Perhaps the most unexpected aspect regarding Goldfield’s International Car Forest of the Last Church is that the massive art installation, consisting of some three dozen upturned cars planted in the desert, was created to break a world record.
The forest was the brainchild of two men, Chad Sorg and Mike Rippie, who, in 2002, decided to “plant” cars on 80-acres of vacant land owned by Rippie that bordered U.S. 95.
Both Sorg, a Reno artist, and Rippie, a longtime resident of Goldfield, were familiar with famous car-art installations, like the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas, which consists of 10 Cadillacs buried nose down in the ground, and Nebraska’s Carhenge, a similar art piece, which has 38 vehicles.
Rippie wanted to set a new world’s record for most upturned cars used in an artwork (it’s actually listed that way by Guinness Book of World Records) by having even more vehicles and knew he could do it since he owned more than 40 cars, trucks, and buses.
Between 2002 and 2012, the two used a backhoe and lots of elbow grease to make the art project/attraction/world record site a reality. In some cases, the vehicles were planted nose in the ground while in others, several cars were stacked on top of each other.
Perhaps most impressively, the two managed to plant several buses, including one that on a hill that rises high over the car-littered landscape.
The two also hoped that people would come to the site and express themselves artistically by spray painting the cars. The result are some pretty crazy and imaginative designs, such as a Picasso-esque face of a cat painted on the hood of an upright car.
At the entrance to the forest is a small structure with a large sign identifying the place. Another placard informs visitors they are entering at their own risk and warns to not climb on the vehicles because it isn’t safe.
Continuing on the dirt road for a short distance, you can drop into a ravine containing the bulk of the vehicles or drive to a rise above the ravine where a bus and several other vehicles are perched.
Visitors can basically wander around for as long as they want, taking photos and reveling in the place’s weirdness. There is no admission charge although the attraction’s website notes it is a legal non-profit and accepts donations.
Since the car forest was created, the site has become a popular attraction for travelers on U.S. 95, appearing in features in magazines and newspapers from all over the country.
According to an article about the car forest that appeared in ROUTE magazine, Rippie and Sorg eventually had a falling out. Rippie continues to live in Goldfield but the site is now owned and overseen by Sharon Artlip, owner of a Goldfield rock shop.
A nice video of the International Car Forest was produced a couple of years ago by the excellent Wild Nevada television program. Here’s a link to the segment about the car forest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0JcPAUML_E.
For more information about the International Car Forest of the Last Church, go to: https://internationalcarforestofthelastchurch.com/ or check out the Travel Nevada information about the site at: https://travelnevada.com/arts-culture/international-car-forest-of-the-last-church/.
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