ramp #59 Tomorrow Is Yesterday

“Tomorrow Is Yesterday” was the title of an episode of the television series Star Trek, and although it was the nineteenth episode overall, it was the first to flicker into German living rooms fifty years ago this May. The story revolved around timelines and time travel. It made us think about our own position in the space-time continuum – and in general where we stand in our lives. On the one hand, we humans tend to define ourselves by how we deal with time. On the other hand, we’re always in a hurry to get somewhere. Because things could be – have just got to be – different there. Better. Road movies thrive on this aspect of hope, as does our joyful enthusiasm for electrifying innovations. In this way, the future becomes an idealized place to be desired. Innovations, beam us up! There are just two thoughts you should take away from all this: First, everything could indeed be better tomorrow. But the here and now also offers several good options for happiness. Like an intense, mindfully lived moment. Second, looking at what has shaped us shapes us. The future needs a past, as philosopher Odo Marquard once so ingeniously remarked. “The past that shapes us is always there whenever we celebrate a present moment or concern ourselves with our future,” he writes. An appreciation for the value of tradition reinforces our ability to embrace the future. To connect with it in the best possible way. Never start at the beginning.

So stop what you’re doing, have a look around, and take a deep breath in. So you’re ready for what is to come.

Camping Porsche-Style

With Why We Drive, Matthew B. Crawford has written a kind of road movie that celebrates driving as an authentic experience of human identity. So what could be more fitting than going camping in a Porsche 911 with matching roof tent? Exactly.

For Wladimir Kaminer, tomorrow is yesterday 

The super super super test where nothing is real, time-use managers and watches play a role, and two very real cars feature prominently as well: a Range Rover Velar D300 and a Jaguar F-Type P450 AWD Convertible.

The Porsche 963 prototype at Daytona

The Porsche 963 inherits the legacy of the legendary Porsche 962 sports-prototype racing car. No reason to get nervous. Not even when a thunderstorm delays testing at the Daytona International Speedway.

Comfortable and Relaxed at Record Speed

Andy Wallace is the fastest driver in the world. We spoke to him about – what else? – speed. In a Bugatti Chiron Super Sport during rush hour in Berlin. Almost perfect.

Car wash with Marc Lichte

The first time Marc Lichte laid eyes on the legendary Audi Sport quattro as a teenager, he was hooked. But the car we washed together with the Audi design chief was the e-tron GT. A main topic of our conversation was the Audi of the future. Though we also talked about streaky windows.

Lotus gets radical. Again.

When Lotus unveiled its Eletre hyper-SUV, fans felt as though their world had been turned upside down. But this is just the beginning! We think Colin Chapman would have approved of this radical new approach.

Racing in the summer of ‘69

By 1969 auto racing had become increasingly professional, fast and glamorous, and the fans worshipped drivers like Jackie Stewart as if they were pop stars. There’s just one thing the races weren’t: safer. Reflections on a golden – and dangerous – era.

Welcome 2 Detroit 

Detroit ranked as America’s most dangerous big city for years. Now it’s reinventing itself – once again. A drive from the past into the future of the automobile industry, in a Ford Bronco and an F150 Lightning.

Ready for lift-off: the Porsche 911 GT3 RS

The GT3 RS is a gift to mankind. Now if you think that sounds a bit out of touch and that we should stay grounded, all we can say is: That’s exactly what we tried to do every turn around the track at Silverstone.