Why there's a 1957 Cadillac encased in concrete in a Chicago parking garage and why it's been there for 55 years

There’s a 1957 Cadillac DeVille encased in concrete in a parking garage in Chicago.

It’s been there for 55 years, and a lot of people don’t know why.

There’s a ‘noble’ reason behind it.

But not everyone is loving the idea.

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Well over 50 years ago, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago came up with an idea for a new installation.

The Museum got in touch with Wolf Vostell, a German painter and sculptor, and gave him carte blanche to create something unique.

Inspired by a similar project he’d seen in Cologne, Germany, Vostell decided to turn an old Cadillac into a concrete sculpture.

He chose a 1957 Cadillac DeVille as his ‘canvas’, and he used wires and wood to create a frame to accommodate the concrete structure.

Later, the Museum of Contemporary Art decided to donate the sculpture to the University of Chicago.

After spending about 40 years in the parking garage, the car was restored in 2016 and then left in the parking garage again, where it still lives.

Car-based sculptures always spark debates not just because some people like them and some don’t, but mostly because people who like cars don’t want to see them deliberately damaged for artistic purposes.

This is especially true when the car in question is rare, but it is also a contentious point when it isn’t.

The DeVille, for example, is not a rare car, but it still feels pretty special.

Elvis Presley had one, and so did Snoop Dogg.

On the opposite end of this debate, other people argue that cars like the DeVille often end up abandoned in empty fields or in empty mansions that are falling apart.

And so if the alternative is leaving them to rot in a barn, turning them into weird but fascinating brutalist sculptures might not be such a bad idea.