TULSA, Oklahoma (AP) -- Organizers of a coming-out party for a buried 1957 Plymouth Belvedere could use some help.

The car, which was buried in brand-new condition under the lawn of the Tulsa County Courthouse in 1957, is scheduled to be unearthed June 15 as part of the Oklahoma Centennial. Promoters are looking for people who helped lower the car into its crypt in 1957 to perhaps shed some light on what to expect when the car is unearthed. There's speculation the car may have turned into a pile of rust. Or that it's in pristine condition and worth thousands of dollars.

Sharon King Davis, who has chaired Tulsa's centennial efforts, looked at photos of the people responsible for burying the car in 1957 and found her grandfather. "I wish grandpa had left me some instructions," she told the Tulsa World.

The car had been largely forgotten until Davis and her group started work on the centennial. Files on the car have vanished, so it's not clear what to expect when the lid is lifted. What's known is that the car is on a steel pallet with jacks under the axles. Efforts were made to preserve it, but it's unclear if moisture has gotten to the metal and caused rust.

"There's a kind of Rip Van Winkle reaction," Davis says. "Most people had long ago forgotten the buried car, but as the time to dig it up nears, they are waking up and wondering about life in 1957."

Another unknown is who will be able to claim the car. When the car was buried, a contest was announced to award the car and a $100 savings account to the person who came closest to guessing Tulsa's population in 2007. Organizers concede that finding that person or his or her heirs may not be easy.

At the time, the guesses were recorded on microfilm and sealed in a steel container buried with the car.......

Given the large number of restored, and even original, 1957 automobiles on the street, it would appear that the use of this car as a time-capsule is limited, as it is only 50 years old. The promoters motivations were probably more mercantile than historical. Regardless,
you've made me curious about the car's condition when unearthed. Given that it was buried under a lawn, no doubt it has received plenty of moisture from nature and
sprinklers. One wonders what the soil composition is.
Sandy? Gravel? Clay? High-alkaline? Too bad the car wasn't a 1958 Plymouth. Remember Stephen King's novel "Christine"?

It was sealed inside a concrete enclosure - they built a concrete box, dropped it in and then dropped the lid on. I suppose it depends on how well the concrete was painted/coated to stop water percolating through.
The Buried Belvedere (http://www.forwardlook.net/19571958Plymouth/countdown.asp)
http://www.buriedcar.com/photoUL/Fresh%20Vault.JPG http://www.buriedcar.com/photoUL/Car%20in%20Vault.JPG

You have to ask why?

Case of beer may be ok

http://www.buriedcar.com/photoUL/Scan0001.jpg

Hard to find that brand of beer in Oklahoma now days.

We still have the hats. :}

Hard to find that brand of beer in Oklahoma now days.

When you're out of Schlitz, you're out of beer! ;)

I did my ride for my drivers license with a '57 Plymouth, the one with the pushbutton transmission. It belonged to another pilot, and had over a hundred thousand miles on it. Sometimes the transmission didn't work too well in reverse, so me and the inspector only drove around the block a few times and didn't back up. My friend moved it out to one of our bases in the boonies called Blanc Sablon (http://www.blancsablon.com/Tourism/Lower-North-Shore/tourism-lower-north-shore-blanc-sablon-winter-01.html), where it finally expired, but not before the floor rusted away and several families of mice made their homes in the seats. :p

You know I haven't seen a Schlitz beer in years. I do believe that the reason the beer in that picture was because at one time there was a Schlitz brewery in Tulsa.

I am not really sure, I was living in England back then. Don't think I had ever heard of Oklahoma back then, I must have with my great-grandmother and a bunch of my mother's cousins living there.

Oh well, we may drive up and see what kind of contition the car is in. It would be pretty funny if they started it and drove it off down the street.:p

(Hum, I asume that someone does have the key? :uhoh: )

Don't think I had ever heard of Oklahoma back then,
Oh come on! Oklahoma was created by Rogers and Hammerstein in 1943!

Oh come on! Oklahoma was created by Rogers and Hammerstein in 1943!

Dang it all, missed it again, I wasn't born until 1947. :p

I hope that concrete tub has a drain somewhere, there doesn't seem to be one visible in the pix.

The car might have been sitting in 6 feet of water for 50 years!:uhoh:

Be sure and keep us updated, I am keen to see what it looks like after all these years!:ok:

Dateline, TULSA.

Police in Oklahoma are now spreading their search overseas for the missing parts belonging to the 57 Plymouth unearthed in the Centennial celebrations last week.

