According to a specialist auction house, a good history file can enhance the resale value of any classic by up to 20 percent. So how do you create one, and what needs to be in it?

It seems we all need a bit of a history lesson. From personal experience when buying a car, there’s often a hint that something’s missing – be it an important workshop receipt, an old photo or the name and contact of a previous owner. The vendor may indeed have all this, but all too often it’s stuck in a drawer or filing cabinet somewhere and only found years later. Yet having all this information to hand in one place and presenting it properly, thus enabling a potential owner to piece together the jigsaw of a car’s past, can add provenance and make a huge difference to its value. We’re talking about the all important ‘history file’ – and here’s some tips on creating one for your car regardless of whether you’re thinking of selling it or not…

Paper chase
The fatter the pile of documents you have for your car, the better. Don’t throw away anything! Keep copies of every bill, receipt and expense that relates to your vehicle then put it in date order. If there’s old MoT certificates, keep them in chronological too in order to verify your car’s mileage. If you’ve bought period accessories, copy the receipt and include it in your file. It might be worth applying for an official VW birth certificate to confirm build date and whether the original engine is still fitted. You can find the link for this here. The certificate will also verify details like its original colour, trim and any factory options which will further build a picture of the car’s past. If your car’s been featured in a magazine, do a colour copy and include it.

Do some digging
Turn detective to bolster your history file. If you’ve got zero information about you car’s previous owners, call up the person you bought it from and ask if they have any contacts. Failing that look on garage invoices – they’ll often have a phone number for the customer who had the work carried out. Try it and do some digging. If there’s a dealership sticker in the window, that will place your car geographically. Piece together as much data as you can. If you are lucky enough to trace a previous owner, ask them the dates when they owned the car, what they had done while it was in their possession, and enquire if they happen to have any paperwork for it still. It’s amazing what people hang on to!

Photographic evidence
Being able to provide a visual timeline of your car is important, so gather together any shots you have of when you first bought it, the car at shows, or photos of it in different locations. If it goes in to have work done, grab some shots while they’re doing it – it all serves as evidence to back up your story of what work has been done and that it’s been loved throughout its life.

Proper presentation
Invest in a proper file to put everything in. Start it with a description of the vehicle, it’s build date, chassis number, engine number and so on. If you’ve got the official Wolfsburg ‘birth certificate’ this is the place to start. If you have a sales brochure for your era car, again, put this at the front of the file to ‘set the scene’. Then it’s a case of making sure everything is in date order so potential buyers can follow your car’s story from when it was made to the present day. Clarify owner changes with dates – and make sure everything tallies.

A history file will not only serve to prove your car really is what you say it is, but will also create a narrative of its life story and help establish an emotional connection with the prospective buyer looking through it. You’re saying, “this is the story of its past, now you’re being offered the opportunity of being involved in its future.”

Ian

The opinions expressed here are the personal opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of VW Heritage