New FD registry

[railgun]

I know this isn't tech per se, but given that this is the only real FD specific forum that's not a classified section.......

Well, as some of you may have seen, there was another thread somewhere else in the world that had attempted to create and maintain some semblance of a registry for all U.S. 3rd gens. With the help of another (jsplit, IIRC)...well, ok...he did all the back end work...we created a website that would host all of this information. VIN, model, build date, where it's registered, etc.

Well, it kinda took off, but quickly died. I have a lot of that original information and with the advent of this new home, I think perhaps it would be a good idea to start it over again. Of course, there are lessons learned from the previous attempt, and I would like to call out those who are DB gurus and those who can create a mean front end to a site; sit you down and give birth to a new fangled site (or something like that) that can take all this information and spit it out in a nice, bow wrapped...thing.

At any rate, I had written my state and had asked about acquiring information about currently registered vehicles, to which they replied they could give that information for what I remember was a pretty small fee. That said, if there are state representitives here that would like to do the same, I say let's pool our resources, and get this information out.

These models are definitely rare enough to warrant this kind of effort I think. And this would be a great way to start in gathering this information.

That said, I can take Indiana and Illinois. But I'd like to see what we can do to organize this information as well in the meantime.

Thanks for reading.

Christian

[albertomg]

This might be a dumb question... What is the point or purpose of a registry? also, Why would I want to share my VIN with anyone?

[JHew84]

Originally Posted by albertomg

This might be a dumb question... What is the point or purpose of a registry? also, Why would I want to share my VIN with anyone?

gives an idea of how many cars are still on the road, and where they've ended up over the years. Just kind of fun information, mostly makes people feel cool about having "the only FD in this area", things like that :P....

Personally I'm not about giving my VIN out either, so I'd prefer an option to forgo that piece of info if at all possible.

I should be at my SoS office pretty soon (MI), I can inquire about getting the registry information while there and report back.

[railgun]

Given the rarity of these cars, it just allows us to see what's left. As it gets more complete, we can more closely see the true value as we will actually see how many are on the road. Needless to say, the fewer, the more expensive. I dont' have the actual production numbers in front of me, but realatively speaking, there weren't a lot.

A few things about the VIN...

First, it's a matter of validation. The original thing we did was omit the check digit. Of course, it's not all that hard to guess which one it is, but unless you have something to check against, guessing isn't going to help. Without this, the whole effort is moot.

Secondly, the goal was to make it only available to current owners. It was certainly not a public thing. However, I think we were working on having only so much information publicly displayable. Of course, over time, those that have sold and whatnot would still potentially have access to said information. That said, we could perhaps add a piece that would require you to renew or revalidate that info every year, else you loose access.

Next, we didn't see the point of hiding it. If someone has your VIN, chances are nothing is going to happen anyway. All anyone has to do is come up to the car and there it is. Potentially, more people can see it that way than who will see it here.

Lastly, it's nice to see who has what. As in "he has the first CYM in the US" or what have you. I don't recall if Mazda had information to dechiper the VIN to determine came equiped with what, but that's something else we'd like to do. We have ALL the VINs for all US made cars, and those owners (or past owners) fill in the blanks.

[bbade]

I think this would be a pretty nice database, especially if it was updated on a yearly basis. It might allow people in the same area to find out about each other as well as meet up. I'm sure there are FDs in my area that I have no idea about because lets be honest, it's a cold day in hell when you see another one on the road (meets and cruises aside). If someone were to set up a professional database with the ability for users to hide information I would be one of the first to sign up.

[bbade]

This information came out several years ago. Another owner got the information from the DMV, it might be a place to start.

[Cp1]

im all for submitting to a registry in addition to proving the history, if one were stolen its a good resource to check so someone doesnt buy a "clone"

If its ok with anyone i can run the thread. we can just sticky it and 3rd gen owners can PM me to be added to the list there wont be any discussion in the thread but everyone can PM me and i can put thier info in to start and if they make any changes i can edit it as well.

i think its a great idea i belong to one with the 10AE datsun 280zx with a red/black but have since sold it and it was neat seeing how many of the cars each year just dont stay on the road.

A list of info to provide could be:

Example

User..........................Year........VIN..... ...........Model............Color...........Trans. ..........Country..........Other Info
================================================== ========================================
Cp1...........................1994....... JM???????????....Base.............Black........... .Manual..........CA-Sask..........Originally US car
Blackbird (FAKE)..........1995........JM?????????? .....Touring.........RED..............AUTO........ ....California........RepaintedWHITE,Parted out in '07
JIXBrixer.....................1992.......JM??????? ???......Touring .........Black............Auto.............Canada. .........RHD, import, STOLEN in 2006

OF course i could tidy it up a bit but i think its a great way to go and i could manage it if everyone is ok with that? and if people dont want their user name or real name shown then we could just say PRIVATE in place of.

[railgun]

Thanks. I'd like to try to not use a forum to maintain said info. It will get too big, too fast (well, that's wishful thinking anyway) and be somewhat of a pain to sort through. Although, with as many things that can be built into vbulletin, perhaps our illustrious admins would look into something like that.

This is what I was using on the other thread as an example...

Year:
VIN:
Package: (Base, Touring/PEP, R1/2)
Ext Color: (original, current)
Int Color:
Additional Options: (of which I think there were none, (put trans here?))
Current Milage: xxxxx
Current Registration: City, State
Email Address:

Any personal information, again, would be available/displayed to only those who are verified.

The original creator of the site isn't on this forum yet. I PM'd him in Feb, but he hadn't replied. I'll have to see if he still has all of that information. At least we can use that to start. We'll have to blank out owner information, but perhaps use it as a "last owned by" kinda thing until it's reverified.

Thanks for the offer to help as well...

Christian

[gmonsen]

Its gives me a hearty belly laugh to hear people saying they might not want to give out their VIN numbers, when their medical records can be accessed by nearly anyone who can type...

Ferrari owners take pride in THEIR registry, which not only includes the VIN, but the telephone numbers of the owners.

I think it would be great to have a registry, but doubt whether those who do not share, shall we say, the same level of appreciation for these cars would ever participate and contribute.

Gordon

[Herblenny]

I'm all for a registry also.. Vin number could come in handy for catching scammers and such.

I also think if we do this, only those who gave information such as vin, model, miles, etc should be allowed to have access and not everyone.... except they request specifically why they need specific information..

[railgun]

Originally Posted by Herblenny

I also think if we do this, only those who gave information such as vin, model, miles, etc should be allowed to have access and not everyone.... except they request specifically why they need specific information..

Exactly. That's my intention.

The goal I think at this point is to create a method of data collection. Second to that, where would this be hosted? I think it needs to not be a forum, so perhaps a subdomain off this? registry.rotarycarclub.com anyone?

I'm going to write to Illinois and Indiana this week to get information. Perhaps if I can get the right information, we can use that as a blank template. IE I have the car information...we just need to plug in the owner info.

[railgun]

Well, I called IL, and they claim that they can't give me any information. I'm sure that who I talked to wasn't even close to the right person.

On to IN and more research into IL.

[RX7_GRL]

Interested in what you guys come up with.