Where do limos go to die?
It’s probably not something often considered but if you are asking, the answer is Lamont.
If you head north east of Edmonton, to the corner of Highway 831 and 50 Avenue in the central Alberta town of Lamont, you’ll see a strange sight: a number of limousines arranged in a very particular manner, some even upside down with their ends sticking high up in the sky.
“It could also be the New York skyline if you look at it from the right angles,” said Terry Carter, who for years worked to perfect the angles of the limos in his auto salvage yard.
“Mostly it’s just something that we’ve created and hope that people enjoy.”
The limousines are parked at Aldon Auto Salvage in Lamont and Carter says the arrangement is his Lincoln Memorial.
The unique creation began after Carter acquired two stretch limousines.
“It started out with two of them, one with bad collision damage to the right side so I thought I would create a car crash and drive one into the side of it and then I started watching for them and buying them up,” Carter explained.
And then it grew from there.
“Overtime it’s been the car crash, then I added the dimension of time to it by putting the three in a row coming out of the ground," Carter said.
"We had black and white where it was good versus evil and this last time we dug the big hole and put the back wheels of the tall ones together, brought them up and dropped them into the hole.”
'We're proud of it'
The memorial has been making waves on social media, after photos of the 'limo graveyard' were posted as part of a campaign promoting ‘hidden gems’ in Alberta that are being tweeted out by AMA Road Reports.
Carter’s father Allen says a lot of people have been stopping by to check out the monument.
“I talk to people from Japan and Germany and all over the world that can’t go by this without stopping and taking a picture,” Allen said. “Most people are enjoying it.”
Allen says the town doesn’t have too many attractions bringing tourists out and says he’s pleased his son’s limousine monument is doing just that.
“If this brings a few people, it brings a few dollars to the town and it brings the name out and we’re proud of it,” he said.
Carter can’t explain why or what compelled him to make his monument, he just knows he loves it.
“As the sun comes up or the sun sets, it offers a different look at every angle,” he said.
“I do enjoy it.”
And the Lincoln Memorial is set to grow. Carter says he recently received another limousine whose former owner wanted the Lincoln Memorial to be its final resting place.
“I’m sure we’ll continue to add to it,” he said.
But he’s also got even bigger plans.
“I’d really like to build ‘carhenge’ out of 1950s collector cars, bury them, stand them up coming out of the ground and put tops on them,” he said.
With files from Graham Neil
