Detroit's Woodward Deam Cruise Still Going Strong!

WOODWARD DREAM CRUISE
The Place to be Today
By Steve Purdy
TheAutoChannel.com
Detroit Bureau

The place to be this middle Saturday in August, as always, is anywhere along Woodward Avenue (Michigan Highway 1) from Ferndale to Pontiac. That’s from the edge of Detroit north about 15 miles through close-in burbs, upscale areas and finally into a depressed, but still car crazy, city that built a lot of cars, trucks and busses. That’s the route of the world’s premier “cruise” event – the epic Woodward Dream Cruise.

The center of this universe is the intersection of Woodward and 13-Mile Road, in Royal Oak, where the sidewalks are packed with spectators, the road jammed with cruisers and the public spaces filled with static car shows and exhibits. On one corner is a large shopping center parking lot filled with a Chrysler-specific collection of racecars and specialty vehicles. Having seen no Ford or GM displays it was gratifying to see some corporate presence.

Out on the avenue - a three and four-lane boulevard with wide, grassy median - the most eclectic, dynamic car show was happening from early in the morning until about 9:00 in the evening when the swarms of cops from all around the state begin shutting it down. Apparently, if allowed to go on much longer it begins to get too rowdy, loud and uncivilized. Of course, the Dream Cruise is a commemoration of the days that kids would cruise the boulevard on Friday and Saturday nights stoplight dragging and scouting for loose women.

We see street rods and classic hot rods, full customs and restored oldsters, one-of-a-kind jalopies and rat rods. We encountered an old garbage truck that had been made into a slick party vehicle with the rear bin converted into a lounge. There was a high-wheeled, pedal powered thing keeping up with slow moving traffic. Harleys, Ferraris, Hudsons and old T-Birds – you name it, and you’ll see it at Woodward.

Back at the Chrysler lot we gathered around a most unusual display car – the Lane Automotive Top Alcohol Funny Car, NHRA North Central Division champion last year - displayed on jacks with tires off the ground. This particular classic Hemi-powered drag racer makes around 3,000 horsepower with a screw-type blower capable of 45 pounds of boost. It was about to be fired up. After the crew lifted the body off and set it on the ground nearby owner, Frank Parker of Highland Township, MI, prepared the huge engine while his pretty teenaged daughter, Rachael, strapped herself into the driver’s cage.

A crowd had already gathered but as the Hemi roared to life the crowd doubled then tripled. Even with fingers planted firmly in my ears the sound was deafening and I could feel the vibrations pass right through my chest. It’s a good thing I don’t have heart stints or they might have been shaken apart. That roar could probably be heard in Toledo.

After a few minutes Frank shut it down, with spectators all grinning at one another. Young Rachael climbed out of the car flushed with adrenalin.

We spent some time in Birmingham, a couple miles north, where a variety of static shows were staged along with live entertainment, street vendors, car club activities and all kinds of car-related activities. Space was reserved for Rolls Royce and Bentleys around the corner from about 3-dozen Cobras of all types. Across the street in the Barnes & Noble parking lot a bunch of Corvette clubs gathered their cars and people to line the street there.

That’s the way it was all up and down Woodward. The Dream Cruise has become the largest one-day car event (though associated events happen all week) in the world with estimates of between a million and two million participants. I can’t imagine how those numbers are generated – perhaps just pulled from mid-air – but I wouldn’t doubt either figure. With drastically reduced corporate sponsorships this year we could see little difference from previous years. In fact, we speculated, if there were no event sponsors at all the cruise would still happen.

The Dream Cruise is truly a grass roots, all-inclusive automotive feast.