Detroit, or Motor City as it is affectionately known, once stood as the proud symbol of U.S. industrial strength, home to the “Big Three” car makers; Ford, General Motors and Chrysler.
The city has since fallen on hard times after decades of population loss, rampant debt and financial mismanagement left it struggling to provide basic services to residents, who left in droves.
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"In Detroit it is common to see abandoned, wrecked and vandalised cars throughout the streets."
Many cars are born here in the Motor City, home to the “Big Three” U.S. automakers: Ford, Chrysler and General Motors. They roll off the assembly line with a fresh coat of paint from bumper to bumper and a new set of wheels ready to roll the streets and highways of the world.
But of course trucks, cars, vans and SUV’s don’t survive forever.
In Detroit it is common to see abandoned, wrecked and vandalised cars throughout the streets. Not all of these vehicles are dead and buried, some are still drivable, but they are not quite reliable, especially in the harsh winter.
I set out with my cameras into the Midwest’s frigid temperatures to document these cars to coincide with the 2015 North American International Auto Show.
In a city that is recovering from one of the biggest municipal bankruptcies in U.S. history, it is not a rare site to see vehicles missing a wheel or two, windows gone or smashed and severely damaged exteriors stripped of several parts or defaced with graffiti sitting in the backyard of a home or some random street corner or vacant lot. They blend in with the thousands of abandoned and blighted houses that has been part of the city's landscape for numerous years.
Maybe in the coming months or years Detroit will find a way to claim these vehicles, remove them from the streets, get them to the proper junk yard, or auction off the ones that need some tender love and care.
I think American rap artist Xzibit would have a field day in the Motor City restoring vehicles in poor condition. He could re-launch his television series "Pimp My Ride" and customise a new ride every day.