1957 Plymouth dig up

[charky]

quote:Originally posted by breitee

Absolutely! KOTV should be ashamed. Did we really need all of those commercials? What poor coverage of what should have been a great show. John Ehrling should have stayed retired. He is losing it. Sharon King Davis should have the common sense to know when to govern her tounge and stay silent. Jack Frank was wasted here and should have had more to do. They should have spent more time and used the cameras to show more of the car. Hopefully Jack Frank can salvage this embarassment and produce a quality DVD of the days events.

Agreed.

I'm thrilled the car came out in one piece and the time capsule was very cool.

But...did they even attempt to rehearse the television presentation? (I know you can't rehearse for the unknown...but the overall presentation...meh) I recognized John Erhling but have no idea who the lady was. But the emceeing (sp?) between the two of them was almost unbearable. Too many people on stage and too many people talking at once.

[Wilbur]

quote:Originally posted by charky

quote:Originally posted by breitee

Absolutely! KOTV should be ashamed. Did we really need all of those commercials? What poor coverage of what should have been a great show. John Ehrling should have stayed retired. He is losing it. Sharon King Davis should have the common sense to know when to govern her tounge and stay silent. Jack Frank was wasted here and should have had more to do. They should have spent more time and used the cameras to show more of the car. Hopefully Jack Frank can salvage this embarassment and produce a quality DVD of the days events.

Agreed.

I'm thrilled the car came out in one piece and the time capsule was very cool.

But...did they even attempt to rehearse the television presentation? (I know you can't rehearse for the unknown...but the overall presentation...meh) I recognized John Erhling but have no idea who the lady was. But the emceeing (sp?) between the two of them was almost unbearable. Too many people on stage and too many people talking at once.

The lady was Sharon King-Davis, who is the Chair of the state's centennial celebration.  She also owns Kings Point at 61st and Yale and Kings Landing near 101st and Riverside.  While I agree the televised portion of the event left a little to be desired, I thought the event as a whole was done well and brought lots of attention to Tulsa from around the US and the globe.  Hats off to Sharon!!

[sauerkraut]

Tulsa's car made the national news on all 3 networks. I really hoped so much that the car would of came out showroom new.

[T-Town Now]

quote:Originally posted by sauerkraut

Tulsa's car made the national news on all 3 networks. I really hoped so much that the car would of came out showroom new.

I would bet it would have been in great shape had a drain been installed in the vault to drain out any water or moisture that might have seeped in. Considering all the trouble they went to, the additional cost for this precaution wouldn't have been a deal killer. A valve to prevent water from entering the vault could have been installed to make sure the vault stayed dry in case of sewer backup, flooding, etc.

I'm pretty sure they were confident they had any water issues under control. They expected the bag to keep the car dry, but likely never anticipated that the vault would fill up completely with water at some point, which it seems it did.

I wonder if we'll get an official statement on what they believe happened. After viewing the vault and inspecting the car, I would think they could come pretty close to determining what happened, when it happened, etc. For all we know, the car could have been high and dry up until the last 10 years or so. I think if it had been exposed to water during the sixties, it would have had much more severe damage than it does. I'll bet the water in the vault was a fairly recent event.

What a shame, but I do believe the car should be restored. What does it say about Tulsa to allow such a treasure to remain in deteriorated condition? It tells the world that we don't take care of our city, and from the looks of our streets, most would believe that to be a fact.

I think the Belvedere would make an excellent "spokesperson" for the City of Tulsa once restored.

Of course, that depends on whether the city has ownership of the car. I highly doubt anyone other than a car collector would want it in this condition, as it isn't even a good parts car at this point. And heaven help us if the winner decides to part it on eBay! That would be a true insult.

[AngieB]

I really don't think she should be restored. I like her just as she is.

I would like to see the winner donate the car back to the city. I would like to see them create a nice platform with the Belvedere encased in a glass box with the time capsule contents displayed in glass cases around her. A neat location for it would be the Cyrus Avery Plaza.

[charky]

quote:Originally posted by Wilbur
The lady was Sharon King-Davis, who is the Chair of the state's centennial celebration.  She also owns Kings Point at 61st and Yale and Kings Landing near 101st and Riverside.  While I agree the televised portion of the event left a little to be desired, I thought the event as a whole was done well and brought lots of attention to Tulsa from around the US and the globe.  Hats off to Sharon!!

After seeing her name...I know who she is now (I live right down the street from Kings Point).

The PR for this event was invaluable for the city...regardless of the condition of the vehicle.

[TheArtist]

How they saw it across the pond.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_6750000/newsid_6759800/6759889.stm?bw=nb&mp=wm

[cyndezu]

Nashville chiming in here.
This event really sucked me in.
I became so emotionally involved I cried very sad to see the old car go in new and come out like that.
I don't care what Boyd say's, I hope he has a change of heart.
 Come on Tulsa the world is watching and we need something to feel good about.

         RESTORE THAT CAR!

[Breadburner]

It's unrestorable....There is not a lick of sheet metal that is restorable....It should be left alone.....Trying to restore a car in this condition will do more harm than good.....You would end up with nothing before it was all over with.....

[sgrizzle]

I would rather see them build a "mr belvedere" restored to look like "ms belvedere" went into the ground than restore the original. All they could keep is the bumper, frame, trim, and emblems. The sheet metal is generally not restoreable if it has any level of rust at all.

[T-Town Now]

quote:Originally posted by Breadburner

It's unrestorable....There is not a lick of sheet metal that is restorable....It should be left alone.....Trying to restore a car in this condition will do more harm than good.....You would end up with nothing before it was all over with.....

If the car is truly that bad, there will be nothing left of it in a few years anyway. Once exposed to oxygen and humidity, the rust will likely accelerate. So, steps are going to have to be taken to stop the rust or the car will literally fall apart.

I've restored some pretty bad cars over the years, most of them you could never tell when they were done. I've restored cars where the rear quarter panels were half gone - literally - there was nothing there. I've fixed cars where there were millions of tiny little holes in the roof. And cars where you could see the ground zipping by below your feet because there was no floor.

I haven't seen the car up close yet, but if it truly is as bad as you say, something will need to be done if there's to be anything at all left.

[cyndezu]

A Mr. Belvedere, wasn't that a cheeky show from the '80's?
 Does anybody know who won the poor thing?

[sauerkraut]

Does anyone know what become of those two famous Miss. Belvedere Girls? They even signed their name inside the vault I understand. It is very sad to see such a great new car go in the vault  back in 1957 and come out rusty  in 2007. It seems so wasteful to have a good car with only 7 miles on the clock ruined. They should of took extra precautions in '57 because of the high value of the item. Also this may be called "Cheating" but as preventive maintence precautions they could of checked the vault every so many years and monitor it. As soon as water was seen they could of sliped in a hose to pump it out. I saw a picture of the inside of the car and it looks bad, they had such nice dashboards in those late 50's cars, and it's all ruined on this one.  Without viewing the car  in person it's hard for anyone to say it's too far gone  The engine may have to be replaced it's most likely un-rebuildable.[]

[rwarn17588]

You folks in the "we need to do something about the car" crowd need to realize that the ownership of the Belvedere is still uncertain.

Someone guessed closest to Tulsa's 2007 population, and he/she or the heirs will be the rightful owners of the car. We'll know who it is probably next week.

Ultimately, the decision on what to do to the car is in the owner's hands. Let him or her decide.

[jiminy]

I think we're assuming that whoever wins it is not going to want it.  Although, if the rumored  Chrysler $100,000 offer is real and still good, I'm sure they would get it.