Historic Route 66 - Cadillac Ranch - Amarillo, Texas, USA. - National Scenic Byways on Waymarking.com

Cadillac Ranch is a very popular tourist attraction, The cars are buried nose down in the ground. The back ends are standing up at an angle. The sign at the gate to the wheat field warns visitors that spray painting & grafitti is only allowed on the field side of the fence. Which means the outer fence is covered in as much graffiti as the cars.

From The Roadside America web site:
"An aristocracy of roadside attractions has been raised over the years: glorified in photo essays, calendars, blogs, and Tweets; spotlighted in video and film; instantly recognizable as icons. These Great Monuments, we are told, represent America's hopes and dreams, art and commerce, materialism and spiritualism, folly and fame.

Cadillac Ranch is one of them. Professional authors and screenwriters know a pre-baked, easy-to-get symbol when they see it. Who are we to buck the trend?

Standing along Route 66 west of Amarillo, Texas, Cadillac Ranch was invented and built by a group of art-hippies imported from San Francisco. They called themselves The Ant Farm, and their silent partner was Amarillo billionaire Stanley Marsh 3. He wanted a piece of public art that would baffle the locals, and the hippies came up with a tribute to the evolution of the Cadillac tail fin. Ten Caddies were driven into one of Stanley Marsh 3's fields, then half-buried, nose-down, in the dirt (supposedly at the same angle as the Great Pyramid of Giza). They faced west in a line, from the 1949 Club Sedan to the 1963 Sedan de Ville, their tail fins held high for all to see on the empty Texas panhandle.

That was in 1974. People would stop along the highway, walk out to view the cars -- then deface them or rip off pieces as souvenirs. Stanley Marsh 3 and The Ant Farm were tolerant of this public deconstruction of their art -- although it doomed the tail fins -- and eventually came to encourage it." Text Source: (visit link)

Program: America's Byways Website: [Web Link] Official Name: Historic Route 66

Visit Instructions:
Please give a brief description of your visit. Maybe why you were there, what you found interesting, or something along those lines. Photos are also encouraged. Although the only requirement to log a visit to a waymark in this category is to physically visit the location, the photos and extra information you can provide about the area is very helpful to future visitors.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   10/26/2019 wildernessmama visited it 09/12/2019 mrahudson visited it 02/06/2018 _ILMOP_ visited it 05/18/2017 The Snowdog visited it 03/20/2016 Osa2013 visited it 12/17/2015 tamiuron visited it 07/22/2015 KennyV visited it 07/17/2015 Free2bme29 visited it 03/14/2015 BE Viking visited it 12/25/2014 ClaraJean/JLDossett visited it 02/02/2014 veritas vita visited it 12/22/2013 tnwave visited it 10/12/2013 mr.volkswagen visited it 10/03/2012 iconions visited it 02/10/2010 PeterNoG visited it 06/19/2009 TerraViators visited it

View all visits/logs