I was 14 years old back then and thought "what a dumb thing to do. I am 77 now, and still think "what a dumb thing to do".

The car would've survived in better condition if they'd simply locked it up in a barn, or left it in a paddock somewhere.

It's hard to believe that no one in 1957 took appropriate measures to seal the vault watertight. This appears to have been a major oversight.

Since I live in Oklahoma, I followed this story. It is hard to believe that anyone could think this would have not been ruined after all these years. What a waste of a nice car.

I was there... and you could hear a collective groan from the entire city as the car (what was left of it) was revealed. They put it on display for a period of time but it was more depressing than exciting. Such a disappointing ending! Glad it's found a home.

You would have thought that a city engineer would have pointed out 1) water table, 2) porosity of concrete.

My dad knows a guy who had a brand new car put in the basement of their house when it was built in the 70s. He said it has a double sided wrench that could take apart almost everything on in the car. The car is still there to this day.

Beautiful designed car. A gorgeous piece of art that slipped away. Wish they had cars like that only new today.

This is the epitome of "you had one job".

They could’ve just put the car in a dry storage area for 50 years.

My father-in-law was a teenager working at a speedometer shop. Most of their business was rolling back odometers for used car dealers. He said that he rolled the odometer back on this car.. He said it had about 3500 miles on it and he rolled it back to 4.

There is another story floating around about a grocery store chain owner who purchased a new first generation Corvette and had a sealed room for it built in one of his new stores and walled in the new car. Supposedly, there was a window into the vault in the employee’s break room. The employees could open a curtain, flip on a light switch, and view the “sleeping car”. Eventually, the bulbs in the vault lights burnt out, so I suppose a flashlight might have been required after that. After the store owner’s passing and the market closed, his daughter had the wall taken down and the car removed to her house, where she put it on display in her living room! Eventually, the car was removed and sold to a collector. Unlike the Plymouth, the Corvette remained solid although the lack of climate control in the vault for decades made the factory paint lift and peel in spots around the car and lack of cleaning and preservation took it’s toll on some soft and chrome parts, the car survived as well as a car left untouched for 3-5 decades could! Even if the Plymouth had been stored for 50 years in a dry or even climate controlled environment, I wouldn’t have survived in absolutely pristine condition. If nothing else, the cosmoline and plastic cover the body of the car was left wrapped in would have likely destroyed the paint after 5 decades. Granted, it would have still come out as a restorable car instead of a rusted embarrassment!

They didn’t think the whole thing through. It would have survived in an above ground sealed garage. Instead of rusting underground covered in water. It stands to reason underground is moist & damp. Humans can be pretty stupid sometimes. What a waste of a beautiful vintage classic car. It’s heartbreaking.

That’s sad. Imagine the joy it would’ve brought if they pulled that car out in pristine condition

"Waterproof plastic wrap"? Dear Lord. These people. 🤦‍♀

ahhh the 50's when people didn't know what rust was and what caused rust

When they buried it, there was an engineer who understood what would happen to it. He begged them to attach the vault to the HVAC system of the building behind it. They wouldn't listen to him. That would have kept the water drained. After this, they interred another brand new Plymouth. This time in an above ground vault.

Winner dead, Car totally destroyed, Beneficiary handed an unrecoverable liability, That adventure was a failura and a total waste of resources. So heartbreaking.

Oh my goodness, what a head-slapping and heartbreaking moment that must have been after the hype. Imagine the satisfaction of the guys who railed against the sealing process at the time (there were a few, apparantly). I find it hard to believe the "experts" at the time didn't know any better; likely a case of people in charge who thought they knew better. This kind of botched know-it-allness STILL happens all the time today as well.

This isn't the only time the city buried a car. In 1998, to commemorate Tulsa's 100th year of statehood, the city buried ANOTHER car. A Plymouth Prowler prototype, along with other various items were buried in a vault within Tulsa's city park. It's scheduled to be opened sometime in 2048. Let's hope that car doesn't end up like Miss Belvedere.

Alternate title: 100 Year old woman gets a pile of rust for her 100th Birthday.

Just like any government operation, I'm sure the contract to build the vault went to the lowest bidder! What a waste of a great car.

Wow, as a lover of vintage American cars this just broke my heart seeing that once beautiful Plymouth after it was removed from it's 50 year "hibernation ",what a waste of such a beautiful car. Could've been driven and enjoyed by some lucky person/couple /family if those idiots actually knew what they were doing.

As a classic cars person it brakes my heart to see such a classic car in that condition, it makes me think of when my brother crashed my 79 f150

They should have left it in it's grave, and erected a tombstone with the inscription Here lies Miss Belvedere she was to be a beauty at 50, so we're told but passed at only 4 miles old.

I think the city owes the winning family a mint condition 1957 Plymouth Belvedere to hold it's commitment to that family and show pride and honor even in the face of their failure

Can't believe the vault was not waterproofed. For buried time capsule should have been #1 on list . Amazing.

It’s still a cool piece of history and I’m glad it found a home.

1957 - "Guys this is f..cking stupid!" 2007 - "F..cking told ya!... Bleghhh x_x"

Craigslist be like "just needs a little TLC."

