Woodward Dream Cruise 2011

The Woodward Dream Cruise is an annual event we never miss.

Held on the third Saturday in August, it's the largest "One Day" auto event in the world.   In reality, it runs the whole week prior.  Some might say Woodward is "On" all summer long, but the week of the cruise definitely sees higher attendance.

People travel from far away to experience the spectacle, and many of the cars arrive on trailers, that are parked on the highly coveted parking spots behind businesses or on neighboring side streets.

Parking for spectators is at a premium too, if we're not actually cruising, we usually just pay for parking in Royal Oak.

Most of the cars are either street-rods or musclecars, but you can see just about anything at woodward.

On Wednesday, the 17th, I picked a spot on the grassy median to shoot from, across from Vinsetta's Garage.  The garage had a very nostalgic look, with the traditional neon lighting, unfortunately, they put caution tape all around the front of it.  I understand that at the time of this shooting, the Garage had already been closed, and is being converted to a theme-restaurant.  Hopefully, they'll manage to retain the outward appearance of a classic building that faces out on to Woodward.

Here's a Beautiful '65 Newport.

The Older I get, the more I like woodies.

Either this car, or it's brother was at Autorama.  It's really big and really black.

Loves me an AMX once in a while.

I see the guy on the left every year.  The sound it makes is awesome.

My favorite shot of the series, which is why I used it as the opening shot in this post.

The GTX is my favorite Mopar of all time.

A lot of folks say this is their favorite shot.

Car is so damn fast I almost didn't get him in the frame.

Pretty good skies that night.

On Thursday, the 18th, Sara and I grabbed some dinner at the Athens Coney Island and I setup afterwards to see what kind of shots I could get.

This is my favorite shot from Thursday.  These guys seem to be having a good time.

"Sha-Boom" is there every year, and has the trunk full of propane tanks for the flaming exhausts.

Check out the kids in the Rumble Seat.

Now that's a real 70's paint job.

I dig custom busses at the cruise.

Couple of interesting shots leaving the Coney on Thursday

Pretty tuff looking Malibu on the way home Wednesday night.

Since we'd been there both Wednesday and Thursday nights, we skipped Friday and the rest of the shots are from Saturday, the "Official" day of the cruise.  We also just picked up a Caliber SRT4 for Sara so we were cruising a bit in that.  We'd planned to park and meet up with our friends and walk part of it, but the weather hit like a ton of bricks, and we ended up rescuing them in the SRT, and other than stopping a couple of times to buy T-shirts and meet up with other friends, we stayed in the car.

Yes, another GTX.

This is the same car we had had when Sara and I started having kids.

Lots of great Tri-Fives this year.

Smile for the camera!  I was standing up through the sunroof while Sara drove.  

Look!  A Brodozer.

I had a Studebaker truck once.  Cool looking, but God-awful primitive.

Another GTX.  A Red 67 would be my favorite version of my favorite car.

Sweet Roadrunner

'68 Fury.  A little worse for wear, but still badass

High winds came along with the rains.  It was a serious Midwest drenching, count the legs, I think there are like ten people under there.  There was stuff flying all around, A stage and some rigging was flipped all around and the garbage boxes supplied by Kroger, in the left of the shot that were designed to keep the litter down.....didn't.

I guess a power line came down in Royal Oak, and they closed that part of Woodward for a while.  I was told the Police were closing the cruise down, but I didn't see any sign of it. More on the Police later...

For most of my life, this was my favorite Mopar of all time.  The '71 340 Cuda.  As mentioned before, 67 440 GTX has beat it out.

Love the purple coupe.  This car is really well done.

More Tri-Fives

GT500 "King of the Road"

'66 Impala Super Sport, I can't tell if the badge says 427 or not.

69 GTO Judge

51-53 GMC Panel truck, I can't tell which year.  In front of Athens, I don't know what's under the Canvas flap.

Super Sano 63 galaxie 500

This is what made GTO owners lay awake at night.

So very wrong, but....damn, I like it.

Careful Timmy, that's where the monster lives.

This blog post would be incomplete without talking about my friend Ian, who drove a completely clapped-out 66 Bonneville all the way from Santa Barbara to Detroit to cruise it for a day.

It was a very exclusive car, and a uniquely ironic circumstance, that somehow Ian managed to find a completely rusted out car in California, and oddly transport it to Michigan.   (To those that don't know, Michigan salts roads, cars usually die after ten years or so, and collectors "Import" cars from the West Coast or the South for restoration in Michigan.)

Ian wants everyone to know that this is a functioning power window.

So what did Ian do with it when he was done at the cruise?   (He sure as hell wasn't driving it back).  He sold it to another friend, Matt.  Who paid in cash.

Two dollar bills to be exact.

Matt's enjoying the car, not sure what he's done with it, but I have heard reports that his family has questions about the "Fresh Air Vent" that seems to be coming from the floorboards.  In all seriousness, I've seen Way worse cars that were way less deserving restored to pristine condition.

Ian makes the trip at least every other year, sometimes back-to-back years.  The Caintmakit Racing! usually has some kind of shin-dig every year on the Friday before WDC.

One caution I would make though, is although I'm usually pretty pro-Law Enforcement, some of the police in Royal Oak, during the cruise are complete hostile bastards with an axe to grind.  Sorry, but there it is.  Avoid them.  If you plan to attend, plan exactly where you are going to be at 9:00 and be there at 8:30.  So if you want to go catch beer and a brew at Duggans, or at the Redcoat, make it happen before they start closing the roads.  Also, pay attention to which way "Home" is.  Park your car on the same side of Woodward, because if you're on the wrong side, they won't let you cross.  You'll have to drive through the neighborhoods to get to one of the freeways.  If on foot, don't cross between the intersections.  Actually Don't cross anywhere near the police.  On a more positive note, they all go home at eleven, and things are still going on, but by then, I'm usually on my way home.  That is when the actual street racing happens though.

The dream cruise is a must see for anyone who really enjoys automotive events, lots of things to see and the crowds are good natured and friendly.