(Tulsa Oklahoma) to dig up car buried for 50 years on June 15th 2007

[-American-]

I'm sure some have heard of this. Back in 1957 Tulsa Oklahoma made a time capsule. The car, which was buried in brand-new condition (with various other objects from 1957) under the lawn of the Tulsa County Courthouse, is scheduled to be unearthed June 15 as part of the Oklahoma Centennial.

Click the first link below and you'll see pics of them preparing the car to be unearthed on Friday. It's quite sad because when they opened the tomb WATER had leaked in and it was pretty high. If you look at the pics the rear deck lid has water on top of it meaning the car was pretty much submerged.:frown: You can see the pumps that had to be used to pump out the water.

So the car has probably been in water for the past 50 years.:cry: I predict a rust bucket when the take the cover off.


http://www.tulsachevys.com/Images/buriedcar/index.html

http://www.buriedcar.com/

[Cold_War_Warrior]

I saw the news report of the tomb being unearthed and they found it had been flooded over the years. Too, bad. I though that someone at the next Barrett Jackson auction would be buying a “brand new” old car.

People bought tickets to the official unveiling ceremony this coming Friday for $25 and are now looking for refunds since they already know the car is ruined. That was the whole reason for the suspense. What would the car look like after fifty years?

Someone will still get to have it awarded to them for guessing in ’57 what the correct population number for the city of Tulsa would be in 2007.

[Killian]

Unearthing the “time capsule” after only 50 years. – That’s dumb . . . really dumb.

It’s not as if there are no cars from 1957 tooling around. It’s not as if everyone that was alive in 1957 is dead. It’s not as if they’re going to find King Tut’s tomb. They aren’t going to discover the missing link or a message from an advanced civilization buried 50,000 years ago. They will be digging up an old car with stuff in it that you might find at a garage sale.

[Ex_Spy_Guy]

i heard about this on thr radio

[JenyEliza]

I think this is neat...although it *is* really sad that the car has been flooded all this time. What a shame.

I wonder if they're going to re-bury another car after improving the site to make it waterproof? :think:

[ImNewHere]

I've been to Tulsa. I think they should spend less time on that one car and more time fixing all the cars on blocks in all of those front yards.

[-American-]

Here is a video of when they opened the tomb. Apparently the car was under 10 feet of water.:cry:

The redish brown you see on the tarp covering the car is bits and pieces of rust. When they take that cover off tomorrow there won't be a pristine white and gold Plymouth underneath that's for sure.

[VRWCbabe]

Unearthing the “time capsule” after only 50 years. – That’s dumb . . . really dumb.

It’s not as if there are no cars from 1957 tooling around. It’s not as if everyone that was alive in 1957 is dead. It’s not as if they’re going to find King Tut’s tomb. They aren’t going to discover the missing link or a message from an advanced civilization buried 50,000 years ago. They will be digging up an old car with stuff in it that you might find at a garage sale.
That's not why they did it, genius.

They buried the car in honor of Oklahoma's 50th year of Statehood. This year is the Centennial (that's 100th). The idea was to create a time capsule of Oklahoma artifacts that would show the changes in Oklahoma over the next 50 years of Statehood.

Of course, I don't really expect that you would have put down your beer/alcohol du jour long enough to actually learn some HISTORY, but Oklahoma's centennial celebration is a pretty big deal.

[jb1500]

How sad! I used to love those Plymouths. They were so much more open and airy than the cars we have today. The colors from the 50s and 60's were so much better too.

[-American-]

Today is the day, 12:00 o'clock high is when the car will be revealed.

[JenyEliza]

Updated story on the buried Belvedere (including links to video of the unveiling).

http://www.kotv.com/news/topstory/?id=129540

[-American-]

It's doesn't look as bad as I thought it would. Just look at the section of chrome bumper that they wiped off, the chrome still shines.

You all have to remember there is a lot of muck and mud all over the car in these pics. She'll look better once they get her cleaned up.

Obviously there is rust but again not as bad as I thought it would be. When they told us that the tomb was filled with water, I figured the car would literally have huge rust holes in the metal. I don't see that in these pics. Yes there is rust, yes the interior is gone, and yes the engine is toast, but I'll have to disagree with those who believe there is nothing left to restore.

I believe Boyd Codington is going to restore "Miss Belvedre

http://www.kotv.com/e-clips/?id=6761


http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070616/capt.732f548ad1a442bba1524a73b65199c0.buried_belve dere_okso115.jpg
http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20070616/i/r2958703623.jpg
http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070616/capt.645e9b36e41d4e95b1880cd4c86c46f4.buried_belve dere_okso118.jpg
http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070616/capt.a4a20e45efc7437bb70fc6252f9bf1ca.buried_belve dere_okso114.jpg
http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070616/capt.34c2be8cdc09415eacc44649225c5471.buried_belve dere_okso111.jpg
http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070616/capt.2a40887f1c454be3b45e75fd32f13428.buried_belve dere_okso112.jpg


And this is what it looked like when they put it in the ground back in 1957.
http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070616/capt.c5cd6b08c53b4a0da9958a04716275d0.buried_belve dere_okso108.jpg

[F9thRet]

Unearthing the “time capsule” after only 50 years. – That’s dumb . . . really dumb.

