ombine the elements of asphalt and chrome, and you end up with one nitromethane fuel-injected work of art. We're talkin' real Garage Style Guggenheim stuff, too! America has been addicted to asphalt and autos like a nation full of leaded and unleaded junkies. Originally, the Detroit metal masters of machinery turned out pretty simple transportation to satisfy the growing motor needs of an industrial nation that was entering a phase of horsepower puberty. A nation hell bent on going somewhere, anywhere, fast... faster... and even faster, still! Eventually, there was an intercourse of speed and style. In the 1940’s, the cars started to have a little class, and in the process, the mechanics of The Motor City were turning into the Monet's of Motown.
In 1949, fins first started to appear on cars, thanks to one of GM's top designers, Harley Earl, the Liberace of auto design. He was so impressed by the P-38 fighter's fin aerodynamics, he placed them on the 1949 Caddy... and the semi-fabulous decadent decade of Fin Worship and Fin Envy was underway. Sexy and sleek, they defined true art and form as Machinus Erectus! The demise of the Fin Age came in 1959 when Caddy, once again, outdid all the competition with monster fins a whopping 41 inches tall!
The stylin' days that left us in a metallurgical haze, have disappeared along with those magnificent fins. But, Caddy-philes can still get a good dose of fin mania by visiting The Cadillac Ranch, located in the Panhandle Region of Texas, just west of Amarillo. The idea came to Stanley Marsh decades ago to do something with on old wheat field lying just off the interstate, at one time known as Route 66. Then along came a collective of artisan anarchists from San Francisco called the Ant Farm, and the idea for Cadillac Ranch was conceived. Today these grand Daddy Caddy's are visible from the highway and can be visited by using the service road between exits 60 and 62 off I-40. You park your car on the side of the road and begin a short trek to the Garage Majal of Texas. Admission is free. It's open all year round, and grafitti is strongly encouraged. So don't worry about it not being a kid friendly place -- they can't do any more damage than an adult, at this place!
by Mike Marino
The great thing about visiting Cad Ranch, is that in addition to the Ranch itself, you can also explore the Ghost of Route 66 as it winds through downtown Amarillo. Great area with tacky souvenirs and memorabilia shops, as well as a chance to travel through the city on the famed Mother Road of Steinbeck's America. If you’re looking to spend the evening in Amarillo, make it to the Big Texan Motel and Steakhouse, one of the original Route 66 stops (which has since moved in order to take advantage of the interstate traffic), but retains some unique original signage. The Big Texan puts on the ‘ten gallon tacky’ with a theme motor court that resembles a cross between a ‘wild west town’ and an ‘adobe village’. You can't miss the place either -- it has a huge cow in the parking lot, towering over the gift shop. Just off to the corner of the parking lot, is the Tornado Museum that is chock full of twisted metal from various unlucky locations throughout Tornado Alley. If you’re feeling hungry and lucky, try to down the 72 ounce Big Texan steak with trimmings... you eat it all, and you get it free! Good luck! ‘Gluttony’... it's what’s for dinner!!!
Chrome and culture also go hand-in-hand in one of the Great Rectangle States of the Midwest... Nebraska. Not only is it the land of the Cornhuskers, but also the location of one of America's quirkier chrome-magnon erections! Of course, we're talking about Carhenge, a conglomeration of chrome high culture, just off Highway 87 about 2 and half miles north of the town of Alliance. Like all things Nebraskan, it’s pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Patterned after the original Stonehenge in Jolly Old, it's the metal offspring of its Brit-cousin. The original Stonehenge, for historical background, was a Druid built stone enclave that consisted of 900 stones, built around 3200 to 1200 B.C. I still know people who refer to it as Stoned-henge. Yep... Californians!
The Caddie's are nose down in the ground, as though they were propelled by some unseen galactic force landing in Texas (and not the more alien friendly Roswell). There is a purpose to the angle of repose of these metal beasts. If calculations are taken, it could be shown that the angles are at the precise western angle of Cheop's pyramids! Coincidence? I think not.
Cadillac Ranch seems to run the gamut of Cad-dom too. Most years are represented starting with the 1949 Club Coupe called the Sedanette. Other years and models represented, include a 1950 Series 62 Sedan, 1954 Coupe de Ville, a 1956, 1957 and 1958 Sedan, a 1959 Coupe, and a 1960, 1962 and 1963 Sedan. Ten in all, and collectively it is the Godfather of All Auto Art!
Cadillac Ranch is ‘a true Roadhead must see’... on the rear tire of the 5th Caddy from the front, it says Roadheads Kick Asphalt! I have no idea who put it there!
Located west of Amarillo, Texas, along the historic Route 66, Cadillac Ranch is an extraordinary public art exhibit that dates back to a 1974 collaboration between helium millionaire, Stanley Marsh 3 and The Ant Farm, a San Francisco art collective, whereby ten graffiti-covered cars (early Cadillacs ranging in years from 1949 to 1963) were half-buried, nose-first, at the very same angle (facing west) as the Cheops' pyramids.
There are other sites and sights to behold in America, devoted to the American Dream Machines. Litto's Hubcap Ranch in California; a gentleman in Salem, Illinois, who raises chrome bumpers in the back forty, and calls it The Bumper Crop. Not to mention the traditional Auto Museums that dot the landscape from the Henry Ford Museum of Transportation in Dearborn, Michigan, to the Big Daddy Don Garlit's Museum of Drag Strip Racing in Florida. America has had a love affair with the automobile since its birth -- this is the greatest American innovation since... well... Zinfandel!!
Conceived by geologist Jim Reinders in 1987 as a memorial to his father, Carhenge was modeled after the famous prehistoric circular setting of Stonehenge, and consists of 38 gray spray painted vintage American automobiles arranged in a 96 foot circle in diameter. It is located near Alliance, Nebraska on the High Plains.
The main difference between Carhenge and Cadillac Ranch is that instead of a rag tag army of artists, the inspiration came from a ‘week long family reunion’ back in the late 1980's. As the clan gathered at Jim Reinders’ farm for whoopin' and hollerin', somewhere over the course of the week and barbecues, they came up with the idea of putting old cars ‘à la Stonehenge’ on the property. Eventually the planning stages were finished and the product was constructed. There must have been some Cad Ranch influence, because rather than nose-down into the ground, these old rusters are planted trunk-down! The vehicular work of art was painted a uniform gray to give it that Stonehenge look and feel. Although the ‘city fathers’ were ‘real mothers’ when it first went up, today it is one of Nebraska's top attractions with over 80,000 Roadheads a year making the pilgrimage.
Today, there is a growing crop of auto art and sculptures that are beginning to show up on the farm, including a giant salmon made entirely of auto parts! Other works of art are encouraged and solicited for inclusion, in this one-of-a-kind Roadhead find in the ‘middle of the middle part of the middle of the USA’!
Located in Dearborne, Michigan, The Henry Ford Museum exhibits items collected by Henry Ford throughout the course of his life. Objects such as household radios, televisions, and furniture allow visitors to reflect back through American history to the time of the Mayflower.
America is also full of asphalt oddities and wonders, from mechanical museums, giant water tower catsup bottles, and Mr. Peanut statues, Lady Liberty statues in just about every town square, not to mention the plethora of Paul Bunyans, and her babeness, the Blue Ox... how many of those dot the continent from Maine to California!
Now get on the road, and Kick Asphalt!
Mike Marino is a freelance writer of Pop Culture and Travel and a published author of "The Roadhead Chronicles”, a journey into the car and pop culture of America. He can be reached at dharmabumroadie@yahoo.com
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