EyesOn Design Car Show; A Detroit Fathers Day Tradition Don't Miss It!

EyesOn Design 2010

The Only Car Show Focused Exclusively on Design
By Steve Purdy
TheAutoChannel.com
Detroit Bureau

Father’s Day is the traditional day for one of the best, and most unusual, car shows anywhere. It’s here in the Detroit area at the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House in Grosse Pointe Shores, MI, on Jefferson Avenue between 8 and 9-Mile Roads. I’ve not missed one in just about 20 years now. Hope we’ll see you there.

EyesOn Design, now in its 23rd year, is a fund raising event for the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology with proceeds funding research and services benefiting the visually impaired. In fact, one of the classes at the show is always judged by visually impaired folks with white gloves who circle each car caressing its parts, smelling the interior and using their other senses to pick the ones they like.

What’s unique about this show is that it is focused exclusively on automotive and vehicle ‘design.’ Each year they honor a particular designer. This year’s honoree is Nissan’s Shiro Nakamura. As chief creative officer Nakamura believes that “form follows emotion,” and that “the mission of design is to fascinate people, adding spice and enriching people’s lives.” Some of Nakamura’s designs will be on display, and you will certainly see that philosophy throughout the show.

The expansive, verdant lawns of the Ford House overlooking Lake St. Clair are a magnificent venue for a show of this sort. No barriers separate the cars and their admirers and the background of the beautiful sandstone mansion, into which the family moved in 1929 - designed by famous architect Albert Kahn and modeled after classic British homes is the Cotswalds – gives the show a unique feel. Tours of the home are part of the day’s activities.

The EyesOn Design show is famous for pioneering the display of vehicles we haven’t seen at conventional shows before. They were the first to present classes like hot rods, rat rods, historic SUVs, bicycles and even pedal cars. This year’s off-beat feature is Historical Campers and Motor Homes. Another class will present pillarless hardtops from 1949 to 1978. And still another will be for Motor Scooters.

There will, of course, be plenty of classics as well. The Alfa Romeo Centennial will be celebrated with a class for that storied Italian marque. A class of recognized Classics, assembled by Don Summer of Meadow Brook fame, Stock Car Racers, Rods & Customs, Motorcycles, Muscle Cars, Porsche 911s, 1960s Italian Exotics and even Tuners will be part of the show on Father’s Day.

The show runs 10AM to 4:30PM and entry costs just $20. Kids under 12 are free with their significant adults. Check out the details at www.eyesondesigncarshow.com. So, kids grab you Dad, or Dad grab your kids (let’s include Mom as well) and come enjoy some nostalgia, discovery and aesthetic stimulation. Bring you hat and sunglasses because it usually gets pretty warm and bright by midday.