Report From The Field.
Woodward Dream Cruise - August 2003
Steve Legel
REVVIN' WITH FORD
If Detroit is the Motor City, then the Woodward Dream cruise is the
pilgrimage to Mecca. The Woodward Dream cruise is billed as the largest one day
rolling classic car Cruisin' event in the world. This is my report.
Detroit's major traffic arteries are laid out in a spoke like pattern from
downtown Detroit. Jefferson Avenue follows along Lake St. Clair and the Detroit
River and along the eastern coast of Lake Erie nearly to Ohio. The city limits
expanded repeatedly around the turn of the century and roadways like Grand
Boulevard, and Outer Drive, marked the end of development and the beginning of
the farmland, in those days. Spoke like roads, Gratiot to the east, Woodward to
the north, Grand River to the northwest, Michigan Avenue to the west and Fort
Street to the south were the paths of residential development of Detroit's
suburbs. The wealthy auto barons moved to the east, the land owners to the north
and west. The west and south (Downriver, as in Downriver along the river) were
the blue collar suburbs of the major steel mills and Ford Rouge complex.
Woodward avenue to the north was the direct route from Detroit to Pontiac,
Michigan, and ran as mainstreet though a half dozen communities that sprung up
along its route. Surface streets were drawn every mile, beginning and labelled
at 5 Mile Road, Six Mile, Seven Mile and so forth up to 15 Mile Road. As the
route passed more rural areas, the streets were given names, but were still
placed about a mile apart. In the horsepower wars of the mid to late sixties,
Woodward Avenue, with its wide lanes, and calibrated mile road stop lights
provided a ready made dragway on weekend nights. Culturally automotive, with
drive-in restaurants at each end of "the loop" and parking areas along the way,
"Cruising Woodward" was the recreational choice for a generation of Detroit baby
boomers. Legends and stories abound about key street races, police enforcement,
and dating and romance. Prominent legends include the interest of the big three
checking out the marketing potential of the young "muscle car generation." In
particular, John Delorean and the Pontiac GTO and the Chrysler racing team and
the "Silver Bullet" Plymouth Belvedere, were known to test factory equipment "on
the street".
 It is in this spirit of tradition and nostalgia, that the Woodward Dream
Cruise was born more than half a decade ago. Now with the financial support of
Detroit's automotive industry, and the widening appeal of classic car
enthusiasts from far and wide, that "Cruisin' Woodward" spirit lives on.
A separate but related activity is the Revvin' With Ford Children's Charity
Coalition event. Completing its fourth year, the Revvin' With Ford event raises
funds for a variety of children's charity causes including health care, family
support, and educational opportunities. At it's inaugural event, Ford Motor
invited the local American Road Thunderbird Club affiliate of the CTCI to
display over 30 classic 55,56 and 57 Thunderbirds in conjunction with its 1999
launch of the new Thunderbird concept car. The local club has been key to
subsequent events and has networked with other classic Ford marquee clubs, and
the event has expanded from the size of a single parking lot to now encompass
the entire Birmingham, Michigan civic complex. The Ford event spans two days and
nearly 100 classic Fords are on display. Entertainment, children's activities,
and product information are showcased all day to the general public. I am
privileged to participate again and enjoy both the hospitality of Ford Motor
Company and the Dream Cruise in general. Please, let me share my wonderful
experience with you.
The Woodward Dream Cruise Weekend 2003 began with the largest power outage in
history encompassing the north-eastern United States, and metro Detroit
included. A minor inconvenience to the true classic car diehard. The Dream
Cruise and all its affiliate functions came off in a spirit of good will and
"pull together." Early "gas fill up notices" were broadcast through the media as
gas stations without power could not pump gas to the cruisers. Such worry became
incidental as the power came on to much of Detroit on Friday and Saturday
morning anyway. Concern about water and food were respected, although most
coolers were packed and extra restaurant supplies were in self contained
refrigerated trailers anyway.
