The Belvedere Has Landed

Or been pulled out of the ground, as the case may be. A 1957 Plymouth Belvedere buried in 1957 in Tulsa, Oklahoma has been pulled from the vault it was buried in 50 years ago. It is not known what condition the car is in yet. Several feet of water had to be pumped out of the vault.

The wrapped car — a gold and white two-door hardtop — appeared brown and red as it came out of the hole, but it was unclear whether the color represented dirt or rust. A bit of shiny chrome was visible on the bumper.

The car spent the last half-century covered in three layers of protective material and encased in a 12-by-20-foot concrete vault, supposedly tough enough to withstand a nuclear attack.

But event officials already had to pump out several feet of water from its crypt.

The car was placed on a flatbed truck so it could be unwrapped, spruced up and officially unveiled Friday evening at the Tulsa Convention Center. Spectators packed the streets to glimpse its journey.

Whether the car will start was unknown. Those who gathered to watch it being pulled out of the ground did not seem to care.

"I just need to see it," said Marc Montague of Auckland, New Zealand, among the couple hundred spectators amassed at the downtown site Thursday afternoon. "I've been waiting 15 years for this."

It will be interesting to see who wins it - and whether it is actually worth winning, of course. (Earlier post here, includes links.)