Posted on 03/20/2007 12:10:23 PM PDT by decimon
.
Yup! Me too!
$90,000
190 miles per hour+
27+ miles per gallon
0-100 in under 8 seconds
I thought it was more like $130 thousand in that original article?? Unbelievable.
Lol, what would you do with 190 mph?? Have to build your own speedway!!
We went to the unearthing!
I took the jedis and took a lot of pictures. We couldn’t see anything because of the crowd, but I held my youngest jedi up so he could see. Fitting, as he is our only “true” Oklahoman. (My oldest considers himself an Oklahoman...he’s been here since he was two.)
I gotta say...I had a great time. The turnout was good, even though the weather was drizzly at times. We took the bus from Oral Roberts University so we wouldn’t have to contend with parking and the crowd. And there was a great crowd!
We took a lot of pictures...it was a lot of fun and everyone was kind of in the spirit of the occasion. Happy, smiling, talking. Typical friendly Oklahomans.
I’ll post a link to the pictures in a bit.
Ping!
Is this the ‘unearthing’ or when they buried it? I did not keep up with the news on this.
Yes, I knew it was $135 thousand the other day but just rounded it off, lol. My memory is better for things like that than politics!!
OMG, this is SOOOOOOOO sad.
I saw the website pictures. That car is mostly junk.
The body is still pretty solid with mostly surface rust; probably usable for some parts. But even the engine looks destroyed. Never mind the interior!
I feel so badly for this car.
It was a fun time, despite the car’s appearance!
:-)
~~~
Buried Car Ping!
It all started on Friday when they unearthed the 57 Belvedere buried outside the courthouse fifty years ago. My youngest was the only one that got to see it actually lifted out of the ground, because he literally stood on my hip while I held him around the legs so he could see over the crowd.
Then we saw it hauled down the street, still covered up in the canvas cover it was buried in.
But it was heartbreaking. You could tell that the car had been submerged repeatedly over the last fifty years. When they took the concrete slab off, it was half submerged at the time. Some parts of it was completely rusted away. So sad. People from 50 years ago were there as special guests...the children at the time...were so optimistic it would be ok, but it wasn't.
The time capsule that had also been placed in the vault came out rusty but sound. It was in a type of steel tank. They cut it open and when they took the top off you could see that all had survived.
Anyways, Saturday, we went to the convention center to see the old Belvedere and also to check out a massive car show they had going on. It was hot and fun and exhausting.
Then on Sunday we went back to Tulsarama and my youngest worked the Oklahoma Route 66 Association booth. (He's been a member since seeing the movie "Cars".)
Here is what the car looked like at the unearthing...
Here it is at the convention center after the unveiling.
This is what it should've looked like.
Some artifacts from the trunk...some Schlitz and gasoline.
The lid of the tank that they cut off...with a bumper sticker from the time stuck in there. Talks about a tom-tom...I guess that's a powwow? (I saw on TV when they cut this lid off. When I saw that bumper sticker, so bright and clear...I knew the contents would be in good condition. I let out a whoop!)
My youngest looking at the plans for the new Oklahoma Route 66 Association museum with the chairman of the Tulsa Route 66 Association, Brad Hickson and one of the chairmen of Tulsarama, Joe Cappy.
The museum will be in the same location as our current buried car...a purple Plymouth Prowler.
So we'll all meet again in 2048 to see that Prowler dug up! See you there!
That reminds me. My neighbor was having some trouble with his septic system. So he dug it all out with a backhoe and put four cars in there and backfilled. Too bad it didn’t work, not even until the next summer.
Thanks for the pictures. At least they can take the rusted out car, put it on blocks and set it in some poor hillbilly’s front yard and nobody will be any wiser. ;-)
Well, it could have been worse. They could have buried it near the Murrah building.
BTTT
Good pics. Think I’ll pass on the brewskis.
Too bad the Prowler isn’t very representative of what’s being driven.
Thanks for the pix, especially info on the Rte66 Assn. Where is Centennial Park?
I was as disappointed as everyone else that Miss Belvedere didn’t turn out as a beauty in the unveiling. Funny thing, on my nightly Andy Griffith viewing last night, there was a bright shiny ‘57 Plymouth in the background on Main Street down the block from the courthouse - in a 1960 episode.
It was one of the first 5-6 shows and I guess they hadn’t gone to exclusively Ford products being shown at that point yet. But there it was - and I thought of Tulsa’s time capsule car! Being B&W, the color didn’t show and I don’t know if it was a Belvedere or Savoy or some other model, but it was definitely a ‘57. Love the gold restored one that was there in T-town for the car show!
Good luck to all the Rte66’ers. I did some events with the OKC group when I lived up there - also some in El Reno and Elk City.
Happy TulsaRama!
P.S. I think the Tom-Tom was the name of the Tulsa Central HS yearbook - I used to have my mother’s set of them. I’m not certain, but it’s possible Central was still the only HS back in ‘57, but maybe not.
Also, I remember when we had big highway billboards in OK that said “Arrows to Atoms” and there was some other tourism slogan about the contrast between Indian Territory and the Space Age (1950s), but I can’t remember it now. Also, something about tom-toms and tomahawks to *something.*
*oh well!*
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.