When most people think of Memorial Day celebrations images of flags, hot dogs, and cold drinks are what come to mind. But for automotive enthusiasts, celebrations tend to include things like Ferraris, canyon driving, and horsepower. And that is exactly how a group of petrol heads from the Drivenworld.com and Ferrarichat.com forums celebrated this year. Arriving to the morning meet-up spot, I was greeted with an amazing gathering of cars from what is probably one of the most diverse groups of enthusiasts out there. This eclectic group included an array cars from Ferrari, BMW, Porsche, Mercedes, Nissan, Mazda, and Subaru – including the new limited edition Ferrari Scuderia 16M (1 of only499 being sold worldwide). But even though these enthusiasts have vastly different tastes in what they drive, they all shared a love for anything automotive.
So after a morning cup of coffee and a short drivers’ meeting, the group headed to their cars and proceeded to the driver's heaven that is the Santa Monica Mountains. Turning onto Mulholland Highway, we proceed down the scenic stretch of road past million-dollar houses and horse ranches. Crossing Las Virgenes Road, we got our first taste of the entertainingly twisty roads that lay ahead. Filled with decreasing radius, on-camber, and off-camber turns, as well as generous amount of elevation changes, Mulholland Highway draws people from all over the world to experience its twisting route that can entertain even the most advanced drivers. And it was those curves that this group was in search of. After passing by the world-famous motorcycle hangout called “The Rock Store,” we came to a section of Mulholland that the regulars call “The Snake” because of its endlessly twisting nature and its willingness to “bite” anyone transiting through that, even for an instant, stopped respecting it. On any given weekend, this road is packed full of cars, motorcycles, and bicyclists – but that day it was all ours. Upon reaching the top, we filled in the scenic turnout for a small break and a photo-op before finishing the last section of our drive.
We continued down Mulholland Highway crossing over Kanan Road and stayed on it until we hit the final canyon of the day. Unlike the non-stop hairpin corners of "The Snake," Encinal Canyon provides a different kind of thrill treating drivers to big, sweeping curves and beautiful ocean views. Giving our engines and brakes a chance to cool, we finished the driving portion of the day's events with a cruise down the Pacific Coast Highway back into Malibu. Pulling into Malibu Colony we parked our cars and immediately started talking about how amazing the drive was. After a few parting comments from the couple of people that had to leave early, the rest of us ended the spectacular day with good food and good friends. Heading home after lunch, I couldn't help but wonder what's in store for our next holiday drive.
-Jon Barrett, Lateral-G Photography
Memorial day 2009 Drive With Drivenworld.com and wolfpro.net from Ramon Casas (Wolf Productions) on Vimeo.