Charles’ 
Slide of the Week: June 22nd, 2007
Deep-Fried Plymouth! Tulsa, Ok, June 15, 2007
So Tulsa’s legendary buried car emerges extra crispy and golden brown like it’s been battered and deep-fried like a piece of chicken. It’s shocking. People gasp. Some cry. How could this happen? How could the vault it was buried in have leaked? Why didn’t they do a better job? So many questions…so few answers. The whole thing was really just a big publicity stunt that morphed into a bizarre science experiment. Oh well, a petrified Plymouth makes for a much more interesting story than a pristine one.
The saga of the soggy car continues. On Friday, June 21, 2007 Mr. R.E. Humbertson, was announced as the winner. He’s the one who in 1957, guessed closest to what Tulsa’s population is in 2007. If he is still among us in the land of the living he’s 85 years young. He, or his heirs, have five years to claim the prized Plymouth before ownership goes to the Tulsa Historical Society. Earth to Mr. Humbertson…are you out there?
For a full recap of my Route 66 road trip go to my blog DESTINATION TIME CAPSULE!
NPR’s Day to Day covered the DESTINATION TIME CAPSULE! trip. Listen to the series here.
Here’s to the crispy car and it’s lucky winner!
Charles Phoenix
Los Angeles
June 2007
Sets this Slide belongs to:
Fairs, Festivals, Pageants and Parades, Roadslide & Transportation
5 Comments on “Deep-Fried Plymouth! Tulsa, Ok, June 15, 2007”
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June 22nd, 2007 at 7:34 pm
I absolutely love slide of the week. I paint from old slides and pics. Your comments are priceless!
June 25th, 2007 at 7:12 am
What a shame! We all had such high hopes for the Plymouth. And they made such a big deal of putting it in that special Zip-Loc bag.
Of course the reports and photos show the “vault” cement still being wet when they put the car in.
Of course the whole thing is kinda funny too. Charles, were they any folks who laughed when the car was presented?
Oh well, I am a Buick man and had they plopped a big Roadmaster in that plot I bet it would have weathered better. As the old saying goes . . . .
“When better cars are built, Buick will bury them.”
Happy motoring,
Tiki Bob
June 25th, 2007 at 2:06 pm
Ohhh! The humanity! Very sad, but very cool!
Good luck with the Bonneville. I have an old bomb that it’s always a roll of the dice everytime I go on a trip. I know just how you felt!
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:54 am
Christine. She’s back. Somewhere, Stephen King is grinning.
(OK, so Christine was a ‘58)
…Lorenzo
May 2nd, 2008 at 12:46 am
The people of Tulsa brought up Miss Belvedere and she looks like she was buried in Essie Williams’ Locker. Good luck restoring the vehicle. In The fictional world of The “Kids Next Door” [KND]. The Tulsa Chapter in 1957 placed there 1957 Plymouth Fury [Cleopatra] in a pyramid & had a mummy-like case for Cleopatra & 50 years later, Cleopatra came out in better condition & even had a 1960s child actor starting up the car. Among the guests was Cubby O’Brien & Annette Funicello’s grand kids. So that’s my view of The Tulsa event of June 15, 2007.