The roof on one of the Cadillacs at the iconic Cadillac Ranch near Amarillo, Texas, has rusted off. But its longtime benefactor says the roof will be welded back on, reported the Amarillo Globe-News.
Stanley Marsh 3, the Ranch’s patron saint, isn’t sure when the top dropped from the vintage auto situated second from the west in the row of 10 buried nose down in the flatlands. But he knows what needs to be done: Amarillo artist Lightnin’ McDuff will have to operate.
“Eventually it will have its head back on,” said Marsh, the millionaire and jester who orchestrated the move of the roadside wonder in 1997 to its current location from a spot two miles east. “Lightnin’ McDuff is a real good welder. I always get the best and give them credit.” […]
McDuff pledges the repair will begin soon.
“I’ve been waiting for the weather to warm back up. I can’t hardly take that into the shop,” McDuff said. “I’ll have to build a framework to straighten it back out and have something to weld to. If the weatherman’s not lying, I should be doing something on it next week.”
McDuff also said metal fillers might eventually be used to replace a missing door or two from the angled Cadillacs.
I confess to being a bit surprised that any of the Cadillacs have a rust problem, considering the hundreds of coats of spray paint applied over the decades.
The 1974 landmark has inspired countless songs (including Bruce Springsteen’s “Cadillac Ranch”) and videos over the years, including this fairly recent one by Brooks & Dunn:
UPDATE: Kelly Ludwig provided this photo of Cadillac Ranch in December. You can see the roof of the one Cadillac on the ground.
Yep – said it on here a while back, glad to hear it will be taken care of finally, and hopefully while they’re out there, they’ll go ahead and give it a good look all around? They’ve gotten in pretty rough shape lately.
There’s more than just the top, it’s been a few years now, and metal is metal, painted or not. Besides the top, there’s some trunks, doors or otherwise that need some help and attention, and if shored up, should do just fine for a few more years.
If you don’t shore them up from time to time, mother nature and metal don’t mix forever, something’s going to snap at the ground from those angles!
You have to remember if there was ever rust there before they were painted, then they’re still rusting under the paint, not to mention all the exposure to the elements from the insides with no glass, underneath and such.
Thanks Mr. Marsh – this should keep them going for a few more years…
Those vehicles could/would rust from the inside-out, even if they had a thousand coats of paint.
I could be wrong, but I suspect that decay is part of Stanley Marsh’s plan for the cars. It’s just that being without a roof on one of them is a bit much.
ahahahahaha! yeah, i know what you mean …