A persistent drizzle failed to dampen the enthusiasm of cruisers or the huge crowd of spectators at the 16th annual Woodward Dream Cruise- held Saturday, August 21. Each year approximately one million people line Woodward Avenue in suburban Detroit from Ferndale to Pontiac to gape at thousands of restored 50's and 60's muscle cars, hot rods, customs, sports cars and other vintage cars. The Woodward Dream Cruise is now known as the largest outdoor automotive event in the U.S.
Historic Road
Woodward Avenue is historic - symbolic of the center of the domestic auto industry. Many people don't realize Woodward Avenue (M-1) had the first mile of concrete pavement in the United States. During the 1950's and 1960's, hot rodders in their muscle cars would cruise Woodward Avenue, which was lined with drive-in restaurants. Drive-ins such as Ted's, The Wigwam, Totem Pole, The Egg and I, Suzi-Q and Dipsy Doodle became famous as Detroit landmarks. Sadly, all these drive-ins are gone.
Let's go Woodwarding
Four lanes wide, smooth as glass and conveniently divided at one mile intervals by stoplights, Woodward Avenue was the scene of many grudge match drag races. As a youngster I would sit on my grandmother's back porch on Friday evenings and watch the drag racers.
"Woodwarding" was what teenagers did in Detroit on Saturday nights during the 1950s and 1960s. Cruising Woodward died out during the 1970's as Detroit turned away from building performance cars following the Arab oil embargo. The final nail in the coffin came in 1975 when the Clean Air Act tightened emission standards and - temporarily - put an end to Detroit-manufactured "muscle cars."
Cruising reborn in 1994
Cruising Woodward got a new lease on life one August weekend in 1994 when a group of hot rodders decided to relive Detroit's glory days and go cruising on Woodward. The first attempt was a success. What became known as the Woodward Dream Cruise grew each year as it attracted media attention and a greater number of cruisers. Today the Woodward Dream Cruise is the largest event of its kind. Here is a (very small) selection of classic Fords from this year's event.
All photos: Mike Karagozian
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