The Buried Car!

[Patrick M.]

they buried a 1957 Plymouth Belvedere in a vault in Tulsa. Friday they will pull it out! If I'm lucky, my parents, or my wife's parents, guessed what the population would be this year and we'll be the proud owners of it!

Link: http://www.buriedcar.com/

<span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:100%"><span style="font-family:Arial"> Auto Restorer magazine has an excellent 6 page article on this in its June issue. http://www.autorestorermagazine.com/ar/
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Okay, now the bad news. They opened it up a little today to take a look and it appears that water has been in and out of the vault, up to window level, over the past 50 years. If I win, I might be winning a box of rust! <span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:100%"><span style="font-family:Arial"><span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:100%">
http://www.kotv.com/news/topstory/?id=129390</span>
</span></span>

[Roger H]

So... uhhh... Patrick... do you think there'll be anything in the car about live internet streaming of the opening of the vault?

Who'd have imagined the Internet in 1957?

Roger

[Donna D.]

it appears that water has been in and out of the vault, up to window level, over the past 50 years.

Ah nutz How cool would this have been to open the vault and find a pristine brand-new 1957 car!

[Herb P]

So... uhhh... Patrick... do you think there'll be anything in the car about live internet streaming of the opening of the vault?

Who'd have imagined the Internet in 1957?

Not far off though. ARPAnet was first proposed in August 1962 as a 'Galactic network'. ARPAnet was eventually created and then unleashed on the masses and became 'the intarwebs'. There was way less porn on the net back then.

My question is, will they find Jimmy Hoffa in the trunk?

[Mary F]

This is cool, though:

The vault was briefly opened Wednesday so hazardous materials crews could inspect the 10 gallons of gasoline and motor oil cans that had been placed in the time capsule [b]in case internal combustion engines became obsolete by 2007.

[Christi V.]

Oh big bummers!!!

[Patrick M.]

It was wrapped in plastic (there was plastic in 1957?), so maybe there is hope its in reasonable condition.

And of course they stored the really important stuff!

Photos: http://www.sharpcast.com/photos/user/burie..._90430536417339

[Mary F]

And of course they stored the really important stuff!

I'll bet that is one case of FLAT beer!

[Patrick M.]

The unearthing and display will be webcasted, and good news, the winner or next of kin has five years to claim it!

Digging Up Tulsa's History


It's an event 50 years in the making, and you can see if live on the News On 6 and KOTV.com. It's Tulsarama!

Watch the unveiling of the 1957 Belvedere as it happens! "The Buried Car and What's Inside" live on the web at kotv.com or live on The News On 6 at 7:00-8:00PM Friday, June 15.

A 1957 Plymouth Belvedere Sport Coupe will be unearthed from a time capsule buried exactly 50 years earlier. The now classic, white and gold car was mounted on steel skids, and wrapped in a protective covering to help preserve it before it was put in the ground on the southeast corner of the Tulsa County Courthouse lawn, approximately 100 feet north of the intersection of 6th Street and Denver Avenue.

The car was seen as a way to show 21st century citizens a suitable representation of 1957. And according to event chairman, Lewis Roberts Sr., the Plymouth was chosen because it was "an advanced product of American industrial ingenuity with the kind of lasting appeal that will still be in style 50 years from now."

In celebration of Oklahoma's centennial the car will be dug up and given away. Back in 1957 citizens were asked to guess Tulsa's population in the year 2007. Those guesses were recorded on microfilm and sealed in a steel container inside the Plymouth. On June 1, 2007 Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor announced that the magic number for the Belvedere is 382,457. Taylor verified the numbers with the U.S. Census Bureau, and the event coordinator, Sharon King Davis, says the car is not the only prize.

"And also, there is a $100 savings account that was placed with the chamber of commerce in 1957, and we are pleased to announce after 50 years, 50 years of growing interest, it's a little more than $700," Event Coordinator Sharon King Davis said. "But that also goes with the car. We have kiddingly said, 'Mayor, that will get it gassed up and get the title changed.'"

Since the guesses are buried with the car, the winner will not be announced until a week after the Belvedere is resurrected. The winner has five years to come forward to claim their prize, and if the winner has passed on the car, its contents and the savings account, goes to his or her next of kin.

At noon on Friday, June 15, 2007, tune into the News On 6 for live coverage of the unearthing of the Belvedere. After it is dug up the car, and its contents, will be loaded onto a trailer and taken to the Tulsa Convention Center. Only a limited number of people are allowed at the unearthing, but The News On 6 will have complete coverage during the Noon show and on KOTV.com. Then at 7 p.m. tune into the News On 6 and KOTV.com for an exclusive look at the unveiling of the car, which has garnered national attention. For your friends and family not in Tulsa live streaming video of the unveiling will be broadcast on KOTV.com, so everyone around the world can see how the old girl held up over 50 years in the ground.

