Vin 774

[Nick774]

Hello everyone!

A lot of progress has been made on 774 the past few months with the help of my fiance Meghan, Tom Sweeney, Matt Bosivich (sp?) and everyone else on this forum. We are aiming for this coming week to FINALLY drop the body on its refurbished frame. Practically everything you can imagine has been replaced or repaired on the frame leaving nothing untouched.

What brings me here now is the never ending quest to know its history. From what I can gather from all Delorean/ Internet sources and the previous owner Chris Piazza and Grady Himself. The car belonged to Agusto Busch of Anheuser Busch Beer as his company car around 83' then purchased by Chris Piazza around 98' if I recall correctly. I have relentlessly searched every bit of information I can find but I still can't find its where abouts between 83' and 98'. After Chris sold it to a car lot owner it had sat unmoved in Queens, NY for 12 years leaving the frame and motor to die. If anyone On here knows ANYTHING about where its been, please inform me. There is some great mystery surrounding the car and I must know! Why was it so mistreated and who tried to make it look like a moronic teenagers street racing wannabe dream car.

P.s. There was one owner before Chris who reportedly drove it to work from new jersey to long island every day for a couple of years which may explain the estimated 420,000 miles its gained.

24575

[pezzonovante88]

Nice to see another restoration of a mistreated car. Be sure to post pictures!

[DMC5180]

How did you estimate 420,000 miles?

[David T]

How did you estimate 420,000 miles?

One way to research the "Chain of Ownership" is to do searches in each State the car was Titled in. You start with the last known owner and go back from there. Sounds like you will be searching at least NY and NJ. It is not free but in most States it is not expensive. You will get summaries of of each Title issued with dates, owner's names and addresses, and mileage at the time.
You can also go to the DoD and you can inquire all of the "D" venders if they any records for your VIN. There may have been service or parts ordered for the car and the venders record vin's unless not given. Start with PJ Grady since he is the most local vender to you.
You can also try Carfax or a service like it but the farther back you go the less reliable the information.
Are you SURE about the mileage? That would make the car one of the highest mileage Deloreans in the world. If that is so there should be a TON of parts orders and service in someone's records!

[Nick774]

Well I started out with The guy I purchased the car from, Then once I found Chris Piazza he filled me in on more info. Then I spoke with PJ Grady and when I told him the VIN number he paused with a following tone of discomfort, telling me of the owner who had driven from NJ to LI everyday and when including all other owners he mentioned the mileage being estimated so high. Not the first time somebody had said that it would mean it would be one of the highest mileage Deloreans. I guess anything is possible when you uncover a buried treasure. I had done vehicle history reports and searched all sorts of records not only in the Jersey/ NY area but in the St. Louis area too being that the car is connected to Busch Beer. I even called a few public resources at busch beer to see if they can shed some light on the subject and after a few given phone numbers to other sources within the company I had reached someone who knew something. The guy on the phone did remember the car being used for promotional services but was sold only a few years later to a private owner and could not tell me anything else. He was more than amazed to hear about the car after so many years but his information was very limited. Chris Piazza and Grady too were both surprised to hear that I bought the car since it was believed that back then in its horrid condition it was parted out or destroyed. So the hunt for more information still continues and whether I found out more on its past or not, the once presumed dead car will now live again and we will write its new history. The project has been a two year ride of joy, concern, labor and emotion but now reaching the final quarter of the restoration Meghan and I are more than thrilled to say we made it through and we await the adventures on the road and are aiming to drive it to DCS 2014!

24611 (before the tear down)

[Citizen]

Hi Nick,

Great to hear of another restoration. For the Registry, can we assume the car is in Howell, New Jersey (based on your location)? Would you have the engine & frame numbers? This information is missing for 774.

Thomas

...