Detroit, MI - 8-17-2013

Hi, Ruthe and I spent a long weekend in Detroit to participate in the wedding celebrations for Dolly Schwartz and Josh Klein. Josh is the son of one of Ruthe's cousins.  It was a wonderful weekend with family highlighted by the wedding ceremony on Sunday afternoon.

I was fortunate that the weekend  chosen for the wedding coincided with the Woodward dream cruise, one of the largest auto events in the US.  It stretches along Woodward Avenue in the Detroit suburbs from about the city line at 8 mile road to about 15 Mile Road in Pontiac.  Along that route are thousands of cars, mostly from the 50's and 60's, and mostly Detroit iron, parked in every parking lot and available spot along the route.  In addition, many owners cruise up and down Woodward Avenue in this area.

We chose to spend our time in the City of Birmingham, MI at about 14 Mile road.  This was a hot bed of activity as Chevrolet anchored the area with a display of its current lineup of cars.

Just south of downtown Old Woodward Avenue branches off to the west from the current main route and passes through downtown.  This stretch of road was closed off to traffic and became a major display area.  Below are a number of the cars we saw there.  I couldn't take photos of all the vehicles for a variety of reasons, including shear numbers.  Also, some of the vehicles were too close to neighbors and about half were in shadow.

The photo below is an overview of one block of Old Woodward Avenue.

This Buick was the first car I photographed.

Here is a '66 GTO,

a Firebird Trans AM,

a 50 (?) Ford Coupe,

and a group of Studebakers,

including this original Avanti, Studebaker's attempt to compete with the Corvette, I believe.

Next up were a couple of Brits, a Jaguar and

an MG TD.  Also, there were about a 1/2 dozen Rolls Royces of various vintages and one Bentley.  However, again they were not well positioned and had lots of people around them.

In a parking lot just off Old Woodward Avenue I found this 53 Studebaker, and

a Valiant.  For me this was a real find as my parent's second car was identical to this except in green.

In the same lot I photographed this late 50s Cadillac, and

this mid 50s Chevy.

A Chevy Corvair convertible was set up with a drive in movie speaker on the passenger side.  It had a drive in food tray on the driver side

as did this second generation Corvair on the passenger side.

After visiting the Chevrolet display we went over to Woodward Avenue so I could photograph some of the cruising cars.  Here is what I believe is a 52 Chevy and an old truck in the background.

Most of the cruising vehicles used the far right lane, such as this GTO is doing.  I am not able to ID the year for most of these cars.

Here is a mid 50s Ford truck and

a mid 50s Chevy.

This is a Ford Torino, probably from the mid to late 60s.

I would guess this Buick convertible is an early to mid 50s model.

Still another second generation Corvair.

An AC Cobra is out for a spin.

I am not sure of the pedigree of this wrecker.

Here we have a '59 Chevy pickup built on a car frame.

This Mercury is a early to mid 50s model.

Note the rumble seat on this pre WWII coupe.

Next I caught a pair of Lotus,

a Plymouth Prowler, and

a very early Vette.

Lastly, here is a Plymouth convertible.

During the afternoon I walked over to the Detroit River to see if I could photograph an ore boat.  I got very lucky.

First up was the Barge James L. Kuber and the Tug Victory headed down river.  This barge was converted from the Steamer Reserve in 2008.  The Reserve was built in 1953, one of 8 ships constructed to the same design. 

Next the Arthur M. Anderson, a sister ship of the Reserve, and still powered came up river.  This ship was constructed in 1952 for U. S. Steel and still serves the same owner.

Close behind the Arthur M. Anderson was the Lee A. Tregurtha.  She was launched in 1942 as an ocean going tanker and was requisitioned by the U. S. Navy shortly after launching.  In 1960 Cleveland-Cliffs Steamship Company purchased the tanker, and had her lengthened and converted to a Great Lakes ore boat.

On Sunday, the morning before the wedding, Ruthe and I drove to Ann Arbor to catch up with the changes that had occurred at my Alma Mater after 50 years.  However, I did not take any photos.

Thanks for looking.