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Aprel 29, 2009

Cool Junk In The Desert

Editor-at-Large

Patrick Dempsey (no relation to the actor) spends his time cruising the California-Nevada desert on his dirt bike, photographing piles of abandoned junk he finds off backroads and around abandoned mines. The pictures are pretty cool, though Dempsey has become convinced that the often burned and bullet-riddled hulks he finds–along with similarly-dilapidated mattresses, toilets, washing machines, and other detritus–are in fact the sacred offerings of a clandestine American Indian religion. More junk below the jump, and check out the full image series and accompanying weird essay here.

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Posted at 12:56 pm in Art, Jen Dunnaway, photography

Comments

floridasammax
May 6, 2009 at 12:31 pm

I wander if the owners of these cars had a hill have eyes moment and that how the cars end up there.

bigbad4runner
May 6, 2009 at 9:57 am

most are a little to far gone to mess with lol cool pics though

83z28guy
May 6, 2009 at 6:55 am

i would take atlest one home to rebuild

lowstlo
May 5, 2009 at 5:42 pm

yes you can find cool stuff out in the desert……. and bad things…………………………………………….

94_PGDSE
May 5, 2009 at 3:14 pm

So, I was actually reading everything about these cars,
and it said, “Fortunately for me these Shoshonean religious activities seemed to be practiced mainly at mines that have relatively easy automobile access.” Does that mean they steal them?
Orrr, does it mean that people were out there and well, like I said, stole them?
Also, it says they’re there for religious purposes, so if someone were to go out there with a lifted truck and a huge trailer, and took one, or two cars, what would happen?
Just curious.

Cavalier2200sfi
May 5, 2009 at 10:23 am

I remember i was doing some trail riding about 2 years ago and found a 70 impala dumped in the woods, body was still in a good structural state, not too much rust, someone spray painted all over it, all the trees had grown up around it. Then when they were clearing a pit with the skidder about a year ago they totalled it when they ran over it I found a 69 mustang and a 70 challenger write next to eachother before too but they were beyond repair. The only reason you could only recognize them was from things like grills, badges, lights, etc. The whole body and structural on both were gone, it looked like someone tried to compact them as much as possible.

Garage510
May 5, 2009 at 7:20 am

Anyone left in the desert elements would look that way…lol.

luthoro
May 5, 2009 at 2:14 am

This guy is a joke lol. I have a problem with all these cars being abandoned and left to rot but especially this picture:
http://anasaziofferings.com/redu%20road%202%20hi%20rock%20001.jpg

The body lines on that car indicate its physically still in very restorable shape, and the house ain’t unfixable either. How people leave good shit laying around to rot is beyond me, it disgusts me.

luthoro
May 5, 2009 at 1:40 am

Awesome pics. Gets you thinking. Why was this abandoned in the first place? Who owned it? How long has it been here? I picture how beautiful they must been back in the day. Makes me want to tow them all home and restore them. They deserved better for sure!

tavares86
May 4, 2009 at 9:39 pm

Reading what this guy says with the pictures, I can’t tell if hes serious.

SickTacoma
May 4, 2009 at 4:34 pm

yeah I live in nevada and when I go wheelin in the middle of nowhere, there’s plenty of those old cars lying around, its a shame

CarsonD
May 4, 2009 at 4:31 pm

there are still some good lines in these old cars!
Perfect parts to throw together a beautifully ugly rat rod.

wsbob
May 4, 2009 at 2:54 pm

Its too bad those are all juss used for target practice. If I had the resources I’d be trying to restore all of those cars

Richter-Scale
May 4, 2009 at 2:29 pm

Cemetary for old cars!

BoydZCustomZ
May 4, 2009 at 12:08 pm

Damn, It look’s like these hotrod’s have gone through some rough times.

EricShoHo
May 4, 2009 at 5:22 am

Man I really like these pics….makes you want to go right out there ,hook’em,and take them back home for the rebuild!…they deserve better!

94_PGDSE
May 1, 2009 at 5:30 pm

I agree with retroman, I’ve seen pictures of abandoned, rusted cars, and thought about how I wanted to go pick one up to take home. Actually the pictures are in this gallery; http://www.mastersofphotography.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=122&Itemid=1
It makes me think about why they’re there, rusting, and neglected, and aren’t shiny and rolling around getting the attention it deserves elsewhere.

pttransamdriver
May 1, 2009 at 4:33 am

Gotta Love the bullet holes.

GTwildfire
Apr 29, 2009 at 7:00 pm

beautiful but kinda sad. I see those hulks and imagine how nice they were back in their day.

buickboy92
Apr 29, 2009 at 5:38 pm

Great Photos Indeed.

retroman
Apr 29, 2009 at 4:11 pm

Makes me wanna go out there and find a free ride to tow home. I’d even keep the rust and bullet holes. It adds to the story and makes a sick rat rod.

Chris Bicknell
Apr 29, 2009 at 1:07 pm

Nice pictures! Makes me want to go for a road trip and find some cool junk to take pictures of.