Sunday, October 18, 2015

The Hippies Did It ---- Cadillac Ranch

Location: Oasis RV Park (el. 3,800 ft); Amarillo, Texas

(all pictures taken with Nokia Lumia 929 Cell Phone)
(click pictures to enlarge)

They are located along what used to be Route 66, now I-40, and have been there since 1974, wow, 41 years. There are 10 of them about 700 feet into a farmers field. You can park alongside the interstate frontage road and enter through the gate. The gate allows one person to walk through at a time and is self-closing. Hmmm,,, keeping something in or out?.  

The pink sign to the left reads,,"This isn't a national park, so don't litter".


Getting closer


Buried cars????



The property is/was owned by the local billionaire Stanley Marsh 3. The "3" was his idea since he thought III or "the third" was pretentious. Being a little goofy himself, he brought in some Hippies from San Francisco that called themselves The Ant Farm. He asked them to make an interesting art structure that would be around for a long time. They definitely completed their goal because it has survived for more than 4 decades and visited daily. The Hippies bought junked Cadillac cars from junk yards around the area. Supposedly none cost more than $200.00. They buried them nose down in a line. They range from a 1949 Club Sedan to a 1963 Sedan de Ville. It is suppose to be a memorial to the "tail fin". It wasn't long after they finished that visitors started painting graffiti on the cars. That was OK with Marsh and the Hippies. They liked the idea of visitors participating in the art project. I have passed this place about 6 times since I've been here and each time there are at least a dozen people around.    









Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road.

2 comments: