Jalopnik: Detroit

Is Detroit America's Berlin?

Mike Spinelli — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:00:00 EST

On its face, the city of Detroit looks like it's on its ass: Crime, a municipal crisis and urban architectural marvels gone fallow. And yet, beneath it all, the city's harboring a creative energy that — like Berlin — could be the engine of its renaissance. More »

Pulitzer Prize Winner Charlie LeDuff Is Sick Of Your Crap, Detroit

Matt Hardigree — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:30:00 EST

Detroit's Fox 2 news reporter Charlie Duff didn't get his Pulitzer by sucking some politician's dick. Or anyone's dick. When an ambulance breaks down in the middle of a gunfight he doesn't shrink from blaming the right people: the politicians. And you, Detroit, for putting up with it. More »

Like We Said Before, The 2013 Shelby GT500 Convertible Is Not Coming To The Detroit Auto Show

Ray Wert — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:30:00 EST

Some seem to think because they saw a 2013 Shelby GT500 Convertible running around without camouflage it's suddenly coming to Detroit. It's not. Haven't you people ever heard of post hoc ergo propter hoc? Total fallacy. More »

Check out this car-sized pothole that opened this morning in Detroit

Matt Hardigree — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 12:30:00 EST

Like Chronos devouring his children, Detroit's roads are trying to swallow the cars the city itself produced. Specifically, drivers in the area this morning were faced with the dual threats of a giant sinkhole and a massive pothole. Screw Robocop, this city needs Roboroadcrew. More »

Detroit bus drivers paid to do nothing

Ray Wert — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:30:00 EDT

As many as 100 bus drivers for the Detroit Department of Transportation aren't being paid an average of $12 an hour to sit around and do nothing. They're being paid $12 an hour to sit around and watch TV, play cards and read newspapers. More »

Detroit Piston Ben Wallace arrested for drunk driving, weapons charges

Ray Wert — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 09:45:00 EDT

Detroit Piston star and fan favorite Ben Wallace faces a five-year felony charge of carrying a concealed weapon after police found an unloaded pistol in a backpack in back of his 2007 Cadillac Escalade while being arrested on suspicion of drunken driving Saturday in Bloomfield Hills, MI. More »

Brooklyn art installation in Detroit pisses off Detroiters

Ray Wert — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:45:00 EDT

Brooklyn art installation in Detroit pisses off Detroiters More »

Joining the mile-high club on 9/11 is a terrible idea

Justin Hyde — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 09:30:00 EDT

The Beatles were right to say all you need is love, but sometimes you also need a bit of restraint. Like asking oneself: "Is it a good idea to try and join the mile-high club on Sept. 11?" No, no it's not. More »

Detroit: Where tow companies kill and eat the weak

Justin Hyde — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 14:00:00 EDT

A Detroit tow truck driver had the scare of his days when he was lured into a trap and his rig was jacked at gunpoint. The real news: The jackers worked at a rival towing company-slash-tow truck chop shop. More »

The last Packard

Tom Joslin — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 14:00:00 EDT

The last true Packard rolled off the production line at Packard's Detroit plant 55 years ago today. The company had once been the standard of American luxury, but by the early 1950s Packard was having a hard time fighting dwindling car sales. Packard merged with the also struggling Studebaker in the 1954 in an attempt to solve their sales woes. More »

Is Detroit cool again?

Ray Wert — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 09:45:00 EDT

Detroit doesn't have the world's most stellar reputation. Be that as it may, our friends at Changing Gears have asked an interesting question: Is Detroit cool again? Hell, was it ever? Anyway, help them answer it here. More »

Power outage hits downtown Detroit like a shock of... not electricity

Ray Wert — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 16:45:00 EDT

Apparently there's a major power outage in downtown Detroit. They've even shut down the People Mover! Now how will people travel in a defined, slow-moving circle from Greektown back to Greektown? More »

Detroit's car thieves unconscionably steal El Camino from loving home

Justin Hyde — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 16:30:00 EDT

Detroit car thieves swiped a 1985 El Camino from a 97-year-old woman and her family this week; the clan had planned to drive it in the Woodward Dream Cruise. Go find some Tahoe, and spare the El Caminos, assholes. More »

