The city of Tulsa has an unusual propensity for burying Plymouth products in the dirt and forgetting about them for years.
Back in 1957, a Plymouth Belvedere came to Tulsa--a car that was regarded back then as being "three years ahead of its time". One magazine printed in 1957 featuring the Belvedere on the cover bore the headline "suddenly it's 1960!".
Belvedere came with a highly-praised "Torsion-Aire" front suspension and a push-button transmission. Indeed, in its day, this was the first car to "break the time barrier".
Shortly after it was acquired, the Belvedere was buried in the ground in downtown Tulsa, right in front of the courthouse.
What?!
You read that right. Buried in the ground, and kept in the dark for fifty years, the Belvedere would be filled with assorted memorabilia from 1957 to show folks 50 years later. A time capsule, if you will.
The innovative design of the 1957 Belvedere was appropriate for the job, as Oklahoma Golden Jubilee chairman W.A. Anderson declared the finned Plymouth had "the kind of lasting appeal that should be in style 50 years from now."
Chrysler senior designer and design historian Jeffrey Godshall says the revolutionary Plymouth was the work of a styling team assembled in the early 50s by famed designer Virgil Exner.
After such conceptual machines as the 1951 Chrysler K310 and the 1953 Chrysler d'Elegance, Exner was given responsibility for the styling of the company's production models. His first advanced designs in 1955--referred to as The Forward Look--were followed by the "Flight Sweep" cars of 1956, marking the first time an automobile manufacturer applied fins to its entire line of vehicles.
With even larger towering fins, the '57 Plymouth was a stunner, Godshall said. That leadership in design continues today under the direction of Trevor Creed, Senior Vice President of Product Design. His team has produced a new generation of revolutionary designs such as the Chrysler 300 sedan.
Back in 1957, a Plymouth Belvedere came to Tulsa--a car that was regarded back then as being "three years ahead of its time". One magazine printed in 1957 featuring the Belvedere on the cover bore the headline "suddenly it's 1960!".
Belvedere came with a highly-praised "Torsion-Aire" front suspension and a push-button transmission. Indeed, in its day, this was the first car to "break the time barrier".
Shortly after it was acquired, the Belvedere was buried in the ground in downtown Tulsa, right in front of the courthouse.
What?!
 |
You read that right. Buried in the ground, and kept in the dark for fifty years, the Belvedere would be filled with assorted memorabilia from 1957 to show folks 50 years later. A time capsule, if you will.
The innovative design of the 1957 Belvedere was appropriate for the job, as Oklahoma Golden Jubilee chairman W.A. Anderson declared the finned Plymouth had "the kind of lasting appeal that should be in style 50 years from now."
Chrysler senior designer and design historian Jeffrey Godshall says the revolutionary Plymouth was the work of a styling team assembled in the early 50s by famed designer Virgil Exner.
After such conceptual machines as the 1951 Chrysler K310 and the 1953 Chrysler d'Elegance, Exner was given responsibility for the styling of the company's production models. His first advanced designs in 1955--referred to as The Forward Look--were followed by the "Flight Sweep" cars of 1956, marking the first time an automobile manufacturer applied fins to its entire line of vehicles.
With even larger towering fins, the '57 Plymouth was a stunner, Godshall said. That leadership in design continues today under the direction of Trevor Creed, Senior Vice President of Product Design. His team has produced a new generation of revolutionary designs such as the Chrysler 300 sedan.
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