Cadillac Ranch near Amarillo is an iconic roadside attraction along RT66. Hundreds of visitors daily walk the 100 yards through mud, snow and heat to leave their spray paint mark on ten Cadillacs stuck nose first in a Texas cornfield. This random act of art was created in 1974 by a group of hippies from San Francisco who called themselves the Ant Farm. The goal of the wealthy financial backer, Stanley Marsh III, was allegedly to baffle the locals. So ten Cadillac cars, ranging from the 1949 Club Sedan to the 1963 Sedan de Ville, were partially buried in the ground. Soon people were tearing off tail fins and other parts as souvenirs and spray painting the frames. Today the cars are not all that recognizable as Cadillacs, with little left but their bare frames. The layers of spray paint have built up to over an inch thick during the past 40 years, chunks of which are now keepsakes for people breaking off pieces to take with them.
These photos are available for sale in my RT66 Gallery.
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I visited the Cadillac Ranch on two successive mornings, arriving well before sunrise. As soon as it was daylight, tourists and truckers traveling the RT66 Mother Road began making their pilgrimage. I found most of the younger people visiting Cadillac Ranch were on a cross-country journey, one starting a new job and their best friend not wanting them to travel alone.
Best Friends Cadillac Ranch
I met Rachel and Jaclyn traveling from Connecticut to LA and others traveling from Oregon to Florida and Chicago to California, all filled with hope for their new job and having one last hurrah with their best friend. Their lives would change forever just as mine had moving across the country with a new job many years earlier. I wish them all success. The travelers up and down RT66 are a great cross-section of America on the move.
Jaclyn Celebration
On the second morning, many of the designs I wished to photograph were already covered up with new art. These colors and designs change daily.
So, are all those Cadillacs in a straight line? Sort of looks like they go around in a circle, but perhaps that’s your photographic genius at work.
Yes, Mimi, these old Cadillacs are really in a straight line. This photo is really a composite of nine over-lapping images, taken from left to right. When these get blended together with software the result is the curved effect you notices. As a result, this image can be printed much larger than a regular photo. Thanks for your interest in my photography!
Hey Harold! Just seeing this blog now. Great to meet you out in TX. Pics look great. Do you have any others of Jaclyn and I? I’d love to see them.
Thanks!
Rachel
Rachel, I do have some of you two and sent some to Jaclyn as I did not have your info at the time. I am now in Hawaii without my big hard drives, so I do not have access to your Cadillac Ranch photos. When I get back to the mainland in June, I’ll look for them.
Thank you for your interest in my photography.