1985 Cadillacs are “imported from Detroit”

Tom Joslin — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 09:00:00 EDT

Long before Chrysler launched its Detroit-gasmic advertising campaign for the 200 earlier this year, Bay area Cadillac dealers pointed out their 1985 models were "imported" from the Motor City while making fun of the German competition in this vintage ad. More »

Angry Detroit woman smashes Cadillac with folding chair

Matt Hardigree — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 19:30:00 EDT

Perhaps inspired by Jazmine Sullivan's jilted-woman vandal anthem, this woman decided to bust the windows out of the Cadillac DeVille of someone close to her. Someone she lovingly refers to as "you bitch ass punk." More »

The Chrysler F-bomber gets a job

Ray Wert — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 15:15:00 EDT

Scott Bartosiewicz, the infamous Chrysler F-bomber who got his company fired over a mis-tweet, was just hired as the social media community manager for Arts, Beats & Eats, a local Detroit festival in Royal Oak, MI. The event's last major sponsor? Why Chrysler, of course. More »

Vote for ED-209 as Detroit's next statue

Ray Wert — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:45:00 EDT

Detroit's already won the kitsch jackpot with the city's new Robocop statue. But now's your chance to give the Motor City the other statue it deserves: Robocop's nemesis ED-209. Head over to the Metro Times website to write in ED-209 as the "Best Statue to Commission - After Robocop." More »

How Detroit went from boom town to bust

Micki Maynard, Changing Gears — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 16:00:00 EDT

The news of Detroit's plunging population decline surprised even the city's worst forecasts. Micki Maynard, senior editor at Changing Gears, a public media project about the future of the industrial Midwest, explains why. — Ed. More »

Detroit is now smaller than Austin, Texas

Justin Hyde — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 12:45:00 EDT

How bad has the 21st century been to the city of Detroit? New Census data shows it has 713,000 residents — the fewest people since 1910, and likely smaller than Austin, Texas and Columbus, Ohio. More »

Red Dawn remake digitally swaps North Koreans for Chinese

Matt Hardigree — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 09:30:00 EDT

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The creators of the new Red Dawn film that blew up Detroit in 2009 are digitally editing out any references to the Chinese and replacing them with references to North Korea… proving the Chinese have already won. More »

Robocop actor endorses Detroit's Robocop statue

Justin Hyde — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 10:30:00 EST

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Throughout the march to pay for a statue of Robocop in the city of Detroit, one voice has been absent: Robocop himself, or at least Peter Weller, whose face was grafted onto America's favorite cyborg lawman. Until now. More »

Other idiotic things Glenn Beck can say about Detroit

Justin Hyde — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 17:15:00 EST

Former morning DJ and gold shill Glenn Beck compared Detroit to Hiroshima, based on an email debunked by Snopes. Next targets: Uncovering the 50-mpg carburetor, how Jimmy Hoffa was killed by Obama and the socialism inherent in Coney dogs. More »

Good ol' boys crash into General Lee at Detroit Autorama

Justin Hyde — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 12:00:00 EST

During the set-up for this weekend's Autorama in Detroit, a Pro-Stock Chevy S10 sped out of control and broadsided a General Lee replica from "Dukes of Hazzard." More »

This is Detroit's new Robocop statue

Matt Hardigree — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 15:30:00 EST

Pete Hottelet is the entrepreneur whose $25,000 may help bring a Robocop statue — that may look like the bust above — to Detroit. More »

How baller is a top-down Honda roadster on a Detroit freeway during a blizzard?

