Grandson of early Texas oil millionaire Stanley Marsh, Stanley Marsh III became nationally known during the 1970s for his preoccupation with artistic eccentricities, most notably his Cadillac Ranch, where ten vintage Cadillacs are planted nose-down in a row of concrete slabs in a field near U.S. Interstate 40, west of Amarillo. Two hundred yards south of I-40 between the Hope Road and Arnot Road exits (62 and 60, respectively), some six miles west of Amarillo, where old US-66 rejoins the interstate, the rusting hulks of 10 classic Caddies are buried nose-down in the dirt, their upended tail fins tracing design changes from 1949 to 1964.

A popular shrine to America's love of the open road, Cadillac Ranch was created by the San Francisco-based Ant Farm artists’ and architects’ collective in May 1974, under the patronage of yet another eccentric Texas millionaire Stanley Marsh III. The cars were all bought, some running, some not, from local junkyards and used car lots at an average cost of $200 each. Before the Cadillacs were planted, all the hubcaps and wheels were welded on, a good idea since most of the time the cars are in a badly vandalized state. Every once in a while advertising agencies and rock bands tidy them up for use as backdrops during photo shoots. In August 1997 the Cadillacs got another 15 minutes of fame when Marsh decided to dig them up and move them a mile west from where they'd been to escape the ever-expanding Amarillo sprawl and preserve the natural horizon.

There's a well-worn path from the frontage road if you want a closer look, and visitors are allowed any time, day or night.