Posted on 06/15/2007 12:26:27 PM PDT by Kaslin
TULSA, Okla. - Hundreds watched Friday as a crane lifted a muddy package from a hole in the courthouse lawn: a 1957 Plymouth Belvedere buried to celebrate Oklahoma's 50 years of statehood.
The wrapped car — a gold and white two-door hardtop — appeared brown and red as it came out of the hole, but it was unclear whether the color represented dirt or rust. A bit of shiny chrome was visible on the bumper.
The car spent the last half-century covered in three layers of protective material and encased in a 12-by-20-foot concrete vault, supposedly tough enough to withstand a nuclear attack.
But event officials already had to pump out several feet of water from its crypt.
The car was placed on a flatbed truck so it could be unwrapped, spruced up and officially unveiled Friday evening at the Tulsa Convention Center. Spectators packed the streets to glimpse its journey.
Whether the car will start was unknown. Those who gathered to watch it being pulled out of the ground did not seem to care.
"I just need to see it," said Marc Montague of Auckland, New Zealand, among the couple hundred spectators amassed at the downtown site Thursday afternoon. "I've been waiting 15 years for this."
Also buried with it were 10 gallons of gasoline — in case internal combustion engines became obsolete by 2007 — a case of beer, and the contents of a typical woman's handbag placed in the glove compartment: 14 bobby pins, a bottle of tranquilizers, a lipstick, a pack of gum, tissues, a pack of cigarettes, matches and $2.43.
There was also a spool of microfilm that recorded the entries of a contest to determine who would win the car: the person who guessed the closest of what Tulsa's population would be in 2007 — 382,457 — would win.
That person, or his or her heirs, will get the car and a $100 savings account, worth about $1,200 today with interest.
Thursday afternoon, legendary hot rod builder Boyd Coddington inspected the vault and what he was able to see of the car with his crew.
The task will fall to Coddington, host of the TV series American Hot Rod on The Learning Channel, to try to start the thing up at a ceremony Thursday evening. Tens of thousands of tickets were sold for the event.
"We're optimistic," Coddington said. "I'm really concerned about the rust on the bottom of the car."
Back on the day the Belvedere was buried, all Bixby resident Marlene Parker wanted to do was find a photographer for her wedding. Catching a glimpse of the car being lowered into the ground was the last thing on her priority list.
Unfortunately, not for the photographer: He was shooting the burial.
This weekend, the 70-year-old will celebrate 50 years of marriage and may come downtown to see what all the fuss was about back then.
"Probably across the pond people know about it," Parker said. "If nobody knew where Tulsa, Oklahoma was before, they do now."
Oops, forgot to ping me and not the OP! *blushing*
ditto
Bump.
John / Billybob
Gasoline does not age well. This sounds like a dumb idea from the git go.
Forget the car, is the beer OK?
Gasoline does not age well.
I’m sure the old leaded gas is a pretty good grade of turpentine.
Yeah, using the original gasoline does seem like a dumb idea. I don’t really know for sure if they’re gonna actually “use” the original gasoline or not. I only know for sure that they buried it with some gasoline (I think 10 gallons). They’re probably gonna use fresh gas, I would imagine.
—
Ahhh..., I just saw a news blurb on TV — just now. They just said that the gas and oil (for the car) was put in other containers and not in the car, itself. Those containers were buried along with the car.
And a further note, on the starting of the car. It was just announced that they’re not going to be able to start it by tonight. So, that’s out of the picture, apparently.
It’s all over the local news now. They’re really building it up...
As it came from 1950 OK it was likely 3.2 Bud. So the answer is no, it's not OK.
I meant burying a car for 50 years was dumb too. Did the water get into the car?
It worked for me... You have to click on the “Last Show Archive” link at the top right of the player. It then shows the “LIVE” unearthing of the “Great Car Digup”.
It says a new show will also be put up tomorrow at 9 am.
Here’s the link again: http://www.oklatravelnet.com/
Ahhh..., I see... Well, I read an article in the paper that said the burying of the car was an attempt by the city of Tulsa to take some of the publicity away from Oklahoma City when it came around to the 100th Anniversary for statehood for Oklahoma. So, it was apparently partly a rivalry between Oklahoma City and Tulsa and partly publicity for Tulsa, too. Can’t tell you much more than that, though.
As far as water getting in the car, the public has not been informed yet. Only a few people know at this point in time. The unveiling is supposed to happen at 7PM (at the Tulsa Convention Center), although the car was removed from the vault at noon today. It was said that there was several feet of water in the vault, but they didn’t specify exactly how many feet. I got the idea (somehow...) that it was two or three feet. I don’t know what that would do to the car.
The news people (some of whom claim they’ve gotten some advanced sneak peeks to the car), say that the car is in pretty good shape, considering. Whatever that means, I don’t know.
You’ll be able to watch it live, on one of those links I posted up above, if you’re interested.
If you like horse piss, than I guess it would be
Ahhh..., I got it to work. I’ll have to save the video file. Thanks...
BUMMER!,I was hoping that they sealed the container when they buried it.:(
placeholder.
Worse. They have diplomas from public high schools.
That may be true... but they do have this guy on the case
The beer has rotted. You won’t be able to drink it. You can’t even drink a beer that is six month to a year old
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.