Acting on a tip off from INTERPLOD, the police are now sending their investigators to Liverpool England where....

http://www.wonderquest.com/images/2003-08-01-big-rusted-car.jpg

Yes the 1960 Belvedere was the last of the MOPAR finnys.
Friend had one years ago and lent it to me a few times A smooth V8 car with push button trans and enough room on the front seat fer most anything :E

http://www.motorcarportfolio.com/images/60belvfl.jpg

Even got its own website (http://www.buriedcar.com/)

I'm sure Eddie Izzard remarked on a similar thing in one of his shows - that some chaps in the USA had (delivered in an awed voice) "redecorated a house to how it looked over 50 years ago!"

"NO, surely not! No one was alive then!"

I would say that maybe because the US is quite young in comparison to other countries, that maybe 50 yrs seems like a long time, but I don't really think that thats true.

ABX
Sorry, and dont wan't to sound sarcastic but the car was buried under the ground - as water has a preference for flowing downhill where the hell was it going to drain to?
Or maybe they installed a superior type of "sucking pump" - was there a Paris Hilton model (?) of sucking pump available 50 years ago? :hmm: :hmm:

Hey galdian,

Yeah, I get your point, I just thought that they might have connected a drain to the storm water system which is usually well below road level and might have been deep enough to suit.

In any case, my point remains, it might have been swimming for a few years.

ABX:ok:

From the first post by ORAC:


Another unknown is who will be able to claim the car. When the car was buried, a contest was announced to award the car and a $100 savings account to the person who came closest to guessing Tulsa's population in 2007. Organizers concede that finding that person or his or her heirs may not be easy.


Was this $100 plus interest?

50 years compound interest at say, a nominal rate of 5% = nice little bonus for the pocket.

ABX:
so you're saying they didn't have "Paris Hilton Sucking Pumps", or similar, 50 years ago?
Sorry but honest :confused: :confused: question :E

A little research shows that, in 1957 they were celebrating 50 years since the establishment of Oklahoma State in 1907, so 'another 50 years' was quite a significant period of time . . .
Beats me why they didn't install CCTV cameras to monitor the buried vehicle . . .

Rrrright ...:zzz:

galdian, I will entertain one more time.:ugh:


so you're saying they didn't have "Paris Hilton Sucking Pumps", or similar, 50 years ago?


1) No. These are your words, not mine. Mine are typed in the little boxes with my name next to them.

2) Paris Hilton - the person - was not born 50 years ago.

3) I have no knowledge of any basement pumps in the Hilton Hotel, Paris (Paris Hilton).

4) The pictures in this thread show no indication of drainage or pumps.

5) The text states that the car was sealed in the pit for fifty years, I do in fact doubt that 50 years ago they had the technology to produce pumps (even "Paris Hilton Sucking Pumps") that would work in a sealed environment and totally maintenance free for 50 years plus.

I hope this clears things up for you, or at the very least kept you amused for a few moments.

ABX
Many, many thanks - now both very clear and (slightly, at least to myself if no-one else,) gently amused.
Cheers :ok: :ok:

I remember when they dug up the Blue Peter "time capsule" in 2000,
That was P*ss wet through.

The winner - if located - will be 50 years older and the prize may well be a pile of soggy rust ... bring on June 15th!

The capsule will be opened in a few hours...

This website says it will broadcast the opening live and also post pics etc. (http://www.buriedcar.com/)

Oh dear, looks like it didn't do so well...

No drainage in the vault, the water was over the roof level.

Great pics here. (http://www.tulsachevys.com/Images/buriedcar/index.html)

News article here. (http://www.ktul.com/news/stories/0607/431159.html)

...bit of paint here and there and some new tyres and she'll be right as ninepence mate.

What's the betting they've got a fully restored model hidden away somewhere as a "just in case". Lets face it, all the records of the original are gone and it can't be THAT hard to find an old, unregistered one that's been languishing in someones barn for the past 40 years and pay soeone to fix it all up nice and shiny on the QT!

Here are some comments from todays issue of "The Oklahoman", Oklahoma City's daily newspaper.

Ten gallons of gasoline and five quarts of motor oil are in the vault. Reason being was that in 1957 they were not sure that gasoline and oil would still be in use. (Optimistic bunch.)

Boyd Coddington, host of the cable Chanel "The Learning Chanel" show "American Hot Rods" was brought to Tulsa to attempt to start the car stated, "It's probably better than it looks."

The car will be unveiled at 6:30 PM CDT today. They will start to remove the car from the vault around noon CDT. (Which is about now).

Standby.

Good job it's not in UK; if it was, DVLA would be demanding road tax in arrears any minute now........

s'funny, but I'm really sad to see that water got in.

I love the concept of time-capsuls. One would not however, be thus encaptulated...you never know what you might be missing. :hmm:

http://www.ktul.com/news/stories/0607/431755.html
Two hours to go . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2cPBl6scJk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9UxL9jqe_s&NR=1

...."And now folks,here we have one we prepared earlier"... :hmm:

Half an hour to go . . .

