You’ve probably heard the story of “Miss Belvedere”–a brand-new 1957 Plymouth hardtop that was buried in an underground vault in Tulsa, Oklahoma as a time capsule. It was intended to be exhumed in 2007 (which it was), however things didn’t go so well. The vault had filled with water and the once shiny-new Plymouth was corroded and waterlogged beyond repair. While that story got all the attention, little did anyone know there was another 1957 Forward Look car, stored away in a dry garage since 1960, and it has just recently seen the light of day!
This 1957 Dodge Royal 4-door sedan in Gallant Gold Iridescent and Glacier White has survived the decades much better than Miss Belvedere, and is a rare find of the highest order. I found it on Facebook Marketplace (listing has since been removed). It was located in Monessen, Pennsylvania, just south of Pittsburgh. Here, I’ll let you read about it:
I believe the asking price was $10,000 which makes this, in my opinion, one of the greatest old car buys of our lifetime. I’m not surprised that the listing was taken down so quickly. Look at it this way: Even if you had to spend a couple thousand dollars rebuilding the seized engine, what would you have at the end of the project? A near-mint, Forward Look masterpiece with no rust, excellent original paint, and upholstery that still looks new! No professional restoration of a worn and damaged example could ever approach what this car is.
Yes, this is one amazing car. First, because it has the dramatic Forward Look styling that took America by storm. When you walk around one of these cars in person, it just bowls you over with its massive size and finely-wrought Space Age “Bulgemobile” details. Secondly, as so often in life, the most beautiful and interesting things tend to be the most fragile. The 1957 Chrysler Corporation cars were not known for their longevity, being especially subject to early rust-out–and their mechanical reliability wasn’t quite what it should have been.
Ah, but this ultra-rare example has somehow survived all those woes (except for the stuck engine). By rights, this car should have been fed to the crusher around 1967 or so, like maybe 99.5% of its brethren. How and why it was preserved like this remains a mystery. If you were born in 1960 or later, this car has been sitting in the dark, silently, day after day of your whole life, waiting for the present moment where you can now see it.
It kind of reminds me of my 1958 Ford Custom 300 which was purchased new by Louis Galtieri of Garfield, New Jersey as a company car. For some reason it was kept instead of being traded in, and Mr. Galtieri passed it on to his son. It had been stored inside all those years. However, I believe this ’57 Dodge is in much better shape than my Ford. Now I can see why someone would want to store and save an early Corvette, a 2-seater Thunderbird, an old Pierce-Arrow or something like that. But to save one of these regular ’50s sedans that at the time were considered “nothing special” is really rather extraordinary and unusual. These are the kind of finds that intrigue me most.
Those are all the photos I have. They give us a tantalizing glimpse of something that technically should not exist in our present day, and yet–here it is! This will probably be another case where we see the For Sale listing with its pictures, the car sells, and then it’s never seen or heard from again. Which always leaves me wondering who bought it, and what its ultimate fate will be.
You have to wonder what would have happened if Miss Belvedere had just been parked in a standard above-ground garage rather than an underground vault that was susceptible to water leakage. But in the “Atomic ’50s” people had this fascination with underground bomb shelters that would supposedly protect you from nuclear attack. So lowering the car into a bunker was a lot more visually dramatic than just parking it in a garage. Add this episode to the long list of human foibles. Meanwhile, our subject 1957 Dodge has made its journey through time relatively unscathed. It would be fascinating to know what happens to it now.
Related CC reading:
1957 Dodge Coronet Sedan: “Step Into The Wonderful World Of Autodynamics!” by Stephen Pellegrino
This would be a great story, and one that I wish had more details than were made available to you.
I will call foul on the seller’s description of “original tires” – these narrow whitewalls are no older than 1962-63. I wonder if the original spare is in the trunk. That said, it is amazing to see this car’s condition, especially the interior.
I thought the same thing when I saw those WWs!
J.P., I noticed the narrow whitewalls, and guessed them to be no older than very late `61 or `62 as well. This would be a show stopper even being a lowly 4dr. sedan. I’d GLADLY pay to overhaul the engine knowing what a time capsule the rest of the car is! It’s one I could occasionally drive and enjoy!
