Carhenge

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Carhenge is a replica of England's Stonehenge located near the city of Alliance, Nebraska on the High Plains. Instead of being made from stones (as is the case with the original Stonehenge^[1]), Carhenge is constructed of vintage American automobiles, all covered with gray spray paint. Built by Jim Reinders, it was dedicated at the June 1987 summer solstice. In 2006, a visitors' center was constructed to service the site.

1 Structure
2 History
3 In popular culture
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Structure

Carhenge consists of 38 automobiles arranged in a circle measuring about 96 feet (29 m) in diameter. Some are held upright in pits five feet (1.5 m) deep, trunk end down, and arches have been formed by welding automobiles atop the supporting models. The heelstone is a 1962 Cadillac. Three cars were buried at Carhenge. Their "gravestone" is a car that reads: "Here lie three bones of foreign cars. They served our purpose while Detroit slept. Now Detroit is awake and America's great!"^[2]

Carhenge replicates Stonehenge's current "tumble-down" state, rather than the original stone circle erected between 2500 BC and 2000 BC.

In addition to the Stonehenge replica, the Carhenge site includes several other sculptures created from autos covered with various colors of spray paint.

[edit] History

Carhenge was conceived in 1987 by Jim Reinders as a memorial to his father. While living in England, he studied the structure of Stonehenge, which helped him to copy the structure's shape, proportions, and size. Other automobile sculptures were subsequently added to the location of Carhenge, which is now known as the Car Art Reserve.^[3]

[edit] In popular culture

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Carhenge detail

In the Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? episode "The Great Train Slobbery," the crook (Top Grunge) was caught at Carhenge.
Carhenge was shown prominently on Steely Dan's 1994 retrospective, Remastered, The Best of Steely Dan.
In 2002, P.O.D. included two scenes in which Carhenge is seen in the background of their music video for "Youth of the Nation".
Carhenge was featured in a 2006 Nissan Pathfinder commercial.^[4]
Carhenge was shown on an episode of the Discovery Channel's television show, Biker Build-Off.
Carhenge was featured in the ending scene of the 1995 low-budget, independent comedy film, Omaha, The Movie.
In 2005, Carhenge was the subject of a documentary called Carhenge: Genius or Junk? by David Liban. The film was nominated for a regional Emmy.
In 2005 Carhenge was featured in Hustler's Adventure Sex #3.
In 2007, Carhenge was named in the book 1,000 Places (in the USA and Canada) To See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz.
In 2007, Carhenge was the first landmark shown on the Nebraska Football Tunnel Walk video as it "flew" through Nebraska.