Another half hour - now to be 18.30 CDT!

where are you watching it from? am trying to get a live feed over the net?

Talk about suspense:-
The car was being examined by a crew of automotive experts led by award-winning car-builder Boyd Coddington prior to a 7 p.m. public unveiling.
That's 01.00 BST.

it's only 12 mins to now and still can't get a connnection on the net! think i'm going to have to wait til the video...:{

http://www.kotv.com/

yep, that's the site that i'm on - darn it!! ah well..

http://www.kotv.com/e-clips/live/default.html#
Starts in 6 minutes.

Or try http://www.kotv.com/special/buried-car/# in a minute

got it!! thanks! :ok:



:sad: rust damage....

Tinworm has beaten the 'experts' . . .

Seems they didn't anticipate fifty years submerged in rainwater . . .

Looks like the rear suspension has totally collapsed.

The beer was in steel cans . . .

time capsule looks good - can't believe that flag is so clean! :D

Aerial photographs of Tulsa taken by . . .

. . . the Douglas Aircraft Company.

Whatever happened to them?

(In exactly that time I was collecting aircraft photographs and wrote to all the American Companies and received copious quantities of real photographs of their aircraft. Of course my Mother dumped my collection when I left home - they were mounted on cartridge-paper pages of about A1 size (though imperial) bound into hardboard covers. :{ )

I wonder if Boyd Cottington will attempt a restoration of the old girl? It looks like its in really bad shape though... I guess 50 years in its own swimming pool will do that!

The special on KOTV is starting to drag out now.:zzz:

One wonders what a car will look like fifty years from now?
The Belvedere, although dated, is recognisable as a car. If it hadn't been ruined by submersion in water, it would have been usable on today's roads without too many problems (except maybe getting leaded gasoline).

I must say G-CPTN, that I had wondered the same thing. Will our exponential increase in technology mean that the car as we know it today will be gone?

I guess even if they do disappear over the next 5 decades we will still have some 2007 models in museums around the globe...

What make and model would be 'typical' of today's motor-car?
Hybrids are still 'new-fangled' and hardly typical, nor would a Maclaren F1 or Maclaren Mercedes be. It would have to be a run-of-the-mill family car.
VW Golf or Passat?
Or SUV such as Range Rover?
Don't know what's typical US vehicle (F100 or Dodge Ram?).

Honda Civic ....... [made in Ohio]

The Egyptians had a far better handle on this sort of thing than the Americans

Why is that Tinny? Because they had camels?

G-CPTN, for me the Peugeot 307 HDI wagon is pretty good.

Probably not representative of the main stream Australian car, but hard to beat in my opinion.

Did you know that PSA (The Peugeot & Citroen parent company) plan to bring out a diesel 62 mpg Peugeot hybrid soon? I will watch with interest.

I bet that if they had cars there would be one still working in Cairo today.

(Hang on...I think there is..) :hmm:

I think they may be able to sell it in Alice Springs

http://photos.freenewmexican.com/2007/06/15/53650_640x480.jpg

http://photos.freenewmexican.com/2007/06/15/53647_640x480.jpg

They would if they threw in a slab of VB Tinny.

I can't believe they didn't include drainage in the crypt.:ugh:

I think they may be able to sell it in Alice Springs
Only if there was unleaded in it!

So, I guess my photo on page 1 wasn't that far from the truth!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/player/nol/newsid_6320000/newsid_6326300?redirect=6326331.stm&news=1&bbram=1&nbwm=1&bbwm=1&nbram=1

G-CPTN,

I guess the people on the Tulsa committee in 1957 should have consulted your guys about how to prepare a time capsule!

Can they claim on the rustproofing warranty?

Have they looked in the trunk yet? :ooh:

Yup!
Pretty sad sight - rusted leaking beer-cans a glass bottle of gasoline (at least they didn't leave it in a steel can!) and general mayhem. The sealed canister containing the flag and various documents (including a local newspaper) was also found in the trunk.
Lack of foresight on behalf of the folk who buried the car in 1957.

Amuses me how this is being viewed as a piece of history, when I know peolple with Yoghurts older than that at the back the fridge.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/webextra/content/2007/buriedcarunearthed/video.aspx
http://www.tulsaworld.com/webextra/content/2007/buriedcarunearthed/default.aspx

Probably done the rounds but deffo worth a look

http://www.intuh.net/barnfinds/afa70.htm

Reminiscent of the Schlumpf (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3%A9e_National_de_l'Automobile_de_Mulhouse) collection.

Cant find out what the story is with the Barn anyone know more?