Suddenly it’s 1960!
Did the listing say the mileage? I’m also wondering about how it was stored since these late fifties Forward Look cars have a bad habit of the rear end sagging but I don’t know the reason. If it was due to the rear springs simply losing their arch over time, well, unless this one was put up on blocks to unload the springs, it might need some explanation. And that supposed anamoly could also help explain the more modern tires, too.
$10k does seem like a pretty good price, though, even with a seized engine and a less than desirable 4-door sedan bodystyle.
I would pull all the plugs and fill the cylinders with a mixture of transmission fluid and Marvel Mystery Oil. Let it marinate for a few days and I bet that motor breaks loose with not much effort!
Yes, sometimes that works! Particularly on an engine that has not been outside.
A gallon of KROIL would be my choice, hasn’t let me down yet .
-Nate
I watched the American Hot Rod episode when Boyd Coddington was invited to attend the Belvedere unearthing–a huge but unsurprising disappointment. Since then I’ve waited in vain for the Graveyard Carz episodes featuring its restoration 😉
This Dodge is amazing.
The roofline of the 1957-59 Dodge Coronet/Royal (and Canadian Mayfair/Regent) 4-door sedan looked great and I think it’s a bit sad they couldn’t keep it when the 1960 models arrived. I saw by luck a picture of a 1960 Dodge Dart 4-door sedan and I played with Google Flow AI to see how it might have look have it continued to use the 1957-59 roofline.
We had a 59 Sierra Wagon that went to the crusher in 1968 after the torqueflite gave up Reverse
Same 1960 Dart from a sideview with the roofline of the 1957-59 4-door sedan.
I like this roofline on the 1957-59 models, but not grafted onto the ’60. Looks off, probably because the rest of the body wasn’t styled for it. I’m getting Checker cab vibes.
Interesting that this car was located in Monessen, Pennsylvania, as the western part of the state experiences rough winters that require a lot of road salt. Vehicles develop rust far more quickly out there than they do here in Harrisburg. Even three years of use in that environment would have resulted in rust on a 1957 Mopar, so I wonder if this car was ever driven during the winter months.
For many years an all-original 1957 Plymouth Belvedere four-door sedan from Clearfield, Pennsylvania, was shown at the Carlisle Chrysler show. That car was in excellent original condition. It was later sold to someone in Australia, if I recall correctly.
I wonder if it was this one. I saw this car at a Geelong car show a couple of years ago, it was a real treat to see this, hard to describe, aged but still almost new at the same time.
Looks like car is currently for sale.
That’s most likely the same car. If not, it’s a twin.
That Plymouth that was in Pennsylvania had the V-8, automatic transmission and power steering.
we had a new 1957 Coronet 4 door hardtop. Crazy reddish color, my father called it the “vomit comet”. Even as a 14 year old, I thought the car was a piece of junk. By the way, the ceiling in the car was sort of a perforated lighter colored ? cardboard? than in this car. A friend of mine’s family, on the other hand, had a high level Plymouth wagon that I thought was nice. However, as I recall, all the 1957 Chrysler (and Fords) products rusted faster than the payment schedule.
You guys are good, great catch on the tires. The originals probably dry-rotted.
My guess is that the seized engine was why the car was originally sidelined in 1960. At the time it was still a current car, too good to junk, and an engine repair or replacement would have made sense. The original owner probably expected to take care of it pretty soon, just not right away. But then life happened, as it tends to, and the car continued to sit.
*VERY* nice ! .
Too bad it didn’t mention how many miles on it, stuck engines can often be freed up with care, time and diligence, I’ve done many .
This really is nice, in the late 70’s I stumbled upon a similar 1958 Plymouth Plaza stripper. the old man’s wife had died and he just kept the car until he couldn’t drive anymore, it had the same black nylon seat covering, it disintegrated the moment I sat on it =8-( .
Those cloth headliners were usually white of off white, the brown comes as they age out .
Truly, when a Forward Look MoPar is in good nick they’re wonderful drivers .
-Nate