The Austin American-Statesman published a good article about Stanley Marsh 3, the helium magnate who came up with the idea behind Cadillac Ranch near Amarillo, Texas, in 1974.
Marsh bought the old cars from junkyards, paying $100 to $125 each. Some didn’t have engines; most couldn’t run. But from the waist down, they were gorgeous. And yes, those are whole cars buried there. (Although Marsh confesses a few front bumpers might be missing.) […]
Speculation about deeper meaning behind the art has gone on for years. Some say the cars are meant to echo the great white shark in “Jaws,” which was released about the same time that the cars went in. Others say they’re a reminder of wagon trains that brought settlers west. Or a nod to the great American dream to “get a Cadillac and a blonde, get on Route 66 and go to Las Vegas, break the bank, go to Hollywood and be a movie star,” Marsh says.
“The truth is it was fun to make, and I just like the design. Afterward we could say they remind us of the covered wagons, but we didn’t say that before.” […]
Marsh says he figured high school students might paint graffiti on the cars once in a while, but he never expected them to turn into the spray paint magnets they’ve become. Not that he minds. In fact, he helps out the would-be artists, creating a fresh canvas once a year by painting the cars all white.
“A lot of people do a lot of different things to have fun, and I’m in favor of all of it,” he says.
A sign that Cadillac Ranch has become an icon of Route 66: Marsh is turning 70 years old soon.