Jalopnik: woodward avenue

Woodward Dream Cruise: A Plague Upon All Your Movie Houses

Ray Wert — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 12:00:00 EDT

Awesome as the Woodward Dream Cruise is, many businesses on Woodward Avenue harbor a Biblical hate for it in their hearts. The marquee of the Magic Bag theater in fabulous Ferndale is going all Old Testament on us. [DetroitNews]

The 2008 Woodward Dream Cruise: What You May Have Missed

Andrew Stoy — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 09:20:00 EDT

Surprise, surprise: Wert has a KITT-gasm driving the Knight Rider KITT Shelby GT500KR. Or maybe KITT had a Wert-gasm. We're still sorting it out.
Classy cars and not-so-classy ladies are a match made on Woodward.
A 2010 Mustang GT tries to sneak through the traffic unnoticed.
2009 Cadillac CTS-V police car is really giving the cops the wrong idea.
Classic rods are more than the sum of their parts, but those parts are damn important.
A local community college answers the question of whatever happened to the engine from Jeremy Clarkson's Ford GT by mounting it in a Ford Five Hundred. The result — a 550 HP Five Hundred.
Who says you have to keep engine parts tucked in an engine block? Not Buick!
The Ramchargers drag car shows you how it was done: Sitting on a metal chair.
The Devil's Joke may not be funny, but we bet it's fun to drive.
Nothing says mullet quite like a Turbo Trans Am Pace Car.
Despite what the Detroit News thinks, wagons are awesome and we've found one of the best.
There's more coming, but for the moment hit the 2008 Woodward Dream Cruise tag.

The Bits And Pieces That Make A Classic Hot Rod

Ben Wojdyla — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 17:20:00 EDT

The difficulty in building a classic-style hot rod comes in knowing the code. The difference between a garden-variety clapped-together rat rod and a "patina'd" hot rod with $50,000 worth of engine parts is about being familiar with what's rare and desirable. We got our first taste of that difference two years ago when we chatted up Bill Jagenow of Brothers Custom Automotive about his rod. These days, on a steady diet of Autorama and Billetproof, we're culturing our classic hot rod palette and find some of the Dream Cruise cars here to be quite tasty. Incidentally, Bill's rod is the one with the 24-stud Flathead.

Super-Smooth Custom T-Bird Could Use Some Rough Edges

Ben Wojdyla — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 17:00:00 EDT

This car is almost too smooth. An original-series Ford Thunderbird is a fairly common occurrence at car shows, Woodward Dream Cruise or not. So it would be easy to pass right by this one. But the subtle lack of ornamental chrome and flawless pearl paint draw the eye. From the front, gold-painted perforated steel replaces much of the backdrop chrome mesh; it's not until you head to the back that you realize the huge changes that have been made. Extended fins take this Thunderbird from mild to kustom in one fell swoop.

Follow the fun at our Woodward Dream Cruise tag for all of our coverage of the 2008 Woodward Dream Cruise, the largest one-day automotive event in the world!

Old-School Drag Cars Bow Down: Ramchargers High And Mighty II

Ben Wojdyla — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 16:00:00 EDT

Now here's a heaping pile of awesome parked curbside at the Woodward Dream Cruise: One of the original cars from the locally famous Ramchargers Car Club, this one is called the High And Mighty II. We don't know what happened to High And Mighty I, but this one is hairy and full of radical detail. Obviously, those insane exhaust pipes manically dumping out along the fenderless sides of the car draw the most attention, but what about inside? Check out the brutal steel throne and the analog tachometer, which does away with a traditional redline in favor of a "Shift! (Dammit)" zone. A couple more great shots below.

Follow the fun at our Woodward Dream Cruise tag for all of our coverage of the 2008 Woodward Dream Cruise, the largest one-day automotive event in the world!

Pontiac Turbo Trans Am Daytona 500 Pace Car: Feel Your Mullet Flow

Ben Wojdyla — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 15:30:00 EDT

Oh baby, can you feel those short hairs on the back of your neck growing? Here's a pristine 1981 Pontiac Turbo Trans Am down at the Woodward Dream Cruise that's so complete it even has the original Monroney sticker in perfect condition. Gaze lovingly upon the flaming chicken on the hood, the mesh inserts on the headrests and those sexy turbine wheels. It's almost too much for the senses. We're so happy these are coming back around as sorta respectable cars again. More pictures after the jump.

Follow the fun at our Woodward Dream Cruise tag for all of our coverage of the 2008 Woodward Dream Cruise, the largest one-day automotive event in the world!

Cobra 427 Limousine: Champagne And Five-Point Harnesses

Ben Wojdyla — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 15:00:00 EDT

The thing about the Cobra 427 is that you can never take all of your friends along while they're getting drunk. If only there was a longer Cobra with another four seats, each with its own five-point harness, a bottle cooler in the middle with six glass holders (?), and big amps. Then you could be your own Woodward Dream Cruise stretched-limo Cobra party — yay!

