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1957 Belvedere to be unearthed after 50 yrs


Guest South_paw

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There is a web site called "the forward look"(?) that is putting together what they are calling, "the fin meet"(?) specifically for this event. I start this weekend on a project to semi-restore a 56 Dodge Royal 4dr hardtop to bring to this meet. I wanted a fin car that I could bring and also to paint it in the late 50's colors of black and pink and this car lends itself quite well to that color combo. I do not plan to go all the way with this car as far as restoring it. It will not be a concours car just a decent driver. An AACA meet in the same area at the same time might not be a bad idea. Any regions in that area??????

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<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have about 1/2 the video and it has taken over 12 hours so far. </div></div>

I gave up last night and shut the computer down. I downloaded only 10 sec. of the video and that took 2 1/2 hours. mad.gifmad.gifmad.gif

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I watched the video. It speaks with the daughter of the PR guy (Her photo is inside the car). They Showed the car going in. Foil was wrapped around the air cleaner and a tarp was over the car. They were shown blowing something in over the tarp. Humm? The item were placed in the trunk and gas and oil on the floor in front of the car "in case it's not available in 2007." There is a plaque on the sidewalk over the car's vault.

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  • 1 year later...

To make it even more interesting is to think of how Chrysler pulled the plug on the Plymouth line six years ago.

I think the biggest question will be if the vault stayed waterproof, or if it filled up full of water to the point where you'll have a pool of rust. In either case, it'll be interesting to see what's left of the car when it's all over.

Granted my dad and I have our share of Mopars, but why couldn't it have been a new Thunderbird or a Corvette??

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  • 2 months later...
Guest ChrisSummers

We had a similar thing in Huntington (closest city to my current town) a few years ago. Back in the 1950s Dave Garroway of the Today Show visited and buried a time capsule of newspapers and photos in a "sealed" vault in front of the C&O depot. Fifty years later Al Roker came to "unearth it" on national television, and everything inside had turned into goo.

I really want to see a perfectly pristine car come out, but on the other hand, knowing how well '50s Chrysler products were rustproofed... <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

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  • 1 month later...
Guest Moepar

I'd like to go, but mother-in-law not in best of health, have to stick closer to home. frown.gif Take lots of pictures.

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Guest South_paw

Wow, this thread is still going, very cool.

It looks like the car should hold up well grin.gif

<span style="color: #CC0000">The car will be covered with a special preservative provided by the Dobeckmun Co. of Cleveland, Ohio, a casing developed during World War II to protect military equipment. The encapsulating, the goo itself, and two company representative all were donated by Dobeckmun.</span>

Here's the whole article from 1957

Click here

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Guest windjamer

In an early post I said I thought the car was sprayed or covered with cosmoline. My first experiance with this stuf was in 1958 at fort benning ga. It may take 50 years to clean the car, but car should be perfact.

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A quote from the above mentioned story

"The discovery of water in the vault was particularly difficult for the scores of volunteers who have worked for more than 18 months on the car's excavation"

What could have taken scores of volunteers 18 months to excavate that car?? Did they dig it up with just their hands

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Guest BruceW

This was the first time I had seen the 1957 article written prior to the event. It was also the first I had seen a mention of a Cosmolene type preservative other then the postings made here. The www.buriedcar.com site refers only to the strylene wrap, which is like wrapping it in heavy Saran Wrap.

I am wondering if they actually did coat the car as planned in the article, because it looks awfully clean in the photos just before and as it is being lowered into the vault.

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