Ford Motor has its classic car participants arrive in Birmingham, Michigan on
Friday morning. There, the cars are positioned while the remaining set up is
completed. I spent the day detailing my Thunderbird between bursts of
rainstorms. Sadly, only a fourth of the anticipated classic cars arrived that
first day. Friday night, Ford hosts the Coalition for Children's Charities
party, for which our classic Fords are the window dressing. Ford provides over
night security for the cars, and, on Saturday, the complex is open to the
public. Four blocks away, Woodward Avenue roars to life as celebrants travel the
16 mile route to see and be seen. Local residents and businesses lament the
event. Once a one day affair, then a weekend, now the event runs, unofficially,
over a week before and a week after. All the action impedes business traffic,
clogs food stores and restaurants and gas stations for local residents, as well
as the congested parking along the neighbourhood streets to the point of locals
being blocked in their own driveways.
 As part of my annual attendance, I walk the epicenter of the cruise, from the
intersection of Woodward and 15 Mile Road to Woodward and 11 Mile Road and back.
The full 16 mile walk is more than I care to do on a hot August day. Woodward is
a long and straight roadway. It is dotted with many small businesses that have
front of store turn out parking. The two most common ways to view the cruise are
either parked along Woodward in one of many small parking spaces of the many
businesses that dot the strip, or "in motion", actually driving the route. In
the crowd of a million and a half, I prefer to leave my 1957 Dusk Rose
Thunderbird in the capable hands of Ford Security at the Revvin' party, and walk
the distance to see both the cars Cruisin', as well as the cars parked along the
way...for me the best of both worlds.
Primarily an event of testosterone and octane, I was quite pleased to see
many classic and muscle cars driven and occupied by women. For many in this
Automotive Capital, the classic car is a family activity. The sight of mom and
dad in front and the kids in back of a well cared for '61 Ford Skyliner,
probably is not much of a different sight than a family going out to grandma's
in 1961. It seemed to me that these teens and youngsters, now in the back seat,
will continue to enjoy and support the love of American Iron well into the
future. The interest is there!! Never the less, the greying of the hobby is
evident here. Well documented is the fact that the classic car hobby is the
domain of guys over 45 reminiscing the cars of their youth. This is evident at
the Dream Cruise. Never the less, an active force of young people continue to
have interest in today's automobiles and will, likely, reminisce these cars 20
years hence. One business relegated its large parking lot to an informal group
of young auto enthusiasts and their well detailed, and perked, Ford Focus and
Ford Mustang Cobras. Sadly, at the other end of the automotive, greying of the
hobby spectrum, there were very few true antique cars retracing their early 20th
century path down Woodward Avenue. One group of yellow 1990's generation
Mustangs made their way up and down the loop. Each time they would lay back or
speed up, adding additional yellow Mustangs to the posse, until quite a large
herd of yellow ponies were galloping up and down Woodward. Of course, cars were
predominant, but vintage motorcycles, scooters and customs and hot rods and
dragsters (street legal?) made the way on hallowed pavement. From Minis to Rolls
Royce, I think, nearly all of Autodom was in attendance. Notably absent were
true antique cars (I saw only a few). The Woodward event is uniquely for
American Cars as I saw, I think, not one, Honda, Kia, Toyota, Nissan high rev
tuner that day. A large number of classic early 50's hot rods and high boy
roadsters were in attendance.
My mind is boggled by even the remotest calculation of the money invested in
the cars presented here. Considering the restoration and paint, in addition to
performance modifications (drivetrain and suspension), graphics and detailing.
When the breeze did not smell of octane, it carried the aroma of Armorall.
Each of the big three made its presence known. The Chrysler event by far the
lamest. A collection of Mopar Muscle and new cars on display with few giveaways,
no entertainment and no activities. General Motors had a few stations set up.
One, a by ticket only party, a second, Chevy station with entertainment and lots
of cars and a third, for Pontiacs, in...well...Pontiac, Michigan...named after
the Indian Chief of the same name. It is however, the Ford party that stands
out. The public enters the Ford Pavilion (largest of all the party sites) by
walking along roadways lined with impressive examples of Classic Ford autos.
