Just off a Los Angeles highway known for its starring role in film car chases and its notorious stretch known as Dead Man's Curve, are rusting wrecks of cars abandoned after crashing off the picturesque road.
Photographer Jason Knight has explored the abandoned wrecks on the steep banks of Mulholland Drive, a 55-mile stretch of 'scenic splendor' constructed in 1924, which divides Hollywood from Santa Monica.
'I was intrigued by legends of cars left to decay, dotting the hillsides below Mulholland Drive. The legends may have been true, but no one had taken the time to photograph these cars,' Knight told Business Insider.
Back to nature: Plants twist around the rusting exterior of a wrecked car in Mulholland Drive
Buried: Wrecks that are too expensive to haul back up the banks are left to disintegrate
Belly up: Countless cars have rolled down the banks of the scenic road
Its hairpin bends and steep mountain scenery have inspired countless films, including David Lynch's movie named after it, about a girl involved in a crash on the road.
However, it has also claimed countless lives, as drivers and motorcyclists lose control on the hairpin bends and crash down the steep banks.
'Motorists with an eye for architecture will gape at some of the amazing hillside haciendas, while geology buffs will find millions of years of mountain history revealed in the roadside cuts,' the Los Angeles Times said in 1991.
It warned however: 'Below many a "deadman's curve" are the rusting carcasses of abandoned autos'.
Inspired by these tales of long-forgotten wrecks, Knight clambered down a slope off one of the hairpin bends, but struggled at first to spot the old cars in the foliage.
Rust to rust: The steep banks off Mulholland Drive act like a graveyard for wrecked cars
Explore: Legends of the abandoned cars attract curious spectators
Broken: The battered hulks of metal barely resemble the cars they came from
'I found myself proceeding in increasingly random patterns, grabbing at roots, close to tumbling down the hillside like the cars I was hunting,' he said.
'After one near fall, I looked up and saw a color that didn’t quite fit with the greens and browns of the hillside. It was a little off. A rust color. It was the first of the car wrecks that I would find.'
As he became accustomed to his surroundings, Knight quickly spotted more wrecks obscured by the verdant foliage that had started to hide them.
Rolled: A car rests on its roof, with its trunk popped open and a discarded tire near by
Scenic route: Mulholland Drive is 55 miles of hairpin bends and stunning scenery in Hollywood
'Some were almost completely buried. Some were totally exposed,' he said. 'I saw at least seven that were mostly visible. I wondered how many more were buried, and in one section of debris, there were three cars, stacked haphazardly on top of each other.'
Officials have tried to remove the wrecks over the years, but the cost of pulling the rusting cars free was too great.
'Unreasonable expense is an unexpected, but grand protector of modern ruins,' Knight said.
Camouflaged: Photographer Jason Knight struggled at first to spot the wrecks in the thick foliage
Stripped: The force of nature has eaten away at the interior of this car
Obscured: Mud and plants fill the remains of this vehicle
Exposed: The skeletal remains are all that is left of this wreck
Off road: Another victim of Dead Man's Curve lays forgotten at the bottom of the bank
Derelict: The expense of removing the cars has led to an abundance of wrecks
Road to notoriety: Mulholland Drive offers captivating views of Los Angeles
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