Car buried for 50 years to be dug up

Started by Russ, Jan 24 07 12:33

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Russ

 [DIV id=cnnSCHeadlineArea][A name=ContentArea][/A] [H1][A href="http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/01/23/buried.car.ap/"]http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/01/23/buried.car.ap/[/A][/H1] [H1]Will it run? Tulsa to dig up car buried for 50 years[/H1] [H5][!-- date --] [SCRIPT language=DOH!Script type=text/XXXXscript]    [!--    if ( location.hostname.toLowerCase().indexOf( "edition." ) != -1 ) (    document.write('POSTED: 1320 GMT (2120 HKT), January 23, 2007'); )else (    document.write('POSTED: 8:20 a.m. EST, January 23, 2007'); )    //--]    [/SCRIPT] POSTED: 1320 GMT (2120 HKT), January 23, 2007 [!-- /date --][/H5][/DIV][!--endclickprintinclude--] [DIV id=cnnSCContentColumn][!--startclickprintinclude--] [SCRIPT language=DOH!Script type=text/XXXXscript]var clickExpire = "02/22/2007";[/SCRIPT]  [DIV id=cnnSCHighlightsBox][!----] [H4][SPAN]Story Highlights[/SPAN][/H4]• Car was buried under lawn at Tulsa County Courthouse in 1957
• Promoters looking for people who helped lower it into its crypt
• Speculation: Car is either pile of rust or in pristine condition
• Contest awards car, cash to best guesser of Tulsa's population

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TULSA, Oklahoma (AP) -- Organizers of a coming-out party for a buried 1957 Plymouth Belvedere could use some help.

 The car, which was buried in brand-new condition under the lawn of the Tulsa County Courthouse in 1957, is scheduled to be unearthed June 15 as part of the Oklahoma Centennial.

 Promoters are looking for people who helped lower the car into its crypt in 1957 to perhaps shed some light on what to expect when the car is unearthed.

 There's speculation the car may have turned into a pile of rust. Or that it's in pristine condition and worth thousands of dollars.

 Sharon King Davis, who has chaired Tulsa's centennial efforts, looked at photos of the people responsible for burying the car in 1957 and found her grandfather.

 "I wish grandpa had left me some instructions," she told the Tulsa World.

 The car had been largely forgotten until Davis and her group started work on the centennial. Files on the car have vanished, so it's not clear what to expect when the lid is lifted.

 What's known is that the car is on a steel pallet with jacks under the axles. Efforts were made to preserve it, but it's unclear if moisture has gotten to the metal and caused rust.

 "There's a kind of Rip Van Winkle reaction," Davis says. "Most people had long ago forgotten the buried car, but as the time to dig it up nears, they are waking up and wondering about life in 1957."

 Another unknown is who will be able to claim the car.

 When the car was buried, a contest was announced to award the car and a $100 savings account to the person who came closest to guessing Tulsa's population in 2007.

 Organizers concede that finding that person or his or her heirs may not be easy.

 At the time, the guesses were recorded on microfilm and sealed in a steel container buried with the car.

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Mercy to the Guilty is Torture to the Victims

Russ

Site on the car with pictures and info.

  [A href="http://www.forwardlook.net/19571958Plymouth/countdown.asp"]http://www.forwardlook.net/19571958Plymouth/countdown.asp[/A]
Mercy to the Guilty is Torture to the Victims

Brit_Guy

[FONT size=3] Russ, i should think it would be a pile of rust by now, unless they placed it in some sort of air-tight wrapping. It would be amazing if it came out of the ground in Good condition tho.

[/FONT]

  EDIT: "At the time, the guesses were recorded on microfilm and sealed in a steel container buried with the car."

  I should think that the winners would be in there late 70s or early 80s by now.    

Russ

Hmm, looking at my post I suck at the copy and paste.

