Carhenge

As you’re driving through the vast plains of Nebraska you may be looking for a reprieve from the road, and some different scenery. A couple of miles north of Alliance, in western Nebraska, along Highway 87, may be just the answer to your driving doldrums. Is it an auto junk yard? A quirky art exhibit? Or is it an ancient astronomical alignment to chart the sun and moon phases? It might just be a little of all the above.

We’ve been to Bamahenge, a full-size replica of Stonehenge built out of fiberglass in Alabama, but using automobiles to replicate this ancient monument is a little over the top. Your first question upon encountering Carhenge might be “why?” But creator Jim Reinders’ answer would simply be “why not?”

After spending seven years of his career as a petroleum engineer in England, Reinders returned home inspired by a grand idea. He would create a Stonehenge replica, a “Stonehenge West,” for his hometown of Alliance Nebraska and as a memorial for his late father who lived on this land. With no giant slabs of stone present in the area, Reinders decided on a new medium for his sculpture – cars. Cars would be readily available, would be similar in shape and size to the stones of Stonehenge, and the wheels would simplify logistics immensely. The original 25 cars were erected during a Reinders family reunion in 6 days and dedicated on the Summer Solstice, June 21, 1987. “We were able to reduce the time of the original Stonehenge construction by 9,999 years and 51 weeks.”

As the monument has evolved over the years, it now consists of 39 American-made automobiles arranged to reproduce Stonehenge’s circular layout and upright-and-horizontal formations. Some vehicles are buried trunk-end-down in pits about five feet deep, while others are welded together to form the overhead arches. The honor of depicting the heel stone goes to a 1962 Caddy. The entire structure was originally painted gray to resemble stone, but now many of the cars have been artistically painted as part of the Car Art Reserve.

Carhenge is an unconventional work of public art that’s become a symbol of western Nebraska and has drawn the attention of film and television production crews as well as over 100,000 visitors from all over the world. It was eventually gifted to the City of Alliance in October 2013, where you can encounter other attractions such as history and military museums, an art center and a frontier town. Take a stop along your journey and stretch your legs at Carhenge. They even have an RV friendly parking lot!