How many 1966 Gt 350's are owned and known?

[Shelby_r_b]

"Kopec said the current book is likely the last because it takes SO long to to put together!"  Although I'm certainly not knowledgeable enough to do it, I can envision a restricted, live, on-line registry with each registrar acting as a monitor for their respective year/s. Owners would submit revisions, changes in ownership, additions, etc. to the respective registrars and the registrars would simply enter the information once it is reviewed.  Only SAAC members would be able to access the on-line registry.

+1. It sure would be great to see real time updates to the registry. And. I'll miss the old school books, too.

[98SVT - was 06GT]

All good mate. One day we might have an online registry that someone runs and it could be instantly updated but that still requires a willing tech savvy person and the job of transferring the current data would be massive. SAAC does an awesome job and some of the guys on here have some impressive databases that have collated themselves.

It's all good food for thought

The problem with an online registry is that all the information a registrar has on a car may not be fit for world wide broadcast. These cars have become too valuable and the threats of lawyers loom large if something gets out that can taint a cars history. I know there are more than a few handfuls of air Cobras there are TA cars that claim history via various stories. Many rebodies exist with welded in Ford numbers. A candid talk with a registrar about a certain car you are thinking of buying may point you in the right direction of what to look at or what question to ask. But for the most part the info in their files is gleaned from owners, previous owners, people who have knowledge of certain cars or have seen them at shows etc. Registrars may not have first hand knowledge so can't risk publicizing something that may be false and getting sued.

There was one air Cobra that got caught on a fluke. Listed in DMV records as totaled and the number wasn't transferred into the new DMV computer. It was in a card file that was not checked when cars were registered. Someone had access to those files and then had a noted Cobra restorer create a new one. A fake MSO and bill of sale a garage find from a dead guys estate and sale to new buyer for cash was the typical scam. But one original owner still had the wreckage in his garage. He contacts SAAC they call the cops. The cops visit the Cobra and inspect it. They call the tow truck and come tow the 1/4 million dollar 427 away (yes it was a few years ago). You plead with DMV not to crush your investment, The seller said I was just the broker and taken too. In the end DMV assigned a new VIN and crudely ground off all the CSX numbers.

Transferring the data would be easy. I bet every registrar has an Excel file on the cars along with a card file of additional info.

[NC TRACKRAT]

"The problem with an online registry is that all the information a registrar has on a car may not be fit for world wide broadcast." 
I concur.  That's why I suggested that the registrar has the final say-so as to what's placed on-line.  We've seen the problems with the current registries: Poor binding, errors of omission or commission, time between revisions, etc.  A living on-line registry is really the only solution...other than doing without...which would cause the registrars to be inundated with phone calls and e-mails from members wanting to check on a car.

[Shelby_r_b]

All good mate. One day we might have an online registry that someone runs and it could be instantly updated but that still requires a willing tech savvy person and the job of transferring the current data would be massive. SAAC does an awesome job and some of the guys on here have some impressive databases that have collated themselves.

It's all good food for thought

The problem with an online registry is that all the information a registrar has on a car may not be fit for world wide broadcast. These cars have become too valuable and the threats of lawyers loom large if something gets out that can taint a cars history. I know there are more than a few handfuls of air Cobras there are TA cars that claim history via various stories. Many rebodies exist with welded in Ford numbers. A candid talk with a registrar about a certain car you are thinking of buying may point you in the right direction of what to look at or what question to ask. But for the most part the info in their files is gleaned from owners, previous owners, people who have knowledge of certain cars or have seen them at shows etc. Registrars may not have first hand knowledge so can't risk publicizing something that may be false and getting sued.

There was one air Cobra that got caught on a fluke. Listed in DMV records as totaled and the number wasn't transferred into the new DMV computer. It was in a card file that was not checked when cars were registered. Someone had access to those files and then had a noted Cobra restorer create a new one. A fake MSO and bill of sale a garage find from a dead guys estate and sale to new buyer for cash was the typical scam. But one original owner still had the wreckage in his garage. He contacts SAAC they call the cops. The cops visit the Cobra and inspect it. They call the tow truck and come tow the 1/4 million dollar 427 away (yes it was a few years ago). You plead with DMV not to crush your investment, The seller said I was just the broker and taken too. In the end DMV assigned a new VIN and crudely ground off all the CSX numbers.

Transferring the data would be easy. I bet every registrar has an Excel file on the cars along with a card file of additional info.

Wouldn't an online registry only contain information that is available through the hard copy?

[Coralsnake]

Kopec said the current book is likely the last because it takes SO long to to put together!"

He has that at least four times before....

[Bigfoot]

I think the Registry is a terrific piece and why mess with what works?
An online Registry is too much for us to handle.
Have we not already learned that?

Plus,....good things don't come easy.

[NC TRACKRAT]

I'm an old geezer but I realize that print media is fading fast.  The existing registry material, along with the pictures, could be scanned in, then additions and revisions could be entered by the registrars as they obtain and review it for admission.  There would be no waiting for years to get a new registry. It would be up-to-date instantaneously. Everything would be safely backed up and could only be accessed by SAAC members. Cost would be minimal compared to the current versions and could be covered by a small adder to annual membership fees. 

[shelbydoug]

Everyone would have to show where counterfeits, identity theft, burglaries, and other still unconceived of negative issues would not increase to a power of an unknown factor by providing the convenience of an online information pool to unknown aliens in unknown portions of this planet or the Universe?

Maybe if you have Super Powers, can fly, reverse the rotation of the Earth and turn back time to save Lois Lane, then you might have a chance?

Super villains never sleep.

[sfm5]

The next generation of car guys (& girls) are not interested in reading books. They want to do everything online. There is no reason that there can't be an online registry that is secure & has information on the cars that has been vetted & approved by the SAAC registrars - just as the books are today. The cost savings in distribution (mailing) alone would be huge, never mind the cost to publish digital media versus hard copy books. Plus you can then edit and correct your content "on the fly", ie: the recent 66 registry error. Instead of buying the book, you would subscribe to the digital version to keep access to it. I believe this change to digital is inevitable IMHO.

[Shelby_r_b]

The next generation of car guys (& girls) are not interested in reading books. They want to do everything online. There is no reason that there can't be an online registry that is secure & has information on the cars that has been vetted & approved by the SAAC registrars - just as the books are today. The cost savings in distribution (mailing) alone would be huge, never mind the cost to publish digital media versus hard copy books. Plus you can then edit and correct your content "on the fly", ie: the recent 66 registry error. Instead of buying the book, you would subscribe to the digital version to keep access to it. I believe this change to digital is inevitable IMHO.

+1

[gjz30075]

Everything would be safely backed up and ....

Of utmost importance here!   The whole backup plan is takes in so much more than most people realize.   

[Don Johnston]

You can't hack into a book  for personal gain or evil intent.

[NC TRACKRAT]

You can't hack into a book  for personal gain or evil intent.

Oh, yes you can! You can take the book, look up the owner's name, city and state, go to www.whitepages.com and get their street address or do a google search to get loads of info on them. 

[chris NOS]

what we learned when the last forum crashed ? million infos  lost in the wind , books can stay alive for hundred's years, but who can say that for cloud's infos ? and how much it cost every year to keep the datas , with updates etc ... the books when they are printed it doesn't cost nothing more to the club ...
But it s true the infos are dated when the registry was printed.

[shelbydoug]

It is actually more difficult to counterfeit a book then a mirror image web page. Too many will believe what they read on the internet now. Sort of a modern version of the"War of the Worlds" broadcast on the radio.