It'll be tough to jumpstart classic car after 50-year burial

CNN.com

Story Highlights

• Car covered in rust, couldn't be started; objects in other time capsule OK
• A crane lifted Plymouth Belvedere from its capsule before onlookers in Tulsa
• Workers earlier this week found classic auto sitting in water in a concrete vault
• Car buried in 1957 in vault billed as strong enough to withstand nuclear attack

Organizers of Friday's unveiling found that the car's
vault may have been built to withstand a nuclear attack,
but it couldn't guard against moisture.

Another 1957 Belvedere, the same model as the
one that was buried under the Tulsa, Oklahoma,
courthouse lawn 50 years ago, is on display in the city Friday.

TULSA, Oklahoma (AP) -- Calling it "our King Tut's tomb," thousands of people watched as a 1957 Plymouth Belvedere was pulled from the ground where it had been buried for 50 years as a time capsule of American Midwest culture.

The concrete vault encasing the car may have been built to withstand a nuclear attack, but it couldn't keep away water.

At Friday's ceremony, protective wrapping was removed to show the mud-caked vintage vehicle covered in rust. Shiny chrome was still visible around the doors and front fender, and workers were able to put air in the tires.

"I'll tell you what, she's a mess. Look at her," said legendary car builder Boyd Coddington, who was unable to start the car as planned.

From the trunk, organizers pulled out some of the objects buried to celebrate Oklahoma's 50 years of statehood -- a 5-gallon can of leaded gasoline, which went for 24 cents a gallon in those days, and rusted cans of Schlitz beer.

The contents of a "typical" woman's handbag, including 14 bobby pins, lipstick and a bottle of tranquilizers, were supposed to be in the glove box, but all that was found looked like a lump of rotted leather.

Workers also searched for a spool of microfilm that recorded the entries of a contest to determine who would win the car. The person who guessed the closest of what Tulsa's population would be in 2007 -- 382,457 -- would win. So far, all they found were guesses of the population written on postcards.

That person, or his or her heirs, will get the car by June 22, along with a $100 savings account, which is worth about $1,200 today with interest.

A separate time capsule buried with the car was opened, and organizers removed and unfolded an unfaded American flag. Other historical documents, aerial maps of the city and postcards were in good condition.

"We don't care what condition it's in," said Bob Petri. "It's just the whole idea somebody thought of it in 1957 and here we are living it."