A Plymouth Tradition

On June 15, 1957, a then brand new Plymouth Belvedere V-8 Sports Coupe was buried at the Tulsa County Courthouse lawn. The car was intended to remain buried for 50 years.

You might ask, is there anything else to the story?

And that is what I am about to tell you. During the 1950s the Plymouth was regarded as an advanced automobile. To the people of Tulsa, it represented a wonderful product of American ingenuity. The kind of ingenuity that cannot be shattered by eternity (Well, in this case eternity is just 50 years).

“Suddenly It’s 1960” was the marketing pitch for the Plymouth Belvedere in 1957. The town committee of Tulsa decided to conduct a special competition to acquaint townspeople with the new Plymouth Belvedere V-8 Sports Coupe.

The competition posed the question “What the population of Tulsa would be in the year 2007?” Numerous citizens participated in the competition. Answers were placed on a piece of paper, with the participants’ respective names and other contact information. These answers were placed at the trunk of the new Plymouth Belvedere V-8 Sports Coupe, which was buried underneath the earth for 50 years!

The rule was that the car will be excavated on June 15, 2007. As explained by a classiccar.com blog, “When the car and artifacts are excavated, the person whose guess is closest to Tulsa’s 2007 population is to be awarded the Belvedere. If that person is dead, the car is to be awarded to his or her heirs. Today, reminders of the event are only noted by bronze plaque on the courthouse lawn”.

“Suddenly It’s 2007” was the catch phrase of the much anticipated unearthing of the Plymouth Belvedere.

“What happened?” you ask, in the fresh pictures we see a Plymouth Belvedere that is ruined by rust. As confessed by John Neff, who witnessed the event, “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”.

Neff continues, “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.”

In whatever case, I think this Plymouth Belvedere should be given a higher resale value. Tradition has made it more expensive and irreplaceable. I think this was a good way of preserving the value of the Plymouth Belvedere in the automobile industry. Moreover, I think other brands should continue competitions like this today.

Sources: Ted’s Garage Blog, Autoblog