2007 Eyes on Design Auto Show Fathers Day Weekend

The 2007 EYES ON DESIGN SHOW
Best Father’s Day Car Show in Town
By Steve Purdy
TheAutoChannel.com
Detroit Bureau

Detroit June 12, 2007; “Aerodynamics and Streamlining – By Design” is the theme for the 20th Eyes On Design car show, a Father’s Day tradition for this reporter. The family functions always have to go on without me until I get back home in early afternoon after I spend the day with one of the best, most eclectic car shows of the summer season here in Southeast Michigan. I always get there in the early light as they bring the great cars onto the huge front lawn of the Edsel and Eleanor Ford mansion on Jefferson Avenue just south of 9-Mile Road on the shore of Lake St. Clair.

Eyes On Design, a benefit for the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology, has been one of my favorite shows for years because of its emphasis on the design of automobiles and other things vehicular as opposed to rareness, restoration, classic status and the more traditional show criteria. EOD was the first show to include, for example, motorcycles, bicycles, pedal cars, hot rods, and last year even “rat rods.”

The DIO uses the funds raised at the show to support innovative programs for the visually impaired including an international conference called The Eye and the Chip exploring the advanced technology of sight enhancement and restoration. Another innovation of the Eyes On design show is having one of the show classes evaluated by visually impaired judges with white gloves who “see” the vehicles through their other senses.

Over 200 vehicles reflecting the theme of aerodynamics and streamlining will be on display, having been identified and invited by teams of automotive design experts. We always find some surprises in the mix. General Chairman, Marcus Shelly of the respected ASC automotive design firm, explains that there is a distinct difference between aerodynamics and streamlining – the former being the design elements that make the vehicle slip through the air more efficiently and more effectively and the latter being more the styling that makes it look like it would slip through the air like a bullet.

The June 17th (Father’s Day) show is open to the public from 10AM to 4:30PM. See you there. Watch this space next week for a report on the show with my favorites.

Tickets for the 2007 EyesOn Design Automotive Exhibit can be obtained by calling 313.824.EYES (3937). Get all the details at www.eyeson.org.