Woodward 2022

[08H3]

Went to Woodward Dream Cruise this past weekend. Had a great time as always. I tell everyone I know that is even remotely into cars of any kind, you need to go at least once. It's total automotive overload. Best way I have found to describe it to non-gearhead friends is that Woodward is the automotive equivalent of what you would get if you combined Woodstock, Coachella, and Burning Man into a single weekend. Rain was forecast this year so I think there were slightly fewer local cars from the Detroit metro area than normal, but still tons of really cool stuff on the road. I thought the Ford and Chevrolet displays were better this year. Both had some really cool concept cars on display. Speaking of concept cars, we started downtown at RenCen and GM had several past concept cars on display. Very cool. They had the Cadillac Cien there which was always one of my favorites. I've captioned most of the photos below.

Rennaisance Center / GM World Headquarters

GM World Inside RenCen

Cadillac Cien

Buick Bengal Concept, which I believe was the design inspiration that eventually evolved into the Sky/Solstice, which I always thought were cool and totally underappreciated cars.

Cadillac Ciel Concept. A very long strangely proportioned car with suicide doors, but the look works.

Silverado EV. Last year the Hummer EV was on my wife's wish list, but now she's leaning toward the Silverado EV. It is a sharp looking truck. Still, I'm trying to convince her that our daughter is heading off to college in a few years so we don't need more than 2 seats so a C8 (or C9 by then) is the more practical vehicle!

This was a Tahoe Overlanding Concept. Really not a concept truck in the traditional sense, but had a lot of GM bolt on accessories. It looked really good. With deep enough pockets and skills, I think a Tahoe could actually make a really killer trail rig.
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But, if you just want to buy something and hit the trails, I think the Bronco is the way to go. These things are awesome. If the lead time and dealer markups ever get under control, this is something I could definitely see myself ordering.

Ford GT


More pics, next post...

 

[08H3]

G Bodies, and specifically Monte Carlos are my thing. I had read about this car and had no idea that GM still owned it, but apparently they do. I nearly freaked out when I saw it. It was built by Chevrolet to showcase it's crate engines and transmissions. Such a cool car. LS engine and a T56 manual transmission. Exactly the way I would do it if I was either smart enough or rich enough.

Good example of the diversity of what you will see at Woodward. I haven't seen a first gen GM U Van anywhere but the junkyard for years. Seeing a showroom fresh Silhouette is about as rare as pulling up next to a Lamborghini Aventador. Full disclosure, I actually do like these vans. Mom and dad had a couple and for better or worse, they looked like nothing else on the road when they first came out. I can not remember the circumstances, but my Dad worked at GM at the time and somehow we ended up with one of the first Lumina APV's before they were at all common. I remember Dad couldn't pull into any gas station without someone asking what it was.

I took the Fiero this year. In 2019 I took the Monte Carlo and got pictures here at the site of the assembly plant where it was assembled, so this year I got some of the Fiero. Plant is long gone, but the sign is still there. I know it seems strange, but the Monte Carlo and Fiero did indeed come out of the same factory in Pontiac Michigan. Completely separate lines, but there were assembled at the same plant.

'87 Fiero GT; Original Paint, 36,000 original miles, Vortec 4.3 swap

Duggan's is kind of the de facto gearhead hangout on Woodward. Good food and worth a meal there if you are ever in the area.

Not car related, but we stayed in what may be the coolest AirBnB I've visited to date. Personally, I like old buildings that have been saved and restored. You don't get a much more of a resurrection story this side of Jesus than this house. Totally abandoned for 50 years, it was left to rot until a developer who specializes in these old Detroit mansions bought it and undertook bringing it back to life. It's in Woodbridge neighborhood which is really a Detroit success story in and of itself. It came back from the 2010s of being among the worst (median home values at the time were $6,000) to a vibrant, thriving, community today. I know every city has it's problems, and as visitor you often don't see the worst, but still as a tourist, I think Detroit is one of the most underrated cities around that is still stuck with the stigma from many of it's past problems. Definitely one of my favorite large cities to visit.

Link to some more cool info on the house--> https://detroit.curbed.com/2017/2/3/14493620/jd-baer-house-renovation-woodbridge