The lucky winner will get the car and the saving bonds. All the objects buried in the car in 1957 will go to the Tulsa Historical Society.

[Patrick M.]

Today's the day, and the excitement has spread around the world!

Man Travels Across The World To See The Buried Belvedere
KOTV - 6/14/2007 8:52 PM - Updated 6/14/2007 10:14 PM

Belvedere fever spreads to the other side of the world. Thousands of people will watch Friday night to see what became of Tulsa’s famous buried car. But chances are no one has traveled farther to see the unveiling than Michael Lindmark. News On 6 anchor Omar Villafranca reports Lindmark traveled more than 6,800 miles from his hometown in Sweden to Tulsa, Oklahoma, just to see a piece of American history.

In Sweden, there's a word for people like Lindmark.

"Bieltukig, car crazy," Lindmark said.

Lindmark loves American cars. Not the newer, flashy models, but the older, forgotten ones.

"Mostly 40's and the 50's, I like the curves on the old, big, big cars,” he said. "I have a ‘48 Pontiac and a '67 Skylark convertible."

He first read about Tulsa's buried Belvedere in a Swedish car magazine.

"And there it stood, a small ad of a car that was buried, and I thought that I must see it," Lindmark said.

Lindmark's wife and five daughters know he's crazy about cars. But when he told them he wanted to take a family vacation to the U.S. to see a buried car, they thought he lost his mind.

“They're still calling me crazy,” he said. “Most of my friends understood why I wanted to see the car, because they know how much I love the American, vintage cars."

It wasn't until Lindmark landed in Tulsa that he learned he needed tickets to see the buried Belvedere in person. He got a little help from his landlord and an anonymous donor scored him a ticket.

"Hopefully I will see a fresh car,” Lindmark said.

“But if it has a little damage, are you going to be disappointed?” asked News On 6 anchor Omar Villafranca.

“No. It doesn't matter if it's rusty. I love the cars anyway,” Lindmark said.

Not bad for his first trip to the U.S.

Lindmark’s wife and five daughters won't be able to go but will watch it on TV.

Michael Lindmark loves American cars so much, he's starting a business to import older American cars to Sweden.

[pjanits]

My first car was a 57' Plymouth Bevidere, It was 10 yrs old when I got it.

Pretty rusty and burned oil, but the push button trans still worked ok.

Oh yeah I almost forgot, if it's just a little dampish out it won't start.

[Patrick M.]

The car and the time capsule are out!

[Darwin Maring]

Any chance Jimmy Hoffa will B at the wheel?

[Patrick M.]

"After 50 years of waiting, the '57 Plymouth Belvedere's protective coatings were peeled off. Time and water took its toll on the car buried underground in downtown Tulsa. During its 50 years underground, water leaked into the vault, and years of rust covered the buried treasure. Back in 1957, organizers put a glass jug of gas in the car just in case fossil fuels were history. The gas survived, but the tank it was meant to fill up didn't.

The beer in the trunk is no longer drinkable, but the event wasn't a total loss.

Buried next to the Belvedere was a time capsule. The contents survived decades underground.

Plates, yearbooks, coins and even newspapers were pulled out of the capsule, looking as crisp as they did when they were buried half a century ago."

[BOBSMITH]

What a fiasco! This should be a lesson to any schmuck who shells out dough to pay for burial vaults. Every one of those things leaks. All of them. I've seen many photos and videos of vaults being disinterred for various reason, and every one of them are invariably full of water. If you put these stupid vaults underground, they will leak, and they will fill with water.

[Patrick M.]

There is a good reason that people are buried above ground in New Orleans, as they stay high and dry except for the occassional hurricane + levy break event.

So if I win this car I'll take the savings bond but maybe pass on the rusting hulk, although it may be worth something on ebay!

The sad, sad pictures here: http://www.buriedcar.com/photo_gallery_new.htm

[Donald Stahl]

This is really exciting ! Buried treasure for sure ! Some lucky person will be the winner of this spectacular find ! No, I don't mean the car. I mean the ten gallons of gas ! Do you realise how much that will bring on the open market ? !!

[Lizbeth]

Hey it's just a little surface rust.

[pjanits]

After 10 years in Chicago mine looked almost that bad.
I'd like to see some pics after they scrub it off, that bumper looked pretty good where they clean off the crud.
I am amazed there is still air in the front tire.

They don't build them like that anymore.

[Christi V.]

I use to have a car like that one.. cant remember what yr it was tho.. I do remember it looking like the car from Stephen Kings "Christine'.. mine was also Red.. and I remember the pushbutton tranny buttons