A car buried half a century ago in a time capsule had been transformed into a hunk of junk by the time it was unveiled on Friday as part of Oklahoma’s Centennial.
The concrete vault, built in 1957 and meant to be opened this year to celebrate Oklahoma’s Centennial as an American state, had leaked in the intervening 50 years and most of its contents were ruined, to the dismay of those hoping to find a pristine, gold 1957 Plymouth Belvedere.
Would-be auto restorers unwrapped 1950s-era protective covering from the mud-caked relic onstage on Friday evening at the Tulsa Convention Centre, revealing a ruined hulk with rotting upholstery, collapsed suspension, flat tyres and an engine that appeared to be a solid chunk of rust.
Officials said they feared the worst when the time capsule was opened earlier this week to reveal 1,2m of standing water.
The unveiling of the car was to be the centrepiece of a city celebration featuring a classic car show, a ”sock-hop” and the showing of a film playing in 1957 at the time the car was buried. ”When we saw the water in there we were completely devastated,” said event co-chairperson Sharon King Davis. ”We had such hopes.”
The capsule was buried on the lawn of the Tulsa County Courthouse in 1957 to be opened in 2007.
According to the event chairperson back then, they chose the Plymouth Belvedere because it exemplified ”an advanced product of American industrial ingenuity with the kind of lasting appeal that will still be in style 50 years from now”.
The two-tone, gold-and-white behemoth sported white-wall tires, a V-8 engine and high tail fins trimmed in chrome. Items buried with the car included jugs of leaded gasoline, a change of oil and a case of Schlitz beer.
All items were covered with mud and appeared to be ruined.
A sealed steel capsule buried with the car, however, opened to reveal a pristine 48-star American flag, letters from various state and city officials, and documentation for a savings account valued at $100 in 1957, which has now appreciated to a little more than $1 000.
The capsule also contained postcards from citizens guessing what the city’s population might be in 2007. The person who guessed a figure closest to Tulsa’s current population, estimated by census officials to be 382 457 by June 1, or that person’s descendant, will win the car and the savings account.
Officials reviewing the documents said they will announce a winner in the coming weeks. — Reuters