New Jersey vehicle history
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Topic author - Posts: 373
- Joined: Tue Jun 25, 2019 8:00 pm
- First Name: Chris
- Last Name: Haynes
- * REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1921 Runabout
- Location: Camarillo. CA
- Board Member Since: 2019
New Jersey vehicle history
Is it possible to search a Model T's history in New Jersey?
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- Posts: 5412
- Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2019 4:56 pm
- First Name: Frank
- Last Name: Brandi
- * REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: Speedster (1919 w 1926)
- Location: Moline IL
- Board Member Since: 2018
Re: New Jersey vehicle history
You could try CARFAX but whatever you try will require a VIN number not just an engine serial number unless that was used & accepted as the VIN on the NJ Title.
VIN numbers are a single unique International identifier in a database of every highway & off-road vehicle ever Titled. First establish in 1954 there was no standard and each manufacturer created there own. In the early days States used a combination of separate fields to ID a vehicle (Manufacture, Year, Model & serial number) in their file system. Many vehicles titled prior to 1954 just used the number on the title when re-titled unless it already existed. The current VIN isn't just a number but a smart encoding schema of 17 letters & numbers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_i ... ion_number
So when Model T owners go to Title one for the first time they usually incur some resistance from the DMV clerk who doesn't know the history about vehicle identification. Again, since its a unique identified some Model T owners have a VIN containing only a serial number since it is unique to the International system.
VIN numbers are a single unique International identifier in a database of every highway & off-road vehicle ever Titled. First establish in 1954 there was no standard and each manufacturer created there own. In the early days States used a combination of separate fields to ID a vehicle (Manufacture, Year, Model & serial number) in their file system. Many vehicles titled prior to 1954 just used the number on the title when re-titled unless it already existed. The current VIN isn't just a number but a smart encoding schema of 17 letters & numbers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_i ... ion_number
So when Model T owners go to Title one for the first time they usually incur some resistance from the DMV clerk who doesn't know the history about vehicle identification. Again, since its a unique identified some Model T owners have a VIN containing only a serial number since it is unique to the International system.
The past is a great place and I don't want to erase it or to regret it, but I don't want to be its prisoner either.
Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
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- Posts: 1315
- Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 8:20 pm
- First Name: Robert
- Last Name: Jablonski
- * REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1926 Runabout
- Location: New Jersey
- MTFCA Number: 407
- MTFCA Life Member: YES
- Board Member Since: 1999
Re: New Jersey vehicle history
Ford had Model T manufacturing plants in the Kearney - Jersey City waterfront area, and also in the Philadelphia-Chester waterfront area .
Last edited by Moxie26 on Fri Dec 02, 2022 9:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
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- Posts: 129
- Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 6:00 pm
- First Name: Chris
- Last Name: Paulsen
- * REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1910 Touring, 1914 Pickup
- Location: Kansas
- MTFCA Number: 29356
- Board Member Since: 1999
Re: New Jersey vehicle history
If it is an existing car, you may have luck posting photos and any information you have on this forum to see if anyone knows the car.
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- Posts: 543
- Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 12:32 pm
- First Name: George
- Last Name: Mills
- * REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1915 Roadster, 1919 Hack, 1925 Fordor
- Location: Cherry Hill NJ/Anona Largo FL
- MTFCA Number: 29497
- MTFCI Number: 10032
- Board Member Since: 1999
Re: New Jersey vehicle history
I’m not educated enough to give a full answer because it is NJ and you might get a 50 year employee at DMV, you might get someone’s cousin who started last week.
My first answer to you would be ‘probably not’ based on personal experience. Want to have fun? Walk in with an older paper title/bill of sale, the brownish one…they all go doe eyed and try to send you away with a ‘call Trenton’ excuse. The digits on a model t serial number do not ‘fit’ their computer screen. They have to enter nulls but they don’t know whether they should be leading or trailing…there was a time there needed to be an alpha ‘start’ digit in older software digits so apparently everybody giggled at the counter and picked a random one ( I have an 8 digit serial one that the title starts with ‘T’ to make the 9 alpha/numeric rule at the time.)
This all then makes it pretty impossible on a go back unless you find someone who knows what was generally what through the decades…yet I doubt you’ll get too far back!
