The 1957 Plymouth Belvedere buried under the Tulsa County Courthouse lawn the past 50 years turned out to be more artifact than memento when unwrapped Friday night.

Fears that the car had been badly damaged by water that had found its way into the Belvedere's vault proved true. Rust and corrosion caused car expert Boyd Coddington to abandon plans to start the Belvedere on the Convention Center Arena stage.

Coddington said the Belvedere had "a lot of personality" but "what I see is a lot of rust."

A time capsule buried with the car was also taken to the arena. The time capsule, which turned out to be a double-walled steel tank, remained tight and yielded a number of artifacts including entries for a contest whose winner gets the car and proceeds from a $100 savings account now worth a little over $700.

Despite morning showers, several thousand spectators turned out for the noon hoisting of the Belvedere from its resting space. Many others watched a closed-circuit telecast in the Convention Center.

Later, hundreds watched for nearly two hours from the concourse at the north end of the Convention Center and peered down from the adjacent parking garage as workers washed off the cars covering, aired up its tires and moved it by forklift into the