So, obviously too much time on my hand, but I am tired of not having productions records for post 1967 cars and want to do my part.
Yes, you can actually e-mail Josh Gates - digitalgates@hotmail.com and @ joshuagates.com
Yes, maybe I made the story more sexy than it may well be, but hey, that’s Hollywood. If they can make a movie about the story behind the guy who invented intermittent wipers, why not an “Expedition Unknown” episode on these records?
Feel free to also reach out to Josh and say “yes, you should look into this.” Or share/reshare on social media - I quite social media a few years back, but that’s one way to generate interest.
Here’s the e-mail I sent to Josh:
Josh,
Please, help solve a mystery and find a lost treasure.
It’s a story about missing or lost automotive records related to the production of some of the most iconic and storied vehicles ever produced, to include cars from the height of the Muscle Car era.
From a span of history standpoint, it is recent. Many of those involved are alive and should be able to provide first or second-hand knowledge of events surrounding this mystery. The trail to the treasure is not under mounds of impenetrable dirt and rock or overgrown by the jungle, and literally could be in someone’s home or nearby building.
This story has it all – an iconic city, legendary automotive titans, business intrigue and dealings, stories and urban legends, a woman of mystery, riches, and human emotion.
Set in Detroit and framed within the context of the smallest of the “Big Three” automakers – Chrysler, its business and leaders such as Lee Iacocca Robert Eaton, and Robert Lutz. Over the years Chrysler has flirted with bankruptcy, merged with Daimler-Benz, partnered with Fiat, and is now known as Stellantis.
Like many businesses, Chrysler kept detailed production records. Even today, by simply requesting historical production records from the Stellantis archives you will receive information related to your vehicle, iconic or not. The archives have build records for cars from 1930 to 1967 but are missing records after 1968.
The period from 1968 to the early 70’s includes cars from the very heights of the performance and Muscle Car era. Why are these records missing?
Stories and urban legends abound. Such as, records after 1967 were never transferred to the archives. There are some who believe out of fear of being lost due to corporate upheaval, bankruptcy or mergers the records were spirited away for safekeeping. Another is, out of greed due to the significance of the cars of the period, they were purloined for profit. A popular urban legend is they were lost due to a fire in the company archives.
The person who could tell you about the company’s past attempts to find these records is a bit of a woman of mystery. She’s Danielle Szostak-Viers. She works at Stellantis historical records and has got to have one of the coolest jobs in the automotive industry.
Danielle is a mystery in that she’s known and popular to many Chrysler enthusiasts – also referred to as MOPAR fans, although she has likely never been seen by most of them. Danielle cheerfully provides these MOPAR fans with their records, pre-1967, once they are requested.
So, why are these records important to MOPAR fans? Well, there’s both a financial and emotional angle.
According to Hagerty, the insurers of classic and collector cars, around 43 million cars in the U.S. fit the definition of collector vehicle. That’s approximately 16% of all registered vehicles. The combined value of those 43 million cars represents an estimated $1 trillion in total insurable value. $2.2 billion is the total amount of sales from North American collector car auctions.
Put simply, a car with extensive records and documentation will usually sell quicker and for more money than another car without. Provenance equals profit.
More importantly, there are emotional reasons which have nothing to do with making money. It’s about the art and love of the history of the American automobile and these individual cars.
To MOPAR fans, these records bring history to life. It’s about the men and women who conceived, birthed, and built these iconic machines. It’s a link to those autoworkers on the production line who touched each piece of these cars.
Art is only art when it is shared with others. Like art, history is only history when it is shared. These missing records mean the visual and tactile beauty of these cars is incomplete because we don’t have the history, only a story of one.
Josh, can you help solve this MOPAR mystery and find these lost records?
#ExpeditionUnknown #JoshuaGates #JoshGates #Chryslerproductionrecord #buildsheet #broadcastsheet #MOPAR
Yes, you can actually e-mail Josh Gates - digitalgates@hotmail.com and @ joshuagates.com
Yes, maybe I made the story more sexy than it may well be, but hey, that’s Hollywood. If they can make a movie about the story behind the guy who invented intermittent wipers, why not an “Expedition Unknown” episode on these records?
Feel free to also reach out to Josh and say “yes, you should look into this.” Or share/reshare on social media - I quite social media a few years back, but that’s one way to generate interest.
Here’s the e-mail I sent to Josh:
Josh,
Please, help solve a mystery and find a lost treasure.
It’s a story about missing or lost automotive records related to the production of some of the most iconic and storied vehicles ever produced, to include cars from the height of the Muscle Car era.
From a span of history standpoint, it is recent. Many of those involved are alive and should be able to provide first or second-hand knowledge of events surrounding this mystery. The trail to the treasure is not under mounds of impenetrable dirt and rock or overgrown by the jungle, and literally could be in someone’s home or nearby building.
This story has it all – an iconic city, legendary automotive titans, business intrigue and dealings, stories and urban legends, a woman of mystery, riches, and human emotion.
Set in Detroit and framed within the context of the smallest of the “Big Three” automakers – Chrysler, its business and leaders such as Lee Iacocca Robert Eaton, and Robert Lutz. Over the years Chrysler has flirted with bankruptcy, merged with Daimler-Benz, partnered with Fiat, and is now known as Stellantis.
Like many businesses, Chrysler kept detailed production records. Even today, by simply requesting historical production records from the Stellantis archives you will receive information related to your vehicle, iconic or not. The archives have build records for cars from 1930 to 1967 but are missing records after 1968.
The period from 1968 to the early 70’s includes cars from the very heights of the performance and Muscle Car era. Why are these records missing?
Stories and urban legends abound. Such as, records after 1967 were never transferred to the archives. There are some who believe out of fear of being lost due to corporate upheaval, bankruptcy or mergers the records were spirited away for safekeeping. Another is, out of greed due to the significance of the cars of the period, they were purloined for profit. A popular urban legend is they were lost due to a fire in the company archives.
The person who could tell you about the company’s past attempts to find these records is a bit of a woman of mystery. She’s Danielle Szostak-Viers. She works at Stellantis historical records and has got to have one of the coolest jobs in the automotive industry.
Danielle is a mystery in that she’s known and popular to many Chrysler enthusiasts – also referred to as MOPAR fans, although she has likely never been seen by most of them. Danielle cheerfully provides these MOPAR fans with their records, pre-1967, once they are requested.
So, why are these records important to MOPAR fans? Well, there’s both a financial and emotional angle.
According to Hagerty, the insurers of classic and collector cars, around 43 million cars in the U.S. fit the definition of collector vehicle. That’s approximately 16% of all registered vehicles. The combined value of those 43 million cars represents an estimated $1 trillion in total insurable value. $2.2 billion is the total amount of sales from North American collector car auctions.
Put simply, a car with extensive records and documentation will usually sell quicker and for more money than another car without. Provenance equals profit.
More importantly, there are emotional reasons which have nothing to do with making money. It’s about the art and love of the history of the American automobile and these individual cars.
To MOPAR fans, these records bring history to life. It’s about the men and women who conceived, birthed, and built these iconic machines. It’s a link to those autoworkers on the production line who touched each piece of these cars.
Art is only art when it is shared with others. Like art, history is only history when it is shared. These missing records mean the visual and tactile beauty of these cars is incomplete because we don’t have the history, only a story of one.
Josh, can you help solve this MOPAR mystery and find these lost records?
#ExpeditionUnknown #JoshuaGates #JoshGates #Chryslerproductionrecord #buildsheet #broadcastsheet #MOPAR