Help me read this receipt...
 

OK, so I took the front seat of of my wagon since all the foam was crumbling to dust every time I sat on it. Figured I'd get it re-done but could drive it with some buckets I had for a while.

Well, I found what might be the biggest clue to the original owner! A gas receipt. From what looks like October of '67. (13.7 gallons for under $7... wow)

Anyway, I can get the first part..Looks like Gustav M. and then O...k(?)...???

What does anyone else see?

I've been trying for many years to find a hint to who ordered this wagon of mine.

Now, as another clue,

The original keys have "Kittle's" stamped into them...

Looks like the car had Texas tags, and the gas receipt is from Montreal Qb. If so, that was quite a trip.

Gonna guess that it was 13.7 Litres in Montreal.

Montreal, PQ? Wearing Texas plates? Wagons were meant for road trips. :D
Expo 67 ran from April 27th to October 29th. Shot in the dark, but it fits?

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...5&d=1615409348

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...1&d=1615412857

Can you make out anything on the back side?

There was a Gustav M. Okeiff in Austin, Texas who died at age 75. (1930-2005)
https://www.mylife.com/gustav-okeiff/e341226135390

Just did some math, the price at the pump would've been 47 cents even per
gallon. BUT the exchange rate... Gonna have to dig. At the time the Canadian
dollar was 79.22 cents US, so it's more like 37 2/10 per gallon. BUT the Imperial
gallon is 4.55 liters, while the US is 3.8, ugh, more math... roughly 31 cents.

In 1967, the average retail price of gas was $0.33.

~1900 miles. At 15 mpg, that's about six fill ups. Around $42 of gas? One way.
Okay, I think I've done enough digging and number crunching. :faint:

Nope. Canada went metric in 1975. However a Canadian gallon was/is about 5 US quarts.

Nothing on the back.. it's basically see through.

The Austin connection might fit... My car was built in the Arlington plant. Less than 200 miles away.

Were they using liters or gallons back in 1967? 13.7 liters would only be 3.6 gallons, which doesn't seem like enough to be worth stopping at the gas station.

Looks Oked or Okedes to me.

So what vehicle are we talking about here?
I thought those rectangular GM keys debuted in the 1968 (or was it 1969?) model year, along with the column ignition.

it was imperial gallons then

1967 was still imperial gallons

I see Gustav M. Otep. I could be 100% wrong.

That is the first thing I thought as well, I do believe those keys were on 1969 models when the ignition went to the steering column.

This is for my '66 Bonneville Wagon. The ignition key is the small round key, similar to my '58 key, but the stamp on the square one was was the most legible. Obviously spare or replacement keys could have been made, and so maybe I shouldn't have said "original". I was putting it out there for the stamp on the key, vs the key itself.

That seems like a pretty good guess to me. Definitely Gustav with a middle initial 'M.' and the last name starts with 'O'. How many Gustavs are you going to find in Texas?...much less with the last two initials also a match. Not a bunch I'd bet. Further, next to the 'O' looks to be a 'k' and an 'f'.
He would have been born in 1930 so the age is about right for buying a wagon in '67.
The key could be some hardware store that stamped their name on all the key blanks or something like that.

I hadn't thought of that, that the name was the hardware store or something. NICE!
Just looked it up. Kittle's Hardware and Supply... but it's in WV. Also a Kittle's locksmith in FL. But it might make sense.

Talk about good detective work!
Bunch of Columbo's here lol.

Since the key is a GM blank, you wouldn't find it in a key making place, or hardware store, they had private label blanks for GM keys, not GM blanks.

More than likely a GM dealer made the key. You might try researching GM dealers with the name Kittle's or Kittle. You might find out where it was bought new, or used. :2cents:

When I was growing up (lets say 1970s), our small local key shop had GM and Ford blanks in stock. Probably Mopars too, I just did not ever get one of those.

Found a Jr with the same spelling born in 55.

https://www.ancientfaces.com/person/...1955/103203006

https://www.ancestry.com/cs/partner-...ate%2BExternal

Long shot better than no shot
Clay

Curtis Industries supplies all the oem blanks.

From PHS, my car was sold out of Lester Goodson Pontiac in Houston Tx. (I had looked earlier and they are no longer there, unfortunately)

The Okeiff out of Austin is a good lead. Especially since the info it pulled up also listed a couple Arizona addresses. I actually bought the car out of Tucson, so that also fits.
Unfortunately none of the phone numbers listed on the "free" version work. Not sure if they ever did or if that's just a marketing ploy.

Anyone use the Ancestry service that can look that up? If I knew I'd get relevant info, i'd pay the trial membership, but I've tried a couple different services in the past but have NEVER gotten any info I didn't find elsewhere.

Might try the Free Trial...

Check your local library. Mine has an Ancestry membership. I used it several times when I started doing family genealogy. I soon purchased annual memberships for several years. I let it expire when I completed my projects.

Unfortunately...it doesn't look like Texas plates coded for county or region like they do in many states. Maybe try scanning the receipt on a flat bed scanner and manipulating the image would pull out more details from the card imprint.

You're right, what could I possibly be thinking? Most every GM key I've had cut at a hardware store was on a GM blank. By the same token every GM parts counter I've had a key cut, said Curtis Industries on it..............:doh:

Damn, try to help someone out, and get criticized for it.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!!

It was indeed Gustav Okeiff. I was able to track down a couple relatives and finally found a phone number that someone answered.

I've been talking to his son, and he said that Dad always had a number of cars. Cadillacs, an e-type Jag, a McLaren etc. That he did a lot of racing so the trip to Canada wouldn't be a stretch for him.

Unfortunately it doesn't sound like it was a family trip. And while he does remember him having the car, he doesn't remember much about it because he was so young.

I've sent him pictures of the car and he said that he will pass on anything that he does come across.

Nice job Jim!! This solves a 10 yr mystery I've been trying to figure out.. Thank you very much!

The only thing I found on "Kittle's" that was dealer related was from John Wallace's website:
Charlie Kittle Pontiac, 2563 Summer Av Memphis, TN

Which has now changed hands, and goes by Sunrise Buick GMC (used to also include Pontiac). When I lived in Memphis (2000, 2001) I bought some Fiero parts from that dealership. It has moved to Covington Pike address from Summer St.

From looking online, they have sold a few GTOs new that were found through the PHS documents.