I have been a car guy since i was born. I remember in elementary we were learning about time capsules and this was one of them. This lit my fires and it made me mad that they didn't waterproof it. i love this car and wish it was in mint condition.

Can you imagine what we could have had if the people in charge of sealing the car up were worth a damn?

I owned a 1957 belvedere two door in 1965, when I was 17. I bought it used. What a swell tank it was. Wish I had one now. Gas wars in Denver brought high octane gas at 17 cents a gallon.

They shoulda put it in a giant Tupperware container.

I love Christine even though She was a 1958 Plymouth Fury But it makes me cry seeing this

The Empire State Building was constructed in a little over a year in 1930-1931. In 1957, nobody thought to make that underground concrete box with a car inside..airtight🤔

I'm surprised it didn't rebuild itself...

Lived in Tulsa my whole life and the hype around this was huge. They brought in Boyd Coddington (who was big, along with Chip Foose, at the time on reality TV) for the unveiling so his team could restore it. It was seriously embarrassing for everyone, including the residents.

I love this story, and as I love old car wrecks with plenty of patina, I'd love to see her in person someday. A restoration would've just made her one of the nice looking vintage Plymouth', but keeping her in 'as found' condition, apart from some rust removal, she's a part of history now. I'm hoping to see the unveiling of the buried Prowler, if I'll live up to 62 years...

An above ground time capsule would have probably worked perfectly.

1957 “This will survive a nuke” 2007 “It survived the Cold War. But water however, *we didn’t think about that one* “

"So you want a concrete box that you won't check on for 50 years, no problem...I also sell magic beans" said the sales manager from Honest Joe's Construction to the simpletons of the local council.

Bro chose the alternate ending and lived

"Christine's" younger sister! Would be fitting to have this car fully restored to factory condition, just like her sister was as an abandoned rusted wreck 1953 Plymouth "Fury" in 1983. They'd look pretty together and after all, they are truly related with both being Plymouth's and only 4 years seperates them in production, just slightly different models is all. This 57 could be named "Christina" maybe. I believe the idea holds water, i wonder what John Carpenter and Stephen King would say to the idea. Perhaps just wishful thinking on my part folks. That'll be all. NA1974🇬🇧.

"Ran when parked"

Lesson to learn, always bury cars on a hill. 😂

Adventure with Purpose does a lot of searching for lost loved ones underwater in cars... with sonar & depth equipment. They have pulled out some crazy cars. To this day in 2 years, 23 bodies have been found and brought home. Great crew to watch. Adventure with Purpose, chaos Divers, Exploring With Nug, Adam Brown Adventures, and depths of History. Great crew. This video is amazing. 💪🇺🇲

HA! HA! *in my Nelson voice* 😆 They was all excited about THAT, meanwhile dont want to talk about the 1921 race massacre too much... 👀👁👁

This is a sad story.. I really wish it was properly waterproofed. This historic car deserved a chance to hit the highways of the future (today).

I bet a lot of folks watching this happen back in '57 knew this would be the result - Imagine how THEY felt about the futile waste. There is a lesson here that was probably never learned.

Mr. Belvedere who once had a television show many years ago, was devastated when the 1957 Plymouth Belvedere was unearthed in 2007.

Mayor: We must prepare for total nuclear annihilation Engineer: but sir what about water damage Mayor: nahhh

I was there when the car was buried, and I knew even as a seven year old that the plastic just draped on top of the car wouldn't protect it from being submerged in water that would obviously seep into and fill the vault from rain and lawn sprinklers. It was a swimming pool with just some unsealed slabs of concrete and just a layer of dirt on top with some lawn. The car should have been sealed from moisture in an above ground vault like the ones used for burial in New Orleans. I told my parents, aunts and uncles, and family who were there with me that water would get into the vault, but they all ridiculed me for being a, "Mr. know it all."

Should have put it in an above ground vault.

All it was missing was Geraldo Rivera with a prime time special about time capsules! Lol

Beautiful vintage classic car

Its a shame what happened to that beautiful car

I remember seeing this in an article somewhere......my roommate at the time thought it was very interesting.....since he was born in 1941, and as a teenager owned a Plymouth Belvedere from this era.......so we pulled it up online , he was very let down by the condition of the car....honestly , I hadn't even thought of this still being alive......since that roommate passed away in 2014, and my life has moved on.

What I think about the car - I think it is a fabulous restoration and the car is absolutely gorgeous. Cars used to have a “personality “, these days they all look alike.

*"Ok... Show me."*

Well... the time capsule did it's job in one sense. It was meant to be for future generations to see a glimpse of the past. We didn't get to see a nice car but we did get to see how crap they were at building a waterproof chamber !!

They should had ask Dr Emmet... he successfully buried a De Lorean back in the 1800's and was still working in 1955

This story broke my heart 💔 They should have think it over carefully for better choices so sad. Such a beautiful car it was, I was born 1964, I love classic cars ❤

AMAZING JOB

It's amazing that they thought at the time the car would survive that many years entombed in concrete underground. If they'd stored it in a climate controlled garage it would be in great shape today, but I guess the whole burying it for decades was the charm of the contest even if it was the death of the car. Still it's a fascinating story to say the least, poor car though.

They really did dump that old rust bucket on a 100 year old lady. WOW🤣😂

We’ve seen most time capsules fall due to this issue. I think that any future attempts at a time capsule should be a thick stainless box welded shut surrounded by concrete.

Im 74 and remember these cars. I love the sexy lines and style. Yea I think putting it in cement and plastic wasnt a good move.

This thing I bet was rusted out within the first 2 years it sat down there lol

You'd think at least 1 person from that time might have figured this out.

I find it amazing that precautions were not taken to make the chamber water tight. It never occurred to them that water will get into everything. What short sightedness.

who's the genius that thought concrete was waterproof

Would have been funny if they opened the vault and the car was gone, someone had tunneled in and stole it

Couple cases of beer and a welder. We’ll have her going in 2 days. 🤣🤣

A symbol of what happened to America during those 50 years. We imaged it was safe and secured, but when opened, we saw the true condition...

Heartbreaking to see this beautiful car covered in rust and rot 😢 should have not buried it in the first place

They even left the battery in the car how bad is that

My mother who is passed on always wanted one of these. She wanted a brand new green one. Please at least consider building one in her memory and name it Sharon Elaine Collingsworth

It may be rust holding hands, but it is a car that deserves some respect. Tulsa should have put the car in a local museum or public place to be viewed by the public. Art is in the eye of the beholder. I have seen historic works of art that are rusted pieces of history such as the Titanic relics, civil war artifacts etc. these items are on display & it is your choice to view or not. Why or what they did back in 1957 is a non-issue the fact remains it's here now so deal with it like it or not.

sad,, it would have been in better condition if left sitting outside..

They should have placed this car in a temperature controlled bank vault and then closed the door for 50 years! It would have been pristine in 2007!

ive seen this one a ton of times even when i was younger i always thought "did they not design it with water in mind?"

I quote uncle Lewis from Christmas Vacation..." It was an ugly looking car Clark....at least it's out of it's misery"!

“1/4 inch panel steel”. 😂 Yeah it’s not a damn tank. It’s either 16 or 18 gauge steel.

In 1957 I was 13 years old. The 1957 Plymouth Belvedere was an eye catcher with it's new 'forward look' body style and the gold (or bronze) color with cream color was very popular and beautiful. It's a shame that the city of Tulsa did not seal the car from water leakage in it's time capsule. They sealed it's fate to being rust.

I was there at the unveiling. I remember hoping that it would be in pristine condition but deep down I figured it would turn out just like it did. What a sad day.

I have shrink-wrapped hundreds of pallets in my career. If it was me, by the time the car was deemed "ready," I would have used enough wrap as to make the shape of the car unrecognizable. This process would likely take 4-6 hours and likely at least 200 spools of industrial-grade wrap. Simply put, no water would be able to penetrate it due to the sheer thickness of the wrap. 💁🏻‍♂️

If you had a competition to find the worst way of storing a car long term this this would win first prize.

"Unearthing was going to be the biggest event that ever hit the city" Just goes to show that nothing ever goes on in Oklahoma.

I would have just had it cut up into pieces and made into some awesome conversation pieces for the home.

What a restoration that must have been.

Any engineer would have known the concrete would not hold back water!!!

Should've Flex Sealed that vault.

I am surprised they didn't consult some engineers. I would have sprayed all fabric with a super preservative, coated all plastics with a sealant to prevent out gassing, put in large desiccant packets all over the insides and outsides, then wrap it in plastic, coat with wax, then another coat of plastic, then immersed in a pool of wax, then sealed in a soft expoxy box that would give to temperature, pressure, humidity, and seismic changes in case the wax cracks. I made a time capsure when we poured the concrete for our basement 18 years ago in 2005. I put all the trinkets (including a Twinkie) in a 4 inch by 12 inch PVC pipe with some desiccant packsts inside, and sealed each end with PVC cement and PVC end caps. There is no open date, maybe in 1000 years the foundation will be torn up and the capsule will be found. It is only 4 inches below the surface.

I could cry for Ms Belvedere

Nuclear blast proof yet water gets in 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

They really didnt think this through very well...

Dear Sir, I was maintaining two Plymouth petrol Engine cars 1930 Model in manufactured in Detroit, Michigan. Unite Sate of America. Indian Defense that belongs to GOCnC ,SOUTHERN COMMAND and ONE BELONGS TO THE COMMANDANT NATIONAL DEFENCE ACADEMY till 1993. Among two cars one is still running under good condition in Pune, other one was condemned by us. No substitute for Plymouth cars till now.

99% of people commenting missed the ending where the car looked new again 😅

It was four miles to many for this Belvedere . However it could become a long term project for a local high school with an excellent auto shop program . Her engine is possibly re-doable too . A German Panther tank that sat for decades at the bottom of an icy river in Poland after WW II. Was removed and totally restore over several years in Portola Valley, Calif.. A body and fender man once said that " anything can be fixed. He was right IMO.