Games, kids activities, music, demonstrations, three different entertainment
venues, gifts and giveaways, as well as visits with the owners of the classic
Fords greet the passer-by. It has been my great pleasure every year, to allow
visitors to sit in my car and I take their picture with their camera, giving
them a unique memento of their visit at Ford's display. The park like setting
offers shade trees and a welcome respite from the heated asphalt of the roadway
and sidewalk.
My Thunderbird report includes:
Collectibles!!!
1. Revvin' With Ford giveaways include a "free photo," a digital photo
uploaded to the website
http://www.mobilitymotoringprogram.com
and enter my email address - slegel@comcast.net and you will see my digital picture. This was available to the public, and
they could select which car to stand by. I proudly report the cameraman told me
my car was by far the most popular selection!!
2. The Ford area program and site map for the theme "Generations of
Sensations" features a classic Marauder and a sage green (doctored photo?) 55
Ford Thunderbird archive photo among other pictures of Ford products including a
new 2002 Thunderbird on the back page.
3. A great giveaway you had to work for...Starting at one booth, participants
would pick up a puzzle. Then attend 5 other booths scattered about the Ford
area, fill in a short survey (only a few quick questions at each stop) and
receive a puzzle piece. At the completion of the puzzle (picturing Ford WHQ
under fireworks from the Centennial) you were presented a 1:24 2002 Thunderbird
diecast in choice of color, red, black, yellow, white, metallic blue. I chose
yellow to match my 02, but perhaps the best selection would have been the more
difficult to find white in 1:24 scale. Collector's lament...The cars were
delivered to the stations in bulk boxes of 25, five plastic trays of 5, with
molded plastic covers...gads...hundreds were given away!!
4. Displayed at the Revvin' with Ford Pavilion was the Coral, James Bond, 007
Thunderbird used in the movie. It has the Coral hardtop and no side V8 badge.
You know the movie car was built as an 02 model and the film was made in 2002.
Production 007 Thunderbirds released in 2003 are '03 models with white hardtop
and V8 side badge. Also on display was the Chip Foose Thunderbird. With few
passers-by on Friday I was able to take several close up photos of details of
the car. 
5. Ford had two other distinct events. The Mustang Drive-in, and Mustang
Corral. The Mustang Corral is billed as the largest one day collection of
Mustangs in the world. Admittedly, the Ford Nationals at Carlisle has a much
larger display, but it extends over three days. The Mustang Drive-in had a half
dozen classic Thunderbirds, a trivia contest to win a chance at winning a
Thunderbird. Decorating the drive in were two large murals of Ford products, one
with classics and one with the new 'bird and the GT 40 illustrated.
 6.The huge sign on Woodward pointing the way to the Ford Pavilion has both the
1955 and the new Thunderbird featured.
7. Charles Jones, a long time Ford Employee and avid dealer promotional model
collector had two 4 foot wide display cases of Ford Dealer models from his
collection. He says he brought about a third of his collection.
8. In the goodie bag for participants was a 1:43 diecast model T, a dash
plaque, and the book, "Soaring Spirit"
I found other collectibles along my walk. A local McDonalds' was selling
T-shirts for a fund raiser. It sported an illustration of a drive-in with other
cars and a pink 55/56/57 hybrid included. The official Woodward Dream Cruise
Picture Book of 300 cars has two classic Thunderbirds. Haggarty Insurance had a
booth, giveaways included a small rectangular pin with choice of cars, mine, the
red 56 Thunderbird, of course!!
I saw Thunderbirds! Along my walk of Woodward Ave. I spotted a new 2004
Platinum and the Bon Speed Saleen Thunderbird at the Saleen racing display.
Further along Woodward, at a Ford Dealership, I photographed an assemblage of
half dozen 03's in a rainbow of colors, as well as a Merlot 04 with sand
interior, still in wraps.
Along my walk I saw many classic 55,56,57 Thunderbirds, about 20 in count.
Mostly whites and reds. A few rarities, included a coral colored 57 (not red), a
dark metallic blue 57, a white 57 modified for racing with a Thunderbird Bronze
interior. An Inca Gold and two in Starmist Blue rounded out the color spectrum.
