheel! As a teen in the 70s, I was better at smokin’, drinkin’ and showing off my ride than making the payments, so I got way behind and had to sell or be repossessed. Now I would like to find the current owner of that specific car. Any '64 442 is a rolling goldmine if still on the road, and mine has probably become a crushed, square block of scrap metal. But I would pay to know. I don’t have a copy of the title or other source for the VIN number. Is there a source or service similar to Carfax that can find cars from a listing of former titled owners. Mostly, I would just like to know that somebody is still driving and loving my old ‘baby’.
The best idea I can give you is to check with the Oldsmobile Club Of America.
Good luck.
Just about impossible with no VIN or idea of what happened to it since you had it. You could look for various classic car clubs, but even then the odds are tiny. If it survived (big if) it may have been painted (several times). Sounds like a NICE ride, though!
If you run across a canyon copper 59 Pontiac with a white top in your travels let me know. I suspect though that it has been melted and transformed into heaven forbid a Prius by now. I don’t know of any way to trace the history. Even with the VIN, the information in Minnesota at least is not available to the public. Might want to just talk to the DMV on it and ask. If you could get a duplicate copy of the old title in your name, you could get the VIN and maybe try to trace it forward. That would have been pre computer though so I dought they are going to have much. Your insurance company would have had the VIN also but again don’t know why they wouldn’t have purged their records years ago.
if you find my dad s maroon 1966 olds 442, give me a shout…
Actually, maybe my friend has that maroon '66…
no way…
how is it? I know the block was cracked on my dads when he got rid of it.
actually, I was very young, I know the engine blew, I think the block was cracked
Was it a 2 door post?
it was a two door, but there was nothing between the front and back windows, i believe it was the late 1966 version. it was very powerful, it had 140 on the speedo and i saw it pegged once.
i m pretty sure it had a bench seat
he really took care of that car, and was heartbroken in about 1975 when it went up. he thought it was a valve or lifter making the noise because he had just checked the oil, and he drove it home,but apparently it had a sudden major oil leak and that was all she wrote. he got it new, i think he ordered it from the factory, when he left the navy
Without a VIN I think you’re facing a near impossible task. You might go online, search for a 442 Registry, and plead for help there. The odds of someone having a record going back 40 years are not very good.
You might check with your state DMV and if the stars are aligned correctly maybe they will have archives on this stuff and can match the VIN with your name.
Another possibility could be if your state has or had a vehicle inspection program back then. Again with the stars, maybe they have archived records.
Any old photos available with the license plate showing? Again, back to (hopefully) archives.
I was also going to suggest the DMV, also call your insurance company if still in business.
Unless you can come up with a VIN, your quest is hopeless…If you have maintained the same insurance company over the years, or can remember the name of the company that insured or financed the car when you had it, they MIGHT be able to retrieve the VIN…But that’s a real long-shot…
Maybe traffic records (both city and state) if any tickets were received on that car.
It does boggle the mind that an 18 year old with a muscle car would get any tickets though… 
I never got any tickets. Of course I had a 36 hp VW. I know where that one is for sure. Back in the 60’s my BIL had a nice 40 Ford and then he didn’t have it anymore. Last year I asked him if he knew where it was and he just said he had a pretty good idea. I think one of his less than upstanding buddies from 50 years ago just absconded with it and it probably in a barn somewhere. Even then it was a pretty nice cruiser and now would be great.
Hello there, I know it’s been a while since posting your comment. I just now joined and am currently starting my quest to find my muscle car I had in high school and had to sell it in 1993. I didn’t want to sell it but I couldn’t afford to put another motor in. I ended up hot digging one too many times and threw a main bearing and also slung a couple rods through the pan. I had a 1973 Camaro and could pretty much take anything around in a drag race but anything over 1/8 mile your 442 would catch up and pass.i had a 327 LT1 and the engine came from i believe was a 68 Corvette. The engine completely rebuilt to high performance… I had a turbo 350 trans with the shift kit was very tight and shifting into 3rd manually would still jerk you. I’d easily hit 140mph and be redlining well before the 1/8 mole run. The trans was geared low. Oh well to get past memory lane I don’t have my VIN either but I just found out that the tag number and state registered in my name before selling will get my VIN info from the DMV. I have pictures still with the tag on my old car. In going tomorrow to the DMV and with my drivers license to prove it’s me and I need a VIN number that was registered to the to me last in 1992 and present the tag number and the DMV in Texas will give me the VIN. I don’t know how your search went but if you have any old pictures with your 442 olds tag visible then you have a strong chance to find your old muscle car which by the way was an excellent car and was all motor straight from the factory. I’ll hopefully find out tomorrow about my old car.
Good point Even if an owner doesn’t remember the VIN of their beloved hot rod which they sold years ago, if they know its license plate number when they owned it, pretty good chance the DMV will be able to provide the VIN. The insurance company that insured it might have that info also.