Good luck, but don’t get stuck in a rabbit hole!
My first answer to you would be ‘probably not’ based on personal experience. Want to have fun? Walk in with an older paper title/bill of sale, the brownish one…they all go doe eyed and try to send you away with a ‘call Trenton’ excuse. The digits on a model t serial number do not ‘fit’ their computer screen. They have to enter nulls but they don’t know whether they should be leading or trailing…there was a time there needed to be an alpha ‘start’ digit in older software digits so apparently everybody giggled at the counter and picked a random one ( I have an 8 digit serial one that the title starts with ‘T’ to make the 9 alpha/numeric rule at the time.)
This all then makes it pretty impossible on a go back unless you find someone who knows what was generally what through the decades…yet I doubt you’ll get too far back!
Good luck, but don’t get stuck in a rabbit hole!
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- Posts: 3907
- Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 8:00 pm
- First Name: John
- Last Name: Kuehn
- * REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 19 Roadster, 21 Touring, 24 Coupe
- Location: Texas
- MTFCA Number: 28924
Re: New Jersey vehicle history
I don’t know about NJ but here in Texas the DMV records only go back 25 years. That’s what I was told when I got my 21 Touring titled since the original was long lost. The only reason I had to go to the DMV was to check to see if the car was stolen.
If a car wasn’t passed down through the family or only a 2nd or 3rd owner you may be ought of luck about any history is concerned.
I inherited my Grandfathers 24 Coupe in 1959 and the title he had stated it was bought from the previous owner in 1942. Before that we don’t know any more but that.
If a car wasn’t passed down through the family or only a 2nd or 3rd owner you may be ought of luck about any history is concerned.
I inherited my Grandfathers 24 Coupe in 1959 and the title he had stated it was bought from the previous owner in 1942. Before that we don’t know any more but that.
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- Posts: 625
- Joined: Mon Oct 07, 2019 2:00 pm
- First Name: George John
- Last Name: Drobnock
- * REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1922 Coupe
- Location: Central Pennsylvania
Re: New Jersey vehicle history
At one time states would archive vehicle registration records. Even publish a yearly report as to the issuance of registration licenses. Too, local county governments would issue their own vehicle registration.
But for what ever reason, vehicles, were not treated the same as land/real-estate ownership, where a title (deed) for a plot of land could be tracked back many years...
Pennsylvania for example, till the Flood of 1972, maintained vehicle registration back to the beginning of the use of the motor car. But the flood of 1972 destroyed the old stuff.
It is possible to trace ownership with in the DMV, but not for the very old vehicle, unless it was of significant importance.
The one possible approach is to as past owners, if know, what they know of the history of a vehicle. It may have flaws, but it is a start.
And now that every record is digitized, the early paper records are not in a computer some where, and Carfax is not going to help.
Example Pennsylvania:
https://www.dmv.pa.gov/Pages/FAQ%20Page ... tions.aspx
2. How do I obtain a copy of my vehicle record?
You may request a copy of a record for a vehicle titled in Pennsylvania. Form DL-135 'Request for Vehicle Information' is required.
The name and address of the current owner, vehicle identification number (VIN), title, and the license plate number will appear on the record. Also, the vehicle make, model and year will appear on the record. More information can be provided if specifically requested on the form.
Forms are available online for downloading and at any messenger service office or any Driver and Vehicle Service Center location.
But for what ever reason, vehicles, were not treated the same as land/real-estate ownership, where a title (deed) for a plot of land could be tracked back many years...
Pennsylvania for example, till the Flood of 1972, maintained vehicle registration back to the beginning of the use of the motor car. But the flood of 1972 destroyed the old stuff.
It is possible to trace ownership with in the DMV, but not for the very old vehicle, unless it was of significant importance.
The one possible approach is to as past owners, if know, what they know of the history of a vehicle. It may have flaws, but it is a start.
And now that every record is digitized, the early paper records are not in a computer some where, and Carfax is not going to help.
Example Pennsylvania:
https://www.dmv.pa.gov/Pages/FAQ%20Page ... tions.aspx
2. How do I obtain a copy of my vehicle record?
You may request a copy of a record for a vehicle titled in Pennsylvania. Form DL-135 'Request for Vehicle Information' is required.
