Driving Tulsa's Buried Car Nancy Schallner Tulsa Historical Society Volunteer Researcher The burying of a car came about because of the ongoing competition between Tulsa and Oklahoma City.  Both cities were celebrating the state semi-centennial, but  OKC’s festivities and events were, as usual, getting much more media ink as well as celebrities--even President Eisenhower was involved in their “OklahomaRama” event (the word “Rama” was added to every event which signified “really big”).  The PR guys here in Tulsa lamented as to what they could do to attract their share of attention. Far away in New York City, the N.W. Ayer advertising agency was also pondering how to get more visibility to their client’s

Plymouth automobile.  Competition for attention was the primary motivation for all concerned.   Although they didn’t call it networking, that is precisely what these fellows all sat down and did. Comparing notes, they pitched ideas, scribbled notes, and exchanged views.  OKC was burying a time capsule as was Tulsa. More ideas pitched and then came the most outrageous one yet- burying a new, $2,000 Plymouth along with the time capsule.

This just might work for both camps- PR for Tulsa and PR for the Plymouth.  The city leaders bought the idea and determined that it could be buried in front of the Court House.  The Atomic Energy Commission was consulted on how to best build a vault that would protect a car for 50 years.  After quick drying cement (a new product at the time) was poured and cured the entire 1,400 cubic foot vault was sprayed inside with gunite. 

Three independent paper companies were also consulted and worked together to create protective barriers for the car.  Dobeckmun Company provided a product that consisted of a base sheet of cotton scrim laminated to polyethylene sheeting, aluminum foil and vinyl- which they called Metalam.  This was placed on the steel platform and the car was placed on top of it. Once lowered the car was wrapped in the Metalam.  Orchard Paper company provided sheets of volatile rust inhibitors (VPI)  that were placed over the engine, in interior areas of the car as well as on top and under the chassis of the car. 

A huge plastic bag made by Kennedy Car Liners was positioned over the car with the bottom edges heat sealed to the base sheet, leaving a 4-inch slot opening.  The air in the bag was then vacuumed out through the slot producing a hermetically-sealed container. 

So let’s get this straight: the car has a sheet of the VPI on top, underneath and inside, then it has Metalam wrapped around it, then it has a large plastic bag that was vacuum sealed around it. It has been said (but not verified on my end) that VPI granules were placed in the gasoline tank (and radiator?) which we know were emptied before burial.

As for as the PR guys, their idea worked.  A “sexy full-page photo” of the 1957 Plymouth Belvedere Sport Coup hardtop, suspended in the air above the vault, appeared in Life magazine’s July 7 issue.

From the photos available it is apparent that the lid that was lowered onto the vault was actually in 3 pieces.  Gunite was sprayed all around the edges, and then each piece lowered onto that.  Then the top and edges were sealed again with 3 inches of gunite, as we recently discovered.  It looks to be in very sound shape.

The burying of the time capsule and car came at the end of Tulsa’s weeklong Jubilee celebration, known as TulsaRama!  (the exclamation point borrowed from the play/movie Oklahoma!)  It is said that the car was lowered into the vault no less than 9 times during the days prior to the actual burial, which provided numerous photo ops, including Life Magazine’s and the one from the Chrysler Museum. Otherwise the Belvedere sat parked in front of the Jubilee headquarters downtown with signs around it proclaiming “Suddenly its 2,007!” a take off on the ad campaign slogan “Suddenly its 1960!”  And another sign that said “Enter Your Guess Here” with an arrow pointing inside the office.  The contest was to guess the population of Tulsa in 2,007 (I am adding that comma on purpose, like they did).  Entries were microfilmed and put into the time capsule, made of steel and resembling a miniature underground oil tank, along with many historical documents, flags, etc. and was welded shut and painted white.  The closest guess will win the car and a savings bond.  Everything else in the car will go to the Tulsa Historical Society.  And there are QUITE a lot of “other things”.  Gallons of DX Boron gasoline, crude oil, a case of Schlitz beer (cans), items from a woman’s pocketbook, an unpaid parking ticket, a bottle of tranquilizers plus many other things we have been told “My dad” or “My Uncle”  threw into or onto the car before it was buried.  As one can see from the photos, the crowd was allowed to be right up there next to the vault which provided ample opportunity for this to happen.  A bronze marker was donated to commemorate the spot and has only been moved once when the new sidewalks were laid.

• McMichael Concrete Company dug the hole for the vault and provided the (new) crane that was used.

• Patterson Steel Co. fabricated the steel skid onto which the car was bolted.

• Flint Steel Co furnished a spreader girder to which the lowering harness was secured.

• Dewey Portland Cement Co. donated the concrete for the job.

• True Gun1All Equipment Co. applied the gunite and sealed the vault.

• McNamara Tank Co. built the time capsule.