It’s not as if there are no cars from 1957 tooling around. It’s not as if everyone that was alive in 1957 is dead. It’s not as if they’re going to find King Tut’s tomb. They aren’t going to discover the missing link or a message from an advanced civilization buried 50,000 years ago. They will be digging up an old car with stuff in it that you might find at a garage sale.

Part of the reason Killian is that Oklahoma turns 100 years old this year. a fifty YO time capsule is not out of the question. I'm actually kinda happy about the whole thing, as I was lucky enough to grow up knowing people in my family who where inlaws, outlaws, and even a US marshal back when this was just the Oklahoma territory.

Stephen

[wayne230]

I kept thinking of my favorite film "Back to the Future" when I saw that. Except that the Delorian was in that hole for 100 years

[F9thRet]

I kept thinking of my favorite film "Back to the Future" when I saw that. Except that the Delorian was in that hole for 100 years


That has been and will always be my dream car, But remember, it was also made out of Stainless Steel.

Stephen

[bigtwnvin]

I remember a 1957 Plymouth Suburban my father had what a tank! He always seemed to be patching holes in the body or working on the engine.
It's a shame this cars interior was ruined by water/ mud. Although the moisture, the rust may be minimal because of the lack of air.
I wonder if the gunnite company guaranteed the "tomb" to be water tight? :))

[ScottFree]

I think what you are seeing on this car is disolved clay. I would be surprised if there is much rust after they clean all that off. You see, what rust is is the oxidation of steel and Iron. In order for oxidation to occur you need oxygen. I am willing to bet there was not much if any oxygen down there fo the last 50 years. The interior, and electrical is likely shot. Mechanicals maybe salvageable (engine, gears, ect.) They need to get that car someplace temp controled in a hurry though. I wonder how the other artifacts faired.

[-American-]

Pic's from Saturday (6/16).
http://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL482/8815282/16830316/260059491.jpg
http://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL482/8815282/16830316/260059497.jpg
http://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL482/8815282/16830316/260059520.jpg
http://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL482/8815282/16830316/260059528.jpg

[-American-]

So here is the latest as of July 18th.

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=62651


Tulsa's junk is Cumberland woman's treasure
Originally published July 18, 2007


By Karen Shih
News-Post Staff

At 93, a Cumberland woman is getting a new car, but she won’t be driving it. Problem is, her 1957 Plymouth Belvedere spent 50 years underground.
The city of Tulsa, Okla., buried the car in 1957 as part of its semi-centennial celebration. The city unearthed the two-door sedan on June 14 for Tulsa's centennial.

The car, which is faded and rusted, now belongs to Catherine Johnson. She is the sister of Raymond Humbertson, the man who entered a contest five decades ago.

Humbertson, a Marine, guessed the closest number to the actual population of Tulsa for 2007 at 384,743.

The actual population as of June 1: 382,457.

"We had no idea what he was doing in Tulsa in 1957," said Bob Carney, Johnson's and Humbertson's nephew and a Frederick resident. He is taking charge of making the vehicle presentable.

"The only thing we could possibly figure out was he was coming back" from Asia, he said.

Humbertson died in 1979, and his wife died in 1988. Johnson is his closest living relative, so the car goes to her.

Humbertson and his brothers were all car enthusiasts, Carney said.

The car, which is in storage in Tulsa, is rusty and water damaged.

The city stored the Belvedere in a concrete case and covered it in cosmolene to keep it from rusting.

But the area flooded several times in the past 50 years, creating significant water damage to the car.

"We're gonna see if we can't de-rust it, once the car is presented and we can move it," Carney said.

"Who knows what it looks like underneath all that?"

Tulsa will give the car to Johnson on Sept. 14.

After that, Carney will work with Ultra One Corp. to remove the rust.
Then, he plans to coat and paint the car once more. The car was brand-new and yellow with a white stripe when the town buried it.

When new, the car was worth around $2,800, Carney said. If the car had been in good shape today, it could have commanded around $25,000.

"We're trying to keep it, as much as possible, as is," Carney said.

"We don't want to restore it. It takes a lot of historic values away from the car.

We'll clean it up the best we can," he said.

Once he finishes that, the car may end up in a museum or an auction block, Carney said.


Thankfully they are going to clean up the car. I'm wondering just how bad the rust is, but I can't tell with all the gunk on the car.

[ImNewHere]

I thought you were going to say they found a body in the trunk.

[mbrens]

Unearthing the “time capsule” after only 50 years. – That’s dumb . . . really dumb.

It’s not as if there are no cars from 1957 tooling around. It’s not as if everyone that was alive in 1957 is dead. It’s not as if they’re going to find King Tut’s tomb. They aren’t going to discover the missing link or a message from an advanced civilization buried 50,000 years ago. They will be digging up an old car with stuff in it that you might find at a garage sale.


DUMB? WHY? There are many "time capsules" around the country to be opened in 50-100 years. I remember in 1962 Paul and Paula placed a new song in one to be opened in 100 years. This was when they were having top hits.

[-American-]

I figured I'd post the latest on "Miss Belvedere" as it's close to the one year anniversary of the car being unearthed after being entombed for 50 years.

The car will be dipped in some type of rust removal solution. So far they've removed the gunk off the right front fender.


http://forum.missbelvedere.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=174&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&sid=a4df54b9b7613a455fa3a7b7b64c0e46

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i192/Zach979/57Plymouth.jpg