Justin Hyde — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 15:15:00 EST

Detroit snapped back into winter last night, with over ten inches of snow and temperatures in the teens. None of which stopped one Honda S2000 owner from making a top-down commute. More »

Detroit's getting a Robocop statue

Matt Hardigree — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 09:30:00 EST

The group attempting to bring a Robocop statue to Detroit over the mayor's indifference just scored a major victory after securing a $25,000 matching grant from the company Omni Consumer Products. Wait, what? More »

Detroit is so deserted you can snowmobile down the freeway

Justin Hyde — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 16:00:00 EST

It's not that a pack of snowmobiles can comfortably take to the streets of Detroit in winter that amazes us about this video. It's that Detroit has become so empty, snowmobiles can now also hit the freeways. More »

Detroit mayor shoots down idea for Robocop statue

Justin Hyde — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 15:45:00 EST

Detroit may be on the way back from ruin and perdition thanks to Eminem and Chrysler, but Detroit Mayor Dave Bing isn't above considering good ideas no matter their source. More »

Chrysler workers still importing drugs to Detroit plant

Justin Hyde — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 12:30:00 EST

A Michigan State Police unit arrested two employees at Chrysler's Jefferson North plant in Detroit on charges of using drugs during their lunch break; Chrysler fired 13 workers at the same plant last year after they were videotaped drinking. More »

Detroit Auto Show Adds $350 Million To Local Economy

Matt Hardigree — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 14:15:00 EST

That's a lot of free drinks and BBQ. [Business-Journal] More »

The Secret Bubble Cars Of Detroit

Steve Lehto — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 12:00:00 EST

Tucked away in an obscure warehouse in Detroit sits the almost inaccessible Transportation Collection of the Detroit Historical Museum. Lacking facilities and money to display them, the museum keeps its classics entombed in protective bubbles. Here's a rare look inside. More »

Stolen Detroit Auto Show BMW Recovered

Justin Hyde — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 13:00:00 EST

The $90,000 BMW 750i xDrive stolen from the German automaker during the Detroit Auto Show was found today mostly intact — except for the cut wires where the thieves had disabled BMW's tracking system. More »

Thieves Swipe 7-Series From BMW At Detroit Auto Show

Justin Hyde — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 09:00:00 EST

Tired of their usual fare of Cadillac Escalades, Detroit's car thieves raised their sights Wednesday night by stealing a BMW 7-Series that the automaker had hauled in for the show. More »

The Secret Of The Classiest Parking Lot Of All Time

Ray Wert — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 09:00:00 EST

Generations of Detroiters used to park themselves under the jaw-dropping ornate plasterwork and opulence of a downtown movie palace called the Michigan Theater. Today, it's where they park their cars. Ironic, considering it was built atop Henry Ford's first workshop. More »

Metro Detroit's Historic Vinsetta Garage Is No More

Justin Hyde — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 13:00:00 EST

The Vinsetta Garage, the historic neon landmark of Detroit's Woodward Avenue cruising scene and the oldest garage east of the Mississippi, has closed after 91 years in business, a victim of the tough choices facing its owner. More »

Congressman's Son Has $30K Stolen While Driving Gov't-Leased Escalade

Justin Hyde — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 16:00:00 EST

The son of U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit, reported some $30,000 in computers and concert tickets were stolen from a Cadillac Escalade he was driving in Detroit last week. The problem? The Escalade is leased by the government. More »

David Byrne Does Detroit: "Don't Forget The Motor City"

Justin Hyde — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 09:15:00 EDT

Musician David Byrne recently spent a week cruising around Detroit working on a movie for his experiment making music inside the abandoned Michigan Theatre. His take: The city can revive, but not by building cars. More »

Detroit Lives: Johnny Knoxville's Honest Portrait Of The Motor City

Ben Wojdyla — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 15:00:00 EDT

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Detroit's usually portrayed as a crime-ridden city blighted by urban decay and corruption. That's true. But it's not the whole story, not by a long shot. Detroit Lives shows the Motor City as it is: a diamond amidst the rough. More »

Racing Motorcycles On Detroit's Lost Velodrome

Ben Wojdyla — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:30:00 EDT

Detroit's Dorais Velodrome bicycle racing track, like much of the city, laid abandoned for decades. Recently, a group of volunteers reclaimed it from the overgrowth and created the perfect place to race old motorcycles. More »

Detroit Hit By Multiple Fires From High Winds, Arson

Ray Wert — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 07:45:00 EDT

Hey, buddy, can ya spare a fire truck? [WXYZ] More »