(UPDATED, 16 June: The Plymouth has been unearthed and unveiled. New links below.)
If you happen find yourself in Tulsa, Oklahoma on June 15, bring a shovel. Buried beneath the dirt of the Tulsa County Courthouse lawn, about 100 feet north of the intersection of Sixth Street and Denver Avenue, a 1957 Plymouth Belvedere Sport Coupe has been hidden underground for half a century. Swaddled in rust-resistant preservatives and gently placed inside a giant concrete sarcophagus, the tailfinned Plymouth was interred on June 15, 1957 as the centerpiece of a time capsule created for the 21st century citizens of Tulsa 2007.
They probably expected we would re-open the time capsule with hover-shovels -- unless, of course, we'd already perfected our atomic de-materializers. Regardless, in 1957 Tulsa's civic leaders hoped to dazzle their future descendants with the scope of their own technological prowess. So in addition to burying a brand-new Plymouth, they also packed the car with a variety of advanced products and wares -- including a case of Schlitz beer and the complete contents of a woman's purse. This explains why, when today's auto-archaeologists open the glove box of the buried Belvedere, inside they will find fourteen bobby pins, a ladies compact plastic rain cap, several combs, a tube of lipstick, a pack of gum, a wad of Kleenex, $2.73 in bills and coins, a pack of cigarettes with matches, an unpaid parking ticket, and a bottle of tranquilizers.
Here's how the burial was described by the Tulsa Tribune on June 15, 1957:
A 1957 automobile was buried in the courthouse lawn today - with a bottle of tranquilizer pills in the glove compartment.
Into the hole with the new Plymouth hardtop went a steel "time capsule'' containing assorted documents and artifacts of Oklahoma's semi-centennial year.
The car, mounted on a steel skid and swathed in a plastic and paper wrapping, was lowered into the concrete-lined well no the southeast corner of the lawn during dedicatory ceremonies marking the observance of Golden Jubilee Week here.
"This is the sort of thing that could happen only in Tulsa,'' commented Chairman Lewis Roberts Sr. "We have been amazed - although I guess we shouldn't have been - by the cooperation of every one concerned in making this event possible.
"Although the cost of the automobile is a major item, of course, Tulsans have contributed time, machinery and materials and services far beyond the initial cost.''
The vault will be opened in 2007. The automobile will be awarded then to the person who guessed nearest to the city's population figure at that time. If he or she is not living, the award goes to the heirs, along with the proceeds from a $100 trust fund. Guesses have been microfilmed and are sealed in the steel capsule.
The real question is not who will win the car, but if there will there be much of a car left to win. Plymouth's "forward-look" Belvedere was a great-looking ride -- "a
true representative of automobiles of
this century," as a Tulsa official put it in 1957 -- but it was also susceptible to rust. Some experts even think the 1957 Plymouths may have been among the most rust-prone cars ever built. Did the concrete time capsule leak? Did the preservatives applied in 1957 protect the tragically-flawed artifact from the deathly hand of damp decay?
Stay tuned at noon on June 15 to find out!
UPDATE 13 June, 2007: Uh-oh! Tulsa's 1957 Time Capsule is Filled with Water!
UPDATE 16 June, 2007: The vehicle has been removed from the concrete crypt, and at a public unveiling it was revealed to be a rusty mess and a sobering monument to the cruel ravages of time.
(Tip of the hard hat: Charles Phoenix)
LINKS:
Buriedcar.com (Official Tulsarama website)
YouTube video of the Plymouth being interred:
Here's a link to a series of vignettes of Tulsa in 1957.
Posted by: Mike Ransom | 05 June 2007 at 08:44 AM
I used to drive a Belvedere. It was my first car, and I bought it in 1996. There was a great deal of rust, and it could leak like crazy but I loved it all the same.
Posted by: sean | 05 June 2007 at 09:51 AM
Ooooh, 50 years. Wow. We Americans are silly - bury something "for the future" and then dig it up 50 years later... Is THIS the future? Oh gawd. A good portion of the group that was standing there when a perfectly good car was buried will be standing there when it's dug up and is perfectly useless.
Posted by: goodduck | 05 June 2007 at 10:08 AM
Wait a minute! If it has a full tank of gas, they'll be rich!
Posted by: sjfngnv | 05 June 2007 at 12:22 PM
"Wait a minute! If it has a full tank of gas, they'll be rich!"
There is actually a can of gas buried with it because they figured we would not be using fossil fuels in 2007
Posted by: Blake | 05 June 2007 at 12:56 PM
Well, they'll have a hard enough time finding leaded gas for it, unless they plan to use 110 octane race fuel at about nine bucks a gallon.
