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Bertha's history in North Carolina

2K views 16 replies 10 participants last post by  ETriggs 
#1 ·
I bought Bertha in her original form out of Ocala, FL in Feb. 2007. I know very little about her history other than she spent time at Jacksonville Naval Air Station in 1978 (due to gate sticker on bumper). I believe she was sold to someone in the Navy in 1976 to 78 because of the registration I found squirreled away in the seats as I pulled them apart recently. I have tracked down who I believe is the owner listed on the registration in 1976, but unfortunately it was through FindAGrave as the person (who may be the person listed and would be in the correct age range) passed away in 2007 (followed by his wife in 2011).

Is there anyone here by chance that happens to be from Deep Run, NC (address on registration) or Inman, SC (where they are buried) that could possibly know them? I know it is a massive shot in the dark trying to find someone who knows this person or relatives to confirm or deny the person listed on the registration ever owned the car. I am one of those sentimental old fools that love to have as much historical background on items I have.
 

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#4 ·
You might try looking for obituaries or calling funeral homes in the area. They might know some relatives of the person. I once tracked a previous owner of a 56 I had. They lived in Massachusetts at the time.

On another note, did you ever happen to run across any pictures of the turquoise 57 4 door hardtop that you said looked like the one I bought? I think you said you might have seen it in Alabama a year or two ago? :) bowtie-trifive


:gba:
 
#5 ·
I sure did! These were taken on Oct 15, 2016. After looking at them, it’s clearly not your car!
 

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#14 ·
Well, here are my thoughts. I ended up on Find a Grave also. None of the people I know out that way were any help. Probably due to age differences. I couldn't find anything out about Mr Williams, but I did find the grave of his widow. Their children appear to have passed except for possibly a daughter who still lives locally and would be about 83 and a son by the same name as the man whom is believed to live in Florida. The daughter and her late husband seemed to regularly attend a church in Deep Run and if I were in a position where I felt like I just had to contact her, I'd send her a postcard or something in care of the church and I imagine they'd get it to her. Odds may be slim that she'd remember an old car her dad had about 40 years ago though.

Something else I noticed is your car was built in Norwood. Every tri five I've ever had the pleasure of seeing the vin tag of in this area was built in Baltimore. I believe a Norwood car in this area almost had to be driven in from anther state.
 
#17 ·
Well, here are my thoughts. I ended up on Find a Grave also. None of the people I know out that way were any help. Probably due to age differences. I couldn't find anything out about Mr Williams, but I did find the grave of his widow. Their children appear to have passed except for possibly a daughter who still lives locally and would be about 83 and a son by the same name as the man whom is believed to live in Florida. The daughter and her late husband seemed to regularly attend a church in Deep Run and if I were in a position where I felt like I just had to contact her, I'd send her a postcard or something in care of the church and I imagine they'd get it to her. Odds may be slim that she'd remember an old car her dad had about 40 years ago though.

Something else I noticed is your car was built in Norwood. Every tri five I've ever had the pleasure of seeing the vin tag of in this area was built in Baltimore. I believe a Norwood car in this area almost had to be driven in from anther state.
Yeah, I figured it went from Norwood to some place just further south unless it was a special order. I wonder if the son that lives in Florida ended up with the car?? That is where I bought it, Ocala. It spent time in Jacksonville as well. Thanks for the info! I may do exactly what you suggested about the post card.
 
#15 ·
Don't know if this will help, but I bought my 55 in NC and live in NC. Like you I wanted to research previous owners. I started by going to NC Department of Motor Vehicles website and printing a request for title search. I wrote that I wanted to do historical research since none of the subjects to chose from seamed appropriate. Much to my surprise, I received a Title Certification from Dept. of Transportation (Division of Motor Vehicles) along with copies of the original titles of the 4 previous owners. I also received a copy of the application for registration from Nance Chevrolet in Asheboro NC to DMV for the original owner, who owned it from 6/1955 until 8/1970. I googled the original owner's name and found both he and his wife were deceased. Obituary' led me to find the cemetery and photo's of their headstones. Second owner search was successful and found his phone number (Asheboro resident also). So I called him and had a nice chat. The 55 was originally Indian Ivory and Turquoise but was black when I got it. The second owner ask if it was still black like when he got it, so I figured that the original owner had it painted black sometime in his 15 year ownership. I haven't contacted the other two owners but a google search did the reveal 4th owners address but no phone number. He lives in Denton NC about 30 minutes from Asheboro so maybe someday I will try to look him up. Nance Chevrolet was established in 1926 and was sold in 1991 to Wayne Thomas and now is Wayne Thomas Chevrolet. I wish you luck in your research. Keep us updated on your journey.
 

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#16 ·
Wow! You have some great history on your car! This is the type of information I want to get and some background on how the car made it from the factory to me.
 
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