  I agree brit guy, theres alot of people that are anxious to see how it turns out... but it was placed in a concrete tub,

[img alt="" src="http://www.buriedcar.com/photoUL/Fresh%20Vault.JPG" border=0]

the car was covered in some kind of sealant or barrier around the car after it was covered in plastic , so who knows.. either way it will be interesting. They show them covering the car in the video. I thought it was funny in the video , they said , "A drum of gasoline and oil were lowered into the vault in case they are not available in the future". I'll bet that the gasoline is solidified laquer by now.  

  Im thinking that 50 years of sweat and moisture with the concrete will at the very least have caused some corrosion... at worst case scenario the seal on the pit will have gone (not surprising with 50 years of 1950's tech) and the car will be in the SHAPE of the car... sitting in 5 feet of skunky water.
Mercy to the Guilty is Torture to the Victims

Lise

Hm. It would be interesting to see what shape the car is in. Keep us posted, Russ.

  Too bad we can't do the same for a certain site.......
Always end the name of your child with a vowel, so that when you yell the name will carry.
Bill Cosby.

kingy

it would be funny if they dug it up and the car was gone!
...

Sportsdude

 [font face="Arial, Arial, Helvetica"][font face="Arial"]"Plymouth is     a true representative of automobiles of this century - with the kind of lasting appeal     that should still be in style fifty years from now...."

ROTFL!!!!!!

As you know Plymouth is no more.  There are two representives of the 20th Century.  The SUV tied to the big two (chrysler is german) and Honda/Toyota and innovation.
[/font][/font]  
"We can't stop here. This is bat country."

Russ

It is the chrysler name, but Plymouth is still used.

  And Chrysler isnt German. It amalgamated... so its two entities into one, one is not more in charge of the other. They share their technology and stuff. Thats why the Cherokee;s are styled the way they are with the drivetrain.

    Kingy, now THAT would be funny. I do wonder if its still going to be around.. or rusted away to nothing.
Mercy to the Guilty is Torture to the Victims

Sportsdude

come on Russ it wasn't a merger more of a buyout.  Everyone in the 'Dodge and Chrysler' group is German. Dieter Zuesche ring a bell? They offically called it a 'merger' but in actuality it was a buy out.  Detroit answers to Stuttgart.  
"We can't stop here. This is bat country."

Russ

Yeah they do.. they decided that was where the 'head' office was going to be. They both have the same amount of managers or whatever they are called under him.

  I think in the deal that Chrysler made out better.. they got high end German tech and proven comfort tech.
Mercy to the Guilty is Torture to the Victims

Sportsdude

yeah Chrysler came out better and now the only thing keeping DC together is Chrysler because Mercedes has become junkers.  
"We can't stop here. This is bat country."

Russ

The Jeep brand is selling tons.. that next to the minivans still seems to be thier bread and butter. Im also amazed at how much the dodge trucks are selling as well, everyone around here seems to be driving new ones. (I want one too!)    
Mercy to the Guilty is Torture to the Victims

Sportsdude

Here's why:
Dodge Trucks: Hemi, Cummings Diesel
Dodge Minivan: Stow and go

Dodge knows this about the hemi (oh the hemi geesh its just a hemispherical engine) so they put it in everything.  Right now if they wrote hemi on a golf cart people would want it.
 
"We can't stop here. This is bat country."

Russ

Oh ture. Im one of them SD lol. I would love an old school hemi... my dad used to have one. The way he tells the story a tree sprung up in front of him that was never there before.

The new Hemi is just a name now, it still is designed off the old specs.. but Honda's, Gm's.. they all use the same idea now. Its just a name for it. But the angles and degrees the valves and plugs are put in it are patented...

  I have taken apart and rebuilt one of the Cummins inline 6's they have in there. I have a buddy with one of them from 90.. over a MILLION km's.. and all he has changed it oil, filters, glowplugs, and injectors. thats pretty much it. Well and the waterpump (twice) and front chain.

I am seriously looking for a one ton dually diesel though. Im a dodge fan.. lol.
Mercy to the Guilty is Torture to the Victims