Preservation continues on exhumed auto

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The 1957 Plymouth that spent 50 hard years underground needs a lot of work.

Improvements have been made to the Plymouth Belvedere unearthed in Tulsa two years ago, but it's far from road-ready. Courtesy

By RANDY KREHBIEL World Staff Writer
Published: 6/14/2009 2:26 AM
Last Modified: 6/14/2009 3:30 AM

Relive the Unearthing of the Belvedere: Read all the stories — including those from 1957 — about the burying and unearthing of the Belvedere and watch videos and slide shows.

Rusted, busted, waterlogged and crud-encrusted, the Buried Belvedere rose from its resting place at the Tulsa County Courthouse two years ago this weekend.

It's still not exactly ready for the drag races, but at least some color has returned to its cheeks. Most of the mud and rust has been removed from its exterior, the wheels roll and the steering wheel steers.

On the other hand, the doors don't work, the engine is caked in red clay the consistency of concrete and the steel and sheet metal is so fragile that they have to be handled like rare pottery.

"For the most part," said Dwight Foster, the Hackettsville, N.J., businessman who has had, as he puts it, "custody" of the car since November 2007, "it's like working with papier-mache."

He continued: "Just as an example, rust had eaten completely through a torsion bar. A torsion bar is an inch or an inch and a quarter of solid steel."

Plans to transfer the car's chassis to a different frame have been abandoned because of its delicate condition, he said.

Still, there have been a few surprises. Rubber parts, Foster said, held up surprisingly well.

"The rubbers on the ball joints

were like they'd just come off the (assembly) line," he said. "The different components of the car, they're very unpredictable."

The 1957 Plymouth, brand spanking new, was buried as part of the festivities for the 50th anniversary of Oklahoma's statehood. It emerged a half-century later, in June 2007, looking like something that might have been driven by Cap'n Jack Sparrow.

The vault in which the car was placed, it turned out, held water in better than it kept water out. It had been flooded at some point and still contained more than a foot of water.

The Belvedere was a mess.

Originally gold and white, it emerged from hibernation a uniformly brownish-orange. The upholstery had dissolved. Moving parts were rusted solid. Only the chrome trim and, surprisingly, the tires survived in something like vintage condition.

Foster became involved after the car was awarded — if that is the right word — to the family of Raymond Humbertson, a Maryland man who never lived in Tulsa but for unexplained reasons entered a contest to win the Belvedere.

Foster's company makes an industrial-strength, acid-free, rust remover, and he is something of a car enthusiast. He worked out an agreement with the Humbertsons to get the car in presentable condition.

"It started out as a commercial interest," Foster says now, "but it become more of a personal interest."

Whether the car returns to Tulsa depends on several factors, not the least of which is the cost of transporting the old girl back. Foster said he still gets regular calls from Belvedere fans. He and the car were recently featured on the Hemings car collectors' Web site.

In the meantime, Foster said, he'll keep plugging away. "In the next week or so I'll be going through the back seat trying to get the trunk lid up," he said.

"This is a preservation effort, not a restoration. I'm trying to leave as much of the original as possible."

Randy Krehbiel 581-8365
randy.krehbiel@tulsaworld.com

By RANDY KREHBIEL World Staff Writer

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justiceawaits, Claremore (last year)

What a waste of time and money.

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nucleardad, Tulsa (last year)

What a couple of "Debbie-Downers".
I'd bet after ten minutes of visiting with either one of you I'd be so depressed that I would kill myself.

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CarolsMan, TULSA (last year)

i think that the money spent on this rust bucket could be spent on their grand kids education....the car will never be new again and will never be able to be driven, so why should they drop 20 or 30 thousand dollars into something that will only be a money drain forever.....i say bury it again and leave it there..give it a proper rest and leave it alone..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Davy Crotchety, (last year)

"What a waste of time and money." says juiceawaits.

Hey, negative Nancy, who cares what you think? Nobody, that's who.

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Angry Citizen!, Bluejacket (last year)

Too bad, those cars were pretty slick-

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country lady, small town (last year)

manatwork
If you arent' from Oklahoma why don't you go back to were you can from.
If they have the money let them restore it.It's not any of your business if they spend the money on the car and not the grandkids.Unless you are a grandkid or son that can't afford to put his grandkids to school.Lighten up this is a hobby for them.

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T.B'Ville, Bartlesville (last year)

I dont see how anything could be original on this car after the shape it was unearthed in.
The bumpers maybe?

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Slatz, Tulsa (last year)

Some of you guys would make Daffy Duck suicidal. It's news because there's a lot of car enthusiasts in Tulsa and a lot of people who were alive and/or there when the car was buried/unearthed. What do you care about the money as long as it's not yours? Not every story has to be about crime, politics, sports, or auto fatalities.