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CORY YOUNG / Tulsa World
Heather Cody, a receptionist at East Tulsa Dodge, works next to the
1957 Plymouth Belvedere that was unearthed Friday. The car will be on display
at the dealership until Saturday.
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The unveiling is over, but that magical car is
still bewitching fans.
Sharon King Davis may have presided
over Tulsarama, but that doesn't mean she understands the fascination with its
star, a rusted-out Plymouth Belvedere that spent the last 50 years underground.
"I just don't get it," she said Monday.
"Maybe it has something to do with the fact it came from an era when cars
had personality."
Water rusted out the Belvedere's rear suspension,
destroyed the interior and fused most moving parts into fistfuls of rust. It
didn't seem to matter. Fans flocked to the car Saturday and Sunday at the
Convention Center -- where it was surrounded by more than 100 meticulously
restored and detailed classic cars -- and formed an impromptu parade as it was
transported to East Tulsa Dodge on Sunday night.
"Sunday night at 6:30, we started out with a
sheriff's department escort, a Storey wrecker and me," King Davis said.
"By the time we got to East Tulsa Dodge, we had 40 cars following us.
People were pulling over and waving -- waving at a car!"
And they're still coming.
"Tons of people have been in today to see it,"
East Tulsa Dodge's Heather Cody said Monday afternoon. "People are calling
from Kansas and Arkansas wanting to know if they can come
down and see it."
Late Monday, nine of the 10 most-read stories on
Tulsaworld.com related to the Belvedere. Buriedcar.com, the event's official
Web site, has had nearly 3.2 million page views since June 3.
Opportunities to view the Belvedere in person are
dwindling, at least for a while. It will remain in East Tulsa Dodge's showroom
at 4637 S. Memorial Drive
until Saturday -- a change from previously announced scheduling. The car's
winner will be announced at noon Friday.
The winner will be determined by the entries in a 1957
contest to guess what Tulsa's
population would be this year. The person closest, or his or her heirs, gets
the car and about $700, the proceeds of a $100 passbook savings account that
was opened 50 years ago.
A lot of people would consider the $700 by far the better
part of the deal, but with this car you never know.
"Sunday," said King Davis, "I accidentally
said we would find out on Friday who Miss Belvedere would own, instead of who
had won Miss Belvedere. But I'm beginning to think I had it right the first
time. Nobody is going to own this car. She's going to own them."
http://www.tulsaworld.com/webextra/content/2007/buriedcarunearthed/articles.aspx?articleID=070619_1_A2_hTheu55041
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