See more photos at the BuriedCar.com photo gallery.Last October I wrote about the 1957 Tulsarama “buried car”, a new ‘57 Plymouth Belvedere that was placed in a vault along with some leaded gas, oil, and memorabilia — which was to be exhumed exactly 50 years later and given away to the person, or their heirs, who had most accurately predicted the city’s population 50 years hence.

On June 15, 2007 (next summer) a “new” 1957 Plymouth Belvedere Sport Coupe will once again see the light of day. It has been buried in a time capsule since that very date in 1957. A friend of mine just sent me a link to this story.

They had actually expected the contest winner, or their heir(s) to put the key in the ignition, fire up the ol’ tank and drive it away. A good time was to be had by all.

Expectations — they’ll get ya every time.

Uggggh! What a difference 50-years makes, huh? ‘Course, 50 years ago I was a mere sprout of five and fifty years later I’m sure ‘nough a bit rusty on the outside — and inside as well. But really now, this much deterioration was not expected. As the LA Times reports:

Wide-eyed dreamers from throughout the world came here Friday to see the gleaming gold-and-white Plymouth Belvedere — buried decades ago in a time capsule as a publicity stunt.

What they saw was a waterlogged mass of metal with tailfins, shrouded in a patina of rust.

{…}

Alas, the concrete block was not so impregnable. When Hazmat crews cracked it open Wednesday, they discovered nearly 2,000 gallons of standing water. Devastated, Sharon King Davis, Tulsarama’s chief organizer, cried on the spot.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” Boyd Coddington, car builder and star of the “American Hot Rod” TV show, said Friday when prompted to grab a microphone and offer an assessment of the fabled “Ms. Belvedere.” “It don’t look good.”

See more photos at the BuriedCar.com photo gallery.No, Boyd, it sure don’t look good, not good at all! But honestly, that’s beside the point. What this stunt was all about 50 years ago was to promote the city of Tulsa during the state’s 50th anniversary, as Oklahoma City was getting all the attention. In Oct. I wrote:

The TulsaRama website describes the intent of this burial, which was a way for Tulsa to one-up Oklahoma City in their continuing feud to be Oklahoma’s best city. At the time, Tulsa had the highest car ownership per capita of any city in the U.S., except for Los Angeles, so they decided that a “car” event was a natural.

My adopted region, the Los Angeles basin, probably has good ol’ Tulsa beat for “highest car ownership per capita” by many times over — geez, there’s a lot of those 4-wheeled suckers out here, (and all of them seem to be on the 405 when I’m tryin’ to get somewhere!)

Not any words of wisdom comin’ to mind this AM — been a rough, stressful week here at Okie Manor. But here, like with the time capsule contents entombed with the Belvedere, not everything has gone completely to you-know-what. Be sure and check out the photo gallery at the Buried Car website, some are quite fun, all are interesting. And, don’t feel so bad for whoever finally is found to be the “winner” of the ‘57 lump o’ rust. As the LA Times writes:

Despite its condition, the Belvedere is still worth a mint. Collectors eager to obtain a piece of Americana are rumored to be offering hundreds of thousands of dollars for it.

Gary Trent, 60, was 10 when he saw the grown-ups burying the Belvedere. He wanted a part of history too, so he picked up a shell casing and threw it into the tomb when no one was looking.

He was hoping to find that casing Friday. But the dig was never about any artifact, he pointed out, not even the Belvedere. The real star was supposed to be Tulsa.

“I know it sounds a little corny, but Oklahoma is going to be just fine,” Trent said, laughing. “This is a great state, and thanks to this little car, a whole lot of people have just seen it.”

The only thing I know for sure is that if they dig me up after I’ve been buried for 50 years, I won’t be lookin’ anywhere near this good!

See more photos at the
BuriedCar.com photo gallery.

Technorati Tags: BuriedCar.com, ‘57 Plymouth Belvedere, Boyd Coddington, TulsaRama, Tulsa

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 16th, 2007 at 10:44 am and is filed under Automotive, OK Facts/Fiction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  |   Print This Post  |   Email This Post

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