Remember that old Plymouth Belvedere that was buried by the city of Tulsa fifty years ago as a promotional stunt? No? Well, here's a refresher -- they dug it up and it was sitting a pool of water which pretty much ate the thing alive.
According to a New York Times article, the car was given to Dwight Foster who owns a company that sells a rust removal chemical. He figured if he could bring the Belvedere back to life it would be one hell of a promotion. Well, two years later it's still pretty much a basket case as much of the car is too fragile to even work on.
The sad result hasn't deterred the city of Tulsa though. It buried a Plymouth Prowler in 1998 and plans to dig it up in 2048 on the city's 150th anniversary.
NYT: Salvaging a Famous Rustbucket
andersendl says:
01:05 PM, 02/16/10
Too bad they chose to bury the most rust-prone car from the '50s. Although no '50s-era car would have fared well, those mid-to-late '50s Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth/DeSoto cars were the most susceptible of the era to the tin worm.
That '98 Prowler should do better, assuming mother Mopar made considerable progress in corrosion proofing, and the City of Tulsa made the vault truly moisture proof.
mlh says:
01:28 PM, 02/16/10
That one hubcap is looking pretty good!
xprojected says:
01:28 PM, 02/16/10
According to the article, they're storing the Prowler above ground this time, so that should help.
moparbad says:
01:48 PM, 02/16/10
That is the new Fiat designed Chrysler 300!
firstwagon says:
02:16 PM, 02/16/10
That was a really cool car in it's day. Shame it's so far gone.
BTW andersendl ... every car sucked with rust back then. My dad's 56 Chevy wagon rusted out and was scrapped in just over 5 years of Ontario driving.
tp660 says:
04:08 PM, 02/16/10
Ok, this guy should have professional people who know how to restore cars like this work on this car instead of trying to do it himself with rust removal chemicals.
estreka says:
07:27 PM, 02/16/10
Are they gonna bother restoring it? Beyond the one wheel, that is...