18th Annual Woodward Cruise

The Woodward Dream Cruise in Royal Oak, Michigan, is essentially the world's largest car show. Millions of people show up every year to admire and laugh at the amazing and ridiculous parade of cars in front of them.

Yes, I have been to the Woodward Cruise many times before, but this is the first time I drove my DeLorean up and down the avenue. I drove alongside Corvettes and Chevelles, Thunderbirds and Triumphs, Packards and Porsches.

I appreciated the wild amount of cheering my car garnered as I cruised, doors open. It got more attention than most. After all, I was smack-dab in the middle of John DeLorean's territory.

As I crept along, I had a strange conversation with a bystander. Yelling over the din of the rumbling V-8s, it went like this:
"Where's John?"
"Cemetery!"
"In jail?"
"No, he's dead!"
"Did he die in jail?"
"No! New Jersey!"
On my second day of cruising a convertible pulled alongside me. The conversation was lighter (and cuter) as the girls filmed me for Street Sport TV (hooray!) and made Back to the Future comments.

Heavy police presence and huge fines hindered antics, launches and burnouts, but there were still a few bad boys willing to take the chance. Especially when egged by spectators holding signs that read, "Drive it like you got a pair!"

I eventually fell victim to this. Stopped in traffic I was provoked by the relentless badgering of an 8 year old girl. Yeah, you heard me. Soon a guy joined her, egging me to rev my engine. Over and over I resisted... then failed.

Saturday afternoon, at the Woodward Cruise, I revved the dinky 2.8 litre Peugeot/Renault/Volvo V-6 and did the DeLorean community proud. With my new aluminum water pump pulley and K&N filter, the engine revved faster than it has before. In a second I hit 7 grand. It sounded surprisingly good. Then the rpms dropped, dropped some more and then dropped some more. Right to 0.

I stalled.

Embarrassed, I nervously started it up and drove away, having proved to the crowds that the DeLorean really is that great big pile of crap they all think it is. Yay me.

StreetSportTV.com

17th Annual Woodward Cruise

Within 10 minutes of arriving, I watched as a classic muscle car performed a burnout to a cheering crowd, get pulled over instantly and handed a hefty $200 ticket. Ouch.

I've been to the Woodward Cruise before, and it sure has calmed down from the good ol' days of police in riot gear, but there was still a heck of a lot of action and bizarities.

Wanna see flames and fireballs shoot out of exhaust pipes? Check. A car covered in motherboards and computer chips named Carputer? Check. "Honey I shrunk the car" licence-plated golf cart versions of full sized vintage cars? Check. A rusty 30's hot rod powered by a behemoth Caterpillar diesel? Check. A Ford and Chevy guy getting along? Che... uh... not sure about that one.

The Woodward Cruise is an unbelievable experience. Not as unbelievable as say, stealing one of the retired space shuttles, launching it from your backyard and landing on Mars with it. But it IS the largest car show on Mars. I mean Earth.

And at the world's largest car show, it's not what you saw, but more likely what you didn't see. There's always a couple hundred Corvettes around. Ditto for the beautiful Olds 442. But how about something unusual, like a Studebaker Avanti. It was there. Ten DeLoreans cruising down the road bumper to bumper with their doors open? You bet. A Ford GT? Yup. A Tesla roadster? Of course. Ecto 1 from the Ghostbusters? Yuppers! A 25-foot long speed boat on a trailer sans car, driving itself??? Yes. A super-rare Buick GNX? Absolutely!

Yes, yes yes, they were all there.

When I say they were ALL there I mean it. For days every business along Woodward Avenue is packed with classic cars while more and more cruise up and down the street, bumper to bumper to bumper. Revving, yelling, cheering, and lighting up their tires.

Your insanity levels have to be measurable to enjoy the Cruise. After all, Woodward Avenue is quite literally the only place on earth where people drive from all the way across the country with the sole intention of causing, and staying stuck in, a massive traffic jam.