Car news: Will it run? The city of Tulsa will dig up a car that has been buried for 50 years!

On June 15, 1957, a new gold and white 1957 Plymouth Belvedere Sport Coupe was buried in a time capsule in downtown Tulsa, Oklohoma. The time capsule was part of Golden Jubilee Week: Tulsa's celebration of Oklahoma's semi-centennial.

The car is buried under the sidewalk in front of the Tulsa County Courthouse, approximately 100 feet north of the intersection of Sixth Street and Denver Avenue.

The car was seen as a method of acquainting twenty-first century citizens with a suitable representation of 1957 civilization. According to event chairman Lewis Roberts Jr., the Plymouth was chosen because it was "an advanced product of American industrial ingenuity with the kind of lasting appeal that will still be in style 50 years from now." Right..

The contents of a women's purse, including bobby pins, a bottle of tranquilizers, cigarettes and an unpaid parking ticket, were added to the glove compartment of the car shortly before burial. Other items included in the time capsule were:

• 10 gallons of gasoline and 5 quarts of oil (just in case we, in 2007, wouldn't have that stuff or wouldn't be using it?)
  
• A Douglas Aircraft Co. aerial map of airport facilities and legend
  
• Statement from Tulsa council of Churches and prayer for greatest good next 50 years a recently completed history of churches in Tulsa and a directory of the present churches
  
• Statement from board of education - historical data related to 50 years of education in Tulsa and copies of "School Life" all-high school publication issued by Tulsa high schools each month
  
• Statements from Mayor and Chamber of Commerce officials
  
• Flags which have been flown over the national capitol, state capitol and in the county and city
  
• Other aerial photos of the area (That's interesting, just to see how much the town has grown. Hopefully, the images are intact!)
  Statement from Tulsa Trades and Labor Council
  
• Statements from all former mayors of the city - their record of service and civic accomplishments in the city, state and nationally.

The car is scheduled to be unearthed June 15 as part of the Oklahoma Centennial. Promoters of the event are looking for people who helped lower the car into its crypt in 1957 to perhaps shed some light on what to expect when the car is unearthed. There's speculation the car may have turned into a pile of rust. Or that it's in pristine condition and worth thousands of dollars.

Sharon King Davis, who has chaired Tulsa's centennial efforts, looked at photos of the people responsible for burying the car in 1957 and found her grandfather. "I wish grandpa had left me some instructions," she said. The car had been largely forgotten until Davis and her group started work on the centennial. Files on the car have vanished, so it's not clear what to expect when the lid is lifted. What's known is that the car is on a steel pallet with jacks under the axles. Efforts were made to preserve it, but it's unclear if moisture has gotten to the metal and caused rust.

"There's a kind of Rip Van Winkle reaction," Davis says. "Most people had long ago forgotten the buried car, but as the time to dig it up nears, they are waking up and wondering about life in 1957."

Another unknown is who will be able to claim the car. When the car was buried, a contest was announced to award the car and a $100 (back then quite the amount of money!) savings account to the person who came closest to guessing Tulsa's population in 2007. So you can win a great car (it is awesome) and some cash, or a pile of junk and some cash. Or will they reward the 2007 equivalent of $100 in 1957? And if you competed back then, are you still alive? Do you remember? Are you actually able to drive a car?

Organizers concede that finding that person or his or her heirs may not be easy. At the time, the guesses were recorded on microfilm and sealed in a steel container buried with the car.

To see more of the buried Belvedere and other rare Tulsa film clips, go to Tulsafilms.com! I just hope I'll remember all this on June 15th so I can post about the outcome. I'm pretty curious myself, so..