Posted by: Joe | 05 June 2007 at 01:17 PM
Dont you guys have lead replacement fuel? Even in south africa we have unleaded and lrp (lead replacement)
Posted by: Jared | 05 June 2007 at 01:46 PM
I don't know, Sean, but 2057 sure feels like the future to me...
Posted by: JOE | 05 June 2007 at 04:17 PM
I want to know what that $100 trust fund is worth now. At 1957 interest rates it may be a big disappointment.
Posted by: Robert | 05 June 2007 at 04:52 PM
I think I read somewhere that it's now worth about $700.
Also, for those keeping score at home, the official population of Tulsa, as of June 1, 2007 is...
382,457
(According to the U.S. Census Bureau)
SOURCE:
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=070602_1_A1_BIELW53145
Posted by: Telstar Logistics | 05 June 2007 at 05:22 PM
Not quite Christine, but close.
Posted by: Gillian | 05 June 2007 at 07:23 PM
There have been other ways of increasing Octane Ratings since tetraethyl lead gasoline was taken off the market. I don't think it is too huge of a deal for the numerous cars from the fifties on the higheways today with their antique tags.
Posted by: bud | 05 June 2007 at 10:56 PM
"This photo was taken just moments before Christine lunged forward and began running down people left and right."
Posted by: C. A. Martin | 06 June 2007 at 10:33 AM
CHRISTINE IS BACK!!!
Posted by: Vincent | 06 June 2007 at 06:08 PM
On June 15, 1957 I was still more than a month and a half away from making my debut in the world. Poised on AARP membership now, I have to wonder which is more rusty: the car or me.
Posted by: SWIGGY | 06 June 2007 at 06:59 PM
This is just pure fun--- I am looking forward to seeing all the unveiling--- Looking forward to the BIG DAY.... thanks - Chandra
Oh by the way- when it was buried my parents were not even married, they were in grade or middle school-- so it is a history opening... ENJOY :)
Posted by: Chandra | 06 June 2007 at 08:48 PM
My Dad told me about this back in the late 80's. Then we happened to buy a convertible model of the same car a few years later and we rebuilt the engine turned more wrenches and had a great time with it.
So get this... I'm flying back to KC to do a roadtrip with my dad to see this this event in Tulsa! I can't think of a better Father's day gift.
Thanks for posting all of this!
Ryan M.
Posted by: Ryan Mac. | 06 June 2007 at 09:47 PM
I wonder if it has a tube-powered flux kapacitor mounted on the hood?
Posted by: Lasse | 07 June 2007 at 01:35 PM
Wonder how this Plymouth would look like after 50 years! Some designs on parts of the Plymouth models still haven't revised after decades. Perhaps only some of its internal components like its Plymouth oxygen sensor have been modified. Hope to see updates for that and lots of pics too!!!
Posted by: bloody13 | 07 June 2007 at 09:12 PM
Back then, with thoughts of flying cars by the turn of the century still dancing in our heads, Plymouth let us change transmission gears with pushbuttons...
Posted by: 911 student | 08 June 2007 at 07:10 PM
They should webcast the simulcast of the unveiling (it certainly will be more interesting than some webcasts I can think of).
They checked the condition of the time capsule on April 14th. The photos are at the bottom of a horribly designed photo gallery
http://www.buriedcar.com/photogallery/photo_gallery.htm
I like the presentation schedule
http://www.buriedcar.com/presentation_schedule.asp
particularly this:
August 24, 2007 If no winner has come forward by this date, there will be an announcement of this fact. Persuant to Oklahoma's Unclaimed Property Act, Tulsarama, Inc. must then hold the Belvedere and the proceeds of the Savings Account for 5 years for the person or persons, to claim their property.
So if that happens, do they bury it in the time capsule for five more years, display it in a museum or at a Chrysler dealership...
And if it doesn't work and there is a winner, Chrysler should be smart and give them a brand new car.
Posted by: Steve Rhodes | 10 June 2007 at 06:07 PM
You folks do realize that the Plymouth make was ended in 2001? This car is a true orphan now -
Posted by: Larry Robertson | 13 June 2007 at 03:46 AM
I really think that this event should be shown in live TV I'm sure whoever is smart enough to show it will get great ratings. All they have to do is get the word out by going to the media nationwide.
Posted by: Tato | 13 June 2007 at 10:54 AM
They opened it up this morning...right below my office, and the concrete container was filled with water up to the windows of the car. Stains on the wall show it had gotten much higher. Hopefully the plactic bag around the car was air tight.
Posted by: Tulsa County employee | 13 June 2007 at 12:45 PM
They will have it simulcast on the same website as the photo gallery. www.buriedcar.com
Posted by: tbush | 13 June 2007 at 02:00 PM