The name and address of the current owner, vehicle identification number (VIN), title, and the license plate number will appear on the record. Also, the vehicle make, model and year will appear on the record. More information can be provided if specifically requested on the form.
Forms are available online for downloading and at any messenger service office or any Driver and Vehicle Service Center location.
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- Posts: 662
- Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2019 10:06 pm
- First Name: Ed
- Last Name: Fuller
- Location: NJ
- MTFCA Number: 29582
- MTFCI Number: 22818
- Board Member Since: 2012
Re: New Jersey vehicle history
No. New Jersey Motor Vehicles does not keep historical records.
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- Posts: 74
- Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2020 4:37 pm
- First Name: Marc
- Last Name: hall
- * REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1924
- Location: Union nj
- Board Member Since: 2020
Re: New Jersey vehicle history
To all new jerseans first , im putting up my 1924 touring up for sale. im by union nj. Please lmk if anybody interested . Asking $8.500. Brand new radiator , ($985.00). Carwas all redone, new seats etc. Pm me and we make arrangements . Thanks.
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- Posts: 850
- Joined: Mon Feb 04, 2019 10:25 pm
- First Name: Erik
- Last Name: Johnson
- Location: Minneapolis, MN
Re: New Jersey vehicle history
Some states have archived motor vehicle registration records but they are not housed with the respective department of motor vehicles. Instead, the are with the state historical societies. They may also be in the hands of private collectors.
For example, the Minnesota Historical Society has the original hand-posted motor vehicle ledgers from 1909 through 1914. Minnesota motor vehicle registrations were also published in the newspaper "Finance and Commerce" through approximately 1920. There were also public motor vehicle registration directories for the Twin Cities and the State of Minnesota, similar to a telephone directory and my father, who is a collector of early Minnesota license plates, has some of these in his collection.
The South Dakota and Wisconsin historical societies have early motor vehicle registrations in their archives.
As far as New Jersey is concerned, your best bet is to get in touch with a collector of early New Jersey license plates and see what types of records and publications are available and where they are archived and how they may be accessed.
When antique cars are bought and sold, there seems to be many cases of failure of buyers to ask simple questions or sellers to pass-on information and records to subsequent owners.
Fortunately for my father and me, we know the histories of our antique cars.
For example, the Minnesota Historical Society has the original hand-posted motor vehicle ledgers from 1909 through 1914. Minnesota motor vehicle registrations were also published in the newspaper "Finance and Commerce" through approximately 1920. There were also public motor vehicle registration directories for the Twin Cities and the State of Minnesota, similar to a telephone directory and my father, who is a collector of early Minnesota license plates, has some of these in his collection.
The South Dakota and Wisconsin historical societies have early motor vehicle registrations in their archives.
As far as New Jersey is concerned, your best bet is to get in touch with a collector of early New Jersey license plates and see what types of records and publications are available and where they are archived and how they may be accessed.
When antique cars are bought and sold, there seems to be many cases of failure of buyers to ask simple questions or sellers to pass-on information and records to subsequent owners.
Fortunately for my father and me, we know the histories of our antique cars.
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- Posts: 5412
- Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2019 4:56 pm
- First Name: Frank
- Last Name: Brandi
- * REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: Speedster (1919 w 1926)
- Location: Moline IL
- Board Member Since: 2018
Re: New Jersey vehicle history
So called VIN numbers are now international meaning that there is a database in the "cloud" keeping track of ownership and accident reports. Since such history didn't start till after 1981 it is unlikely that any information prior to that , other than that of a title that has not been revised. Now when you say "history" I assume you mean past owners. That is unlikely to add any value to you car, even if a famous name would pop up, lots of people have the name name of someone famous. So why are you interested in the research. You may find out something you wish you didn't know.
Documented provenance (the history of the car written down with pictures and dates) is what adds value. Then this can be transferred from owner to owner and maintained.
Documented provenance (the history of the car written down with pictures and dates) is what adds value. Then this can be transferred from owner to owner and maintained.
The past is a great place and I don't want to erase it or to regret it, but I don't want to be its prisoner either.
Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger