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Long time readers will recall the tale of the ’58 Plymouth Belvedere that the town of Tulsa, Oklahoma “rescued” from a time capsule that became a watery inland grave.
The car rolls and steers now, but the metal is so thin that it looks like that is as far as the old girl is going to go. The doors haven’t even been opened for fear that the car would crumble.
Complete story at the New York Times via Edmunds
The story about Miss Belvedere, a 1957 Plymouth Belvedere that was recovered from it’s underground vault in Tulsa, Oklahoma generated quite the buzz here in The Garage and continues to draw new readers daily.
Unfortunately, Miss B wasn’t quite ready for the ball when she saw the light of day. In fact, she was looking more than a little bit hungover from her 50 year dirt nap. The time has come for the rusty car to go home with her new family and began the trek to New Jersey today. So what is to become of the old girl? Well, the family of Ray Humberston, the winner of the car, have no interest in restoring the car. Instead, they have teamed up with a chemical company who intend to clean the car up, remove as much rust as possible and stop the rest from progressing further. They even hope to get the engine running.
You can watch a interview with Humberston’s grandson at KOTV and follow the Miss B’s progress here.
That’s right, Raymond Humbertson, winner of Miss Belvedere passed away from the big C way back in 1979. His closest living relatives are a pair of elderly sisters in Maryland, who will be the lucky recipients of the rusty old girl. The savings account that goes with the car has grown to about $700, which might just cover the cost of shipping the car from Tulsa to Maryland.
Humbertson was a career military type who moved around a lot, but his family weren’t even aware that he had even been to Oklahoma. His widow passed away in 1988.
Source Tulsa World
After 50 years in a coffin, Miss Belvedere saw the light in Tulsa. Then began the job of sifting through more than 800 ballots to find out who came closest to guessing the population of Tulsa in 2007.
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Any hopes of the 1958 Plymouth Belvedere that was buried in Tulsa Oklahoma surviving in showroom condition were dashed when the sarcophagus lid was removed and water was found in the concrete container. Now Miss Belvedere has been removed and put on display for the crowds to see. What is left is in pretty poor condition, but a few details remain, like the citizens signatures on the decaying white wall tires.
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By now, most readers have likely caught wind of the 1957 Plymouth Belvedere that was buried in front of the court house in Tulsa Oklahoma. The car was buried as a time capsule in 1957, with plans to open the case 50 years later. 50 years later just happens to be tomorrow.
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