Historic registration data from California DMV ?

I tried to get this information from the California DMV but was told that all the data more than 20 years old had been purged from their system. I was also told that they still have some micro phish files, but no one to search it.

I could be wrong on this but I think CA drops vehicles from their system after several years of inactivity. Also I don't think they share information with the general public.

Hi,

And OHIO also....

--Tom

Thanks!

Now I'm a bit confused. To be honest I thought there were no privacy issues with 75 year old registration data.

In other cases much more sensible data is available in the internet, e.g the 1930/40 US Census data (including income data!).

Does anybody know whether the California DMV has historic data from the 1930s/40s and whether it can be accessed by current owners of a collectible car ?

Given privacy issues most States that still have their old records (Massachusetts threw theirs out a long time ago) will not give the public access.

Is there any chance to find out, who owned a certain car between 1937 and 1949 from the California DMV ?

I think I know the owner's name and address but would love to have an official confirmation. I only found something to check modern VINs, which of course doesn't show any results for a Cord 812s numbers (serial, engine).

Others should have had this problem too. Is this data available somewhere?

Any help or idea is highly appreciated. Thanks!
Kay