More pics of Tulsa's rusty 1957 Plymouth Belvedere unearthed
by John Neff on Jun 20th 2007 at 3:36PM 
click above image for 26 new pics of the '57 Belvedere unveiling in Tulsa
Since we weren't able to get an Autoblogger on a plane pointed at Tulsa last weekend to catch the unearthing of a 1957 Plymouth Belvedere buried underground for 50 years, we called Chrysler because we thought, hey, they built the car way back when, maybe they'll have someone on hand with a point-and-shoot. And they did. Max Gates from the Safety and Regulatory Communications department of Chrysler escaped his cubicle to attend the festivities surrounding the reveal of Tulsa's time capsule and "Mrs. Belvedere".
Of course, by now we all know that Mrs. Belvedere spent much of the last half century under water, her underground sarcophagus having been breached by mother nature and flooded countless times in the past 50 years. In Gates' pics, we get our first close up look at the extent to which the '57 Belvedere is ruined with rust. What's interesting is that there are no rust holes or rust spots, there's just a veneer of rust completely covering the vehicle making it look as if the car were plucked from its tomb and deep fried right before the unveiling.
We haven't heard any news about who correctly guessed what the population of Tulsa would be in 2007 and therefore has won the '57 Belvedere, nor whether it's been confirmed that car customizer Boyd Coddington will restore the vehicle before it's awarded to the winner. For the winner's sake, we're hoping he or she isn't given the car in this condition.
[Source: Chrysler Group]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Don 3:43PM (6/20/2007)
Honestly, all the cool stuff that was crammed into the car before it was buried is far more interesting and nostalgic to me than the actual car. What a mess.
Reply
Brian Dreggors 4:10PM (6/20/2007)
What cool stuff? A letter from the Mayor of Tulsa? A picture of the Rotary club? Histroical treasures to rival those of the pharoahs and czars!
Don 4:24PM (6/20/2007)
Anything from that time period would interest me.
Kurt Eisbrenner 4:35PM (6/24/2007)
My first impression viewing the unveiling photos was that she looked as if she could have been brought up from the wreck of the Titanic. As I remarked to this week to Paula Hale of the Tulsarama committee on the phone, if the Humbertson family does not want her in her current condition, she would probably have so many parties interested in restoring her that Barrett-Jackson or Kruse International would have to conduct an auction. It would attract nearly as much attention as our A-C-D Collector Car Auction held nearby in Auburn, IN every Labor Day weekend. The NATMUS Museum in Auburn could host the restoration and Speedvision or maybe the History Channel could make a miniseries of it. Is it remotely possible that the oil and the gaskets held up enough to keep the engine and transmission from rusting beyond overhaul? Would be interesting to see a teardown and rebuild, if possible. Like her distant cousin, Christine, Miss Belvedere has a lot of fans!
Naysayer 3:56PM (6/20/2007)
I hope that Boyd never gets close to that car. According to his TV show, the only thing that he does nowadays is just sit in his office without touching the vehicles he works on, and in the end gets 100% of the credit and 200% of the profit. His name used to be one of great respect, but whenever I see a new "Boydster" anywhere, I cringe to think that the hard working people that actually make the vehicle get kicked in the ass by Boyd all day long.
That, and the car actually looks kinda cool with all the rust.
Reply
Jaymez 4:57PM (6/20/2007)
Aside from the Alumi-Tub, every car I've seen come out of Boyd's shop was a Bondo bucket. I'm sorry, a real body man uses minimal bondo on his work. I'd take my car to Maaco before I'd let Boyd touch it.
I admit, I suck at body work. Even still, I've used less plastic on a restoration than Boyd.
Chrysler and Tulsa should try this stunt again, using a 300.
To see a real metal finisher in action, check out the Biker Build Off episode featuring the guys from Scotty's Choppers in Australia. He managed to weld together a 7 piece alloy gas tank in such a way that it didn't need any body filler or paint to hide imperfections.
Wayne 10:37AM (10/26/2007)
You got it right kid.Every time I see one of his shows,I like him less.I would'nt buy any of his products even if it meant I would have to give up on a project.He had better get off T.V before he loses all his buisness.
Whiplash 4:14PM (6/20/2007)
So are there any pictures from 57 when they actually buried the car? I'd love to see it in it's original form.
Reply
F451 4:22PM (6/20/2007)
I would be very surprised if Boyd does takes this on as a restoration project as he is not a restorer—he's quite the opposite. The minute detail, and time, required to make this a successful restoration simply do not fit his style nor his patience. This car will literally cost a fortune to restore.
Reply
Puffy C 4:22PM (6/20/2007)
It's funny but that's exactly the way I think about Boyd these days. You wonder why he even lets them film that show because he comes off so poorly. Does he not realize how foolish he appears? Those poor guys bust their ass to make a great car and some crotchety doof gets all the credit and money. Sad...
Reply
rich 4:32PM (6/20/2007)
boyd. everyone calls him boyd, i call him bald, take the damn hat off you lazy bald bastard. never mind restoring the car, just restore your hair you lazy prick
Reply
jerry 5:03PM (6/21/2007)
NO ONE IS PERFECT LIKE YOU..
skeptic 4:56PM (6/20/2007)
they are scheduled to announce the winner on Friday, but we all know how long it takes to announce a winner, right Autoblog?
Reply
John Neff 6:30PM (6/20/2007)
What's that supposed to mean?
Read this...
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/06/19/update-autoblog-relaunch-celebration-sweepstakes-featuring-the/
danielk 5:08PM (6/20/2007)
I know it's not a Fury, but that thing looks like Christine and gives me the creeps.
Reply
Robert O 5:13PM (6/20/2007)
I'm just bummed that the car's time capsule had a water breach. I've been hearing about this car for several years, and I was looking forward to the unveiling. Does anyone know when the breach began, and why. Oh well.
Any other town's have cars buried in 1950's time-capsules for us to look forward to?
Reply
Taylor 5:24PM (6/20/2007)
I really wonder what caused the capsule to start leaking? Rubber seals dried out?
Reply
skeptic 5:16PM (6/21/2007)
my guess would be: poor seals at the lid and/or the fact that concrete alone is not an impervious material. Given 50 years, I would expect moisture to seep in....though I do not know how the vault was waterproofed on the exterior
retrokid55 12:53AM (7/03/2007)
I'm a funeral director and embalmer. The capsule that the car was put in was just like a vault that we put caskets in.alot of funeral directors will say the vaults last a lifetime depending on the expense and thickness of these vaults. But truth be told I've been working for the medical examiners office and we've exumed many bodies where the vault has failed after only a few months. With the ground shifting,temp changes and ground water and vibrations from traffic that car has probally been under water for 49 years. Look at the things they pull up from the titanic. Looks just like it. Sooo sad.
chuck goolsbee 5:27PM (6/20/2007)
The cost to restore this machine would be more than 10X the car's actual value. Besides the chosen "restorer" is not in the actual business of automobile restoration. Would he even know how to restore it to factory condition? Could he resist the natural temptation to customize it?
--chuck
Reply