Metro Detroit - Woodward Dream Cruise 2024

[kishy]

Hi friends,
The widely-renowned Woodward Dream Cruise is this weekend, officially Saturday August 17.
Woodward Avenue is a multilane divided roadway running from downtown Detroit to Pontiac, MI. It has the distinction of having been the first concrete-paved roadway in the US. Being a divided roadway with plentiful "Michigan left" turnaround lanes, it's an ideal cruising road. Neighbourhood whining about local car culture is on the rise and police response to this whining is increasing, but driving like even a halfway respectable person is unlikely to result in "being policed" for most folks.

Although weather forecasts call for rain through the weekend, it is my intent to be out in a car (which, to be determined) and I have information to suggest other Box Panther owners will be as well.
If you're in the area, or can get to the area, it may be worth your while. Speak up and we can say hi in person, if you wish.

[DerekTheGreat]

I was planning on being there, but I agreed to plans with my wife's family before double-checking the date. Opps. I believe this is the first time I've ever missed the cruise since it's inception.

[kishy]

I was out last night in my friend's Volvo 240 wagon. We had a blast. Tons of people out. We ended up breaking down (alternator's toast) and an American friend delivered us back to Canada, leaving the broken car at his place.

We'll be going back tonight to fix the car and check it out some more.

There's a red 2-door 1980 LTD participating this year.

[kishy]

Woodward 2024 was excellent.
Thursday evening, went over in the 245DL. Drove that around a bunch (mostly me driving so Dan could take pics and videos). It was the end of the night anyway when it broke down, so that was alright.

Friday evening, went over driving separately, me driving my wagon, Dan driving his Suzuki Alto Works, and a third friend driving some sort of VQ-powered thing. 370Z maybe. Dan left the Alto in the US and got a ride back with the other friend.

Saturday, went over separately, me driving the 84 Town Car and Dan driving his R32 Skyline GT-R. I left the Town Car at our friend's place over there and drove the Alto for the night. Our friends got Qdoba catering delivered so we used their house as a rally point.

Pontiac was, as it usually is, a lawless land of endless burnouts. The reward for getting back onto Woodward after the cops kick everyone off is always worth it. Tire smoke as far and as high in the sky as the eye can see. Stoplight drag races all the way through. Plenty of classics and unusual stuff to see. I strongly doubt there's anything quite like this anywhere else. Motor City car culture is alive and well.

A few 3AM nights does mean I'm tired now though, but that's OK.

[DerekTheGreat]

So it's alive and well? Everyone I talk to about it here acts like it's some sort of plague. They hate it and tell me that people are actually working to have it abolished or neutered.

[kishy]

So it's alive and well? Everyone I talk to about it here acts like it's some sort of plague. They hate it and tell me that people are actually working to have it abolished or neutered.

There are certainly people in that camp, and they're certainly trying. You could go back and forth all day long about it...I see the arguments in both directions and the fact is, people on both sides of the issue have valid points.

The motor city - which figuratively encompasses every municipality Woodward touches, and then some - has been a hub for car culture (and car counterculture, if you will) for decades. The Woodward Dream Cruise, as an organized event, has maybe only existed for 20-whatever years, but the car cruising scene and all that goes with it have been here since what, the 50s? Maybe earlier. From the very first days of cars being modified, the Detroit area has been home to this culture, and for this region the car is so much more than just a way to get from A to B.

Without statistics at my fingertips, I'd make an educated guess that most residents within a mile of Woodward are young enough that the local car culture has existed longer than they've been alive. Certainly, however many people that is, an even larger number of them have not been taxpaying residents in their current locations for longer than the car scene has been around. This is no different than moving next to an airport (which I've done) and complaining about the planes (which I have not and will not do).

A very valid counterpoint though: a loud car in 1978 was a very different thing than a loud car today. The ear-splitting volume levels and pitches coming from some of these car exhausts (loud VQ cars, modern high-revving domestic V8s, and anything with a crackle tune making gunshot noises) are far more offensive noises that carry much farther than the modded cars of the past. There's a parallel here to the second amendment debate because what was decided in the past is now being applied to ideas and concepts that hadn't even been thought of yet. A reasonable limit must be found, and there's a lot that must go into finding that limit before imposing it.

The scene is alive and well. The policing, while present and unforgiving, seems reasonable. The neighbourhood complaints are justified only in some specific aspects - but to say that you moved to the area being totally unaware this existed is entirely a 'them problem', and to say they expected the car scene consisted strictly of idling up and down the road at 5mph is also a 'them problem'. It's never been that way, it's never been painted that way, and it won't be that way unless the government and police become way more heavy-handed than is typically considered to be the American way of doing things.

[DerekTheGreat]

Guess it depends on the city for a given stretch of Wootward. I'd wager Ferndale, Royal Oak, Berkley, Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills residents are the ones pitching a fit. Those are also the cities who could afford to pay the police to patrol the stretches of Wootward that run through their respective cities. Last night I watched some cringe-worthy footage of Wootward after the cruise with Angela. A group of jackasses were walking out onto the road, blocking traffic and trying to incite burnouts. The reality is they almost got themselves and others killed while causing multiple collisions. Certainly not helping the image.

I've been going since the very first cruise. It's definitely changed since then. The locals who are still enthusiastic about the event say the best times to cruise/see Wootward are the two weeks leading up to the event, with the pinnacle being Friday before the event. There used to be sooo many cars, and mostly the type I care to see with the culture that goes with it. Now my take is that it's primarily a "Look at me" fest with tons of modern stuff bouncing off their rev-limiters (with the awful crackly sound and SPL levels you mentioned) and political propaganda everywhere you turn. The Convicted Felon & Rapist's corner was nauseating... It has evolved and if I had to say it, I'd say I'm losing interest as a result. I'm not sure this can even be called "The Motor City" any more. My dad used to say everyone was into cars and practically all the people he knew in the 70's were into cars in some shape or form. Most of 'em worked for (what was then) the Big Three and owned vehicles of the same variety. They'd spend Friday waxing & detailing whatever they had and then the weekend cruising Gratiot, Michigan Ave., or Telegraph, my dad's scene being Telegraph. It's pretty rare to find that same level of enthusiasm which isn't also accompanied by gray hair these days. If what I've been reading over the years is true, kids these days don't even want to drive and look at car ownership as burden and costly expense, opposed to a symbol of freedom, pride and history. They seem to only be interested if it's expensive and flashy. The culture which exists beyond that is kind of a counter-culture, of the Hoonigan variety which to me is in your face and obnoxious - not the way I was taught, nor what I want to endorse. It actually strikes me as a death knell... I'm trying with our young kids, but it I see the difficulty. For me growing up, the car culture was everywhere and it was just something I seemed to naturally be interested in. My dad bought all kinds of cars which were "cool" and yet no more than 10 years old and super cheap. Although, my dad never did anything hands-on, he just had the cars & did the burnouts. Now some 30 years later, it's much harder and expensive to buy the same type of stuff and then involve our girls. What's ten years old or thereabouts now primarily look four-door, four cylinder toasters with hatchbacks and are uninspiring on top of expensive. To me, the soul of what was an "American" car is dead, yet it's now pretty spendy to buy the stuff which was once everywhere, overlooked and dirt cheap. Yet, I'm still doing it and the girls seem to be digging in. Our oldest says she thinks modern cars are boring and our youngest gave 'Lil Red's new exhaust an enthusiastic two thumbs up when I was revving it in the driveway for her, not to mention she frequently plays on it and loves going for rides in it.