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We have to admit: even though CURVES has always recorded our travels to date in the Alps or the Pyrenees and owes its unique character to the rugged charm of these European mountains, we had always had our sights on California. Simply because we have never been able to forget this breathtaking country on the Pacific coast since our first trip there. And most certainly also because all the road trips in this world somehow end up in or go through California. The essence of travel is freedom – and California most definitely has a copyright on freedom.

  • Despite this admission, our readers in the States can keep the Stars & Stripes rolled up for a moment – the producers of CURVES are all Europeans and for this reason have their own personal view of the United States, California and this elusive topic of “freedom”, which in our opinion can hardly be cemented in stereotypes. What frequently catches the very naive eye of Europeans in the USA first of all are the dos and don’ts and the ”No Trespassing“ signs, for example, and from this perspective, the road to freedom would seem to be a long one. What actually fascinates us is the pleasure Californians get from crazy ideas, questioning established codes and from experimentation. If someone were to drive thousands of kilometres in Europe, simply for the pleasure of travelling, he would be viewed almost with suspicion. In the USA, soulful drivers receive a generous and enthusiastic welcome. Presumably because the former curiosity of the settlers for the country beyond the horizon is still to be found in the collective consciousness. Freedom in other words is the desire of each individual to go with the flow – and in the production of CURVES California, we abandoned ourselves completely and unashamedly to this desire. Sixty years after a young film actor named James Dean roamed through the heart of California in search of the heartbeat of freedom in his little purist Porsche, we did something similar in the new Porsche 911 – and let the James Dean within us loose while experiencing the Californians’ecstatic love affair with Porsche. It is hard to believe how well this ingenious, very German car matches the Californian lifestyle. Woven into the rational substance is an amazingly emotional and wonderful wild character. If we had the choice, we would still be drifting through the curves of California and cruising along the endless highways that run straight through the desert.

  • Just how deep the relationship is between California and Porsche can be seen repeatedly by the way at the Porsche Rennsport Reunion, a weekend event on the legendary Laguna Seca Raceway: thousands of visitors, hundreds of classic Porsche racing cars in all-out on-track competitive racing – it goes without saying that we called by and have included on these pages some of the impressions we bought back from Laguna Seca. In principle, we have changed hardly anything of the CURVES character: relational photos the roads and the countryside are the basis; our intention is to take you with us on our journey and to awaken the desire to go on the same journey yourself. The photos show in our opinion not only a dry view, but each one of them is an attempt to communicate the emotions and the atmosphere of the journey. Whether we have achieved that is of interest to us – please get in touch with us at www.curves-magazin.com. Another aspect of the CURVES issues to date has not been continued. CURVES California will no longer be told in the first person, as a snapshot, but from a timeless, bird’ eye view. A little like the aerial photographs taken from our helicopter. We were of the opinion that this is better suited to California.

  • At the end, we had only one question really: wouldn’t it be better if we now changed CURVES into STRAIGHTS? But then, somewhere in Death Valley, we realised that the name CURVES is really only relative. The surface of the earth is a curve. What name could be more appropriate? We hope you enjoy CURVES California!