Amarillo Things to Do Tips by Paulie_D

Cadillac Ranch Cadillac Ranch Review

Twelve miles outside of town old Route 66 passes Cadillac Ranch. An extraordinary piece of modern art.

Contructed in 1974 by eccentric millionaire Stanley Marsh III the helium millionaire who owns the dusty wheat field where it stands. Marsh and The Ant Farm, a San Francisco art collective, assembled used Cadillacs representing the "Golden Age" of American Automobiles (1949 through 1963). The ten graffiti-covered cars are half-buried, nose-down, facing west "at the same angle as the Cheops' pyramids."

It's easy to miss as it's not well signposted and the cars are set well back from the road. There is no visitors centre or any other sign of commercialism so prevalent these days.

The 'piece' is pretty much untouched except for the grafitti which now covers the cars which is a shame as the original piece had the cars with pristine paintwork.

In 1999 the cars were repainted by volunteers from the Hampton Save-A-Landmark program, working alongside the original Cadillac Ranch artists, and new(ish) tyres fitted but the wind and grafitti soon obliterated the paintjobs.

More pictures in the Travelogue

Directions: Twelve miles west of Amarillo on old Route 66