cryptique Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Awesome. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1957 Plymouth to Emerge from Tulsa Time Capsule 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! (Tip of the hard hat: Charles Phoenix) LINKS:Buriedcar.com (Official Tulsarama website; seems to be offline at the moment.) Tulsarama 1957 Photo Gallery Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Duck-Billed Catechist Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Neat. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
deepseacatfish Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 That's pretty awesome. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Very cool.....while 1957 doesn't seem that long ago, things sure have changed alot in the past 50 years. It would have been cooler to wait 100 years for this however, when no one would remember 1957. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mr. Heartbreak Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Little did they know just how valuable those tranquilizers would be in 2007. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Calexico Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 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. Sounds like it was Wayne Coyne's car. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted June 6, 2007 Author Share Posted June 6, 2007 Sounds like it was Wayne Coyne's car. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Analogman Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 new info Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dannygutters Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 "Also buried with it were 10 gallons of gasoline Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tugmoose Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 I used to live in Tulsa - worked at the Tribune. The whole city's kind of a time capsule. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CommerceComet Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 It didn't turn out so well ... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted June 16, 2007 Author Share Posted June 16, 2007 Yikes! Hopefully, time capsule-building technology has advanced a bit since 1957. It's too bad -- that would have been a sweet ride if it had come out of its crypt in pristine condition. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TCP Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 Awwww snap!!! I hope people in 1957 learned their lesson!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tweedling Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 "Red Dirt" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bjorn_skurj Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 It might be restorable. I've seen worse cars made pristine by love, dedication and a FUCKTON of money. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kidsmoke Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 I can hear the heirs now......"I don't have anywhere to put that hunk of rust! You keep it! Grandma would want us to donate it to the city council! I know she would!" "Wait a minute though.....are those tranquilizers still ok?" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CommerceComet Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 It might be restorable. I've seen worse cars made pristine by love, dedication and a FUCKTON of money. An expert on hand said it would never start again. It has basically fallen apart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
borracho Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 Boyd Coddington was there - he'll get his American Hot Rod crew on the job! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CommerceComet Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 Boyd Coddington was there - he'll get his American Hot Rod crew on the job! Yes, I think he was the "expert" to which I referred. He seemed at a loss to what could be done. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 Yes, I think he was the "expert" to which I referred. He seemed at a loss to what could be done.Bummer.... LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Analogman Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 Boyd Coddington was there - he'll get his American Hot Rod crew on the job! They will have to fight and quit and come back first. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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