13 new Thunderbirds in an assortment of all colors 02 and 03 model years, with
no NM cars noted.
The local American Road Thunderbird Club was well represented both at the
Revvin' With Ford Party and on the Cruise.
Rick Olson (sharing his eBay story for a senior CTCI car), Don and Jean
Balagna, Bill Coyle, dad and son, sharing
 stories of their 57 Thunderbird owned
since early 1959. Bob Smith was generous with sharing history and specifications
of the Early birds, John and Patty Sadek (yes, Patty you will wipe off the car
after it rains...again). Cathy and Jerry Kazmarek, Mike and Joyce Dudash, Ron
Foto, Ron and Anna Gagnon, Roger Hayman, Me - Steve Legel, Jim and Jill Ziety
(Jim was a co-chairperson of the whole affair, working hard behind the scenes,
thanks Jim, really great!!) Cheryl (driving) and Pete Mastantuono brought their
Thunderbird Blue 55 for a morning cruise on Woodward. Ted and Sue Height, David
and Kay Snaddon dropped by Revvin. Fred Birchard was spotted running his bronze
57 up and down the strip.
I conclude my report with a humorous personal incident during my stay at
Revvin' With Ford/Woodward Dream Cruise. Birmingham, Michigan, home to the event
is a long distance from my home. I am lucky to have two cousins recently rent a
house within walking distance from the Ford party. We had made arrangements for
me to stay with them Friday night and rejoin the cruise on Saturday morning. As
the Friday event was winding down and the night time party was cancelled for
safety reasons, I walked the 10 blocks to my cousins house. Their house, and the
whole city were dark by the time I arrived. I knocked on the door and there was
no answer. No one was home. I waited a half hour on the porch for their return.
When neither returned home, I walked across the street, where I spotted a group
of neighbors sharing a cooler of refreshment on lawn chairs in the front yard. I
explained my predicament and asked if they had a working phone that I could send
word that I was waiting. I am so blessed by the cordiality of strangers. They
invited me for a much welcomed "cold one", while I waited. Imagine my surprise
when the next door neighbor turned out to be Mickey D'Armi, brand manager for
Ford, with whom I've done previous projects including the Thunderbird Unveiling
Day at World Headquarters! The evening had passed with no return call. I chose
to return to downtown Birmingham and check the Townsend Hotel. The Townsend is
an exclusive 5 star hotel with a Dream Cruise weekend special for $1,400.00. The
only package they offer that weekend. Knowing they were still out of power and
had many cancellations, I hoped for the opportunity to finagle a less expensive
overnight stay. At the Townsend, I was politely informed that, "yes we have
rooms, but no, we are not open to the public due to the power outage. We are
only fulfilling our obligations to guests with reservations" Stymied, I headed
back to the Ford Security booth where I had registered my car for the night, and
explained, yet again, my predicament. The security director was puzzled as he
hefted a thick three ring binder onto the table.."I don't think we have a
contingency for this," he said as be began rifling pages in the book. Becky
Rundell, co-organizer with Jim Ziety had overheard my story. "So you're Steve
Legel," she inquired. "I'll get you a room," she said knowingly. I followed her
back to the Townsend, explaining the policy I had been told. As we entered the
Hotel lobby, the receptionist stated, "I told him we had no rooms without a
reservation." "You did not look at the right names," said Becky confidently,
"let me see my list." Becky had reserved a number of rooms for Ford big wigs,
who that night were not in attendance. "The room is paid for, Steve, I'm happy
to see it used." Becky offered me. Power to the Hotel came on overnight and in
morning I enjoyed a hot shower and a shave and an elegant continental breakfast.
"Which flavor coffee for you this morning sir?" kind of stuff. Best broken date
I've ever had!! On Saturday I was pleased to present Becky with a copy of the
Book "Thunderbird:2002" in appreciation.
Sincerely,
Steve Legel
Lincoln Park, MI
Presented by
www.TBirdUK.com
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