Follow the fun at our Woodward Dream Cruise tag for all of our coverage of the 2008 Woodward Dream Cruise, the largest one-day automotive event in the world!

1915 Buick Express Delivery, With Exposed Valve-In-Head Motor

Ben Wojdyla — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 14:40:00 EDT

Here's something you don't see every day — a 92-year-old four-cylinder Buick engine purring away like a kitten, hanging out just off Woodward Avenue. This Buick truck is in largely unrestored condition and fired up on the very first crank of the hand starter. The truck is equipped with a "Valve-in-Head Engine", with the pushrods ascending the side of the engine; the valve springs and rocker arms are exposed as well. One of the main questions we had was how do you oil the whole thing? See those little knobs atop the rocker arms? Those are full of oil: Give 'em a couple turns every 50 miles and the valvetrain oils itself. Close-up gallery below the fold.

Follow the fun at our Woodward Dream Cruise tag for all of our coverage of the 2008 Woodward Dream Cruise, the largest one-day automotive event in the world!

'57 Ford Ranchero Custom Takin' A Break From The Cruise

Ben Wojdyla — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 14:00:00 EDT

The Woodward Dream Cruise can be tough on an old car — stop-and-go traffic for miles, overzealous and crowd-pleasing engine revving, the oft-times brutal heat — so why not a stop to cool down at Micky-D's? The owner tells us he and his wife tore the little truck apart about eight years ago and totally renovated it. Everything on the outside, sans the steer head on the bumper, is original, while the interior has been customized with styling elements from the body. You can see the shape of the chrome strip running on the side in the door panels, and the logo on the seats matches the one on the tailgate. Very nicely done, sir.

Follow the fun at our Woodward Dream Cruise tag for all of our coverage of the 2008 Woodward Dream Cruise, the largest one-day automotive event in the world!

1957 Mercury Proves The Awesomeness Of Vintage Wagons

Ben Wojdyla — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 13:40:00 EDT

"1957 Merc Wagon, 368 Engine, PS, PB, new paint, interior, tires, wheels, some new chrome, rebuilt carb, gas tank gas tank cleand and coated, new battery, new spare & wheel. 'Very rare.' Runs Great!! $30,000." Wagons, definitely not cool enough for the Woodward Dream Cruise. Yep, keep 'em at home.

Follow the fun at our Woodward Dream Cruise tag for all of our coverage of the 2008 Woodward Dream Cruise, the largest one-day automotive event in the world!

The Tri-Magnum Looks Strange, Gets 50 MPG

Ben Wojdyla — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 11:20:00 EDT

This Tri-Magnum built around a Kawasaki KZ900 engine and rear suspension (go big green!), a VW Beetle front suspension, and more fiberglass than you can shake a stick at. Strange looking, yes, but 50 MPG ain't bad on a car with a fold-forward canopy top. This baby's one of the real gems you'll find at the 2008 Woodward Dream Cruise. Sure, there's tens of thousands of muscle cars and classics but it's the plain ol' bizarre and fascinating crap that makes this event the greatest automotive spectacle in the world.

Follow the fun at our Woodward Dream Cruise tag for all of our coverage of the 2008 Woodward Dream Cruise, the largest one-day automotive event in the world!

Even Chihuahuas Join In On The Woodward Dream Cruise Fun

Ben Wojdyla — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 11:00:00 EDT

This is blindingly idiotic. It's a little hat-wearing chihuahua "driving" a Volkswagen Buggy RC car alongside the Woodward Dream Cruise. This fella could be the mascot for the Cruise — an event where you see the best of the best, the worst of the worst and everything in between in car culture. By the way, the dog's name is Peanut and he's actually moving faster than the mess of traffic that's currently Woodward Avenue.

Follow the fun at our Woodward Dream Cruise tag for all of our coverage of the 2008 Woodward Dream Cruise, the largest one-day automotive event in the world!

1969 Ford Bronco, Dutifully Awaiting Woodward Deployment

Ben Wojdyla — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 10:15:00 EDT

Here's a very nice, very bone stock 1969 Ford Bronco we stumbled on at the corner of 13 mile and Woodward (the mile roads lie in escalating number the farther north you go from the Detroit River). We're diggin' the flawless orange paint and houndstooth brown interior. The Bronco has always, always been a fantastic all-around vintage crawler, but they're so often built up to fire breathing beasts, its always nice to seem them in original form.

Follow the fun at our Woodward Dream Cruise tag for all of our coverage of the 2008 Woodward Dream Cruise, the largest one-day automotive event in the world!

The Devils Joke Laughs At Helmet Laws At Woodward Dream Cruise

Ben Wojdyla — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 08:00:00 EDT

Unfortunately, the guy on this thing was in a hurry to get on his way, so we only got a little info, but the pictures here speak for themselves. This home-built thingamajig named "The Devil's Joke" was built as a tribute to Vietnam vets and apparently, total insanity. The power train here is a 2.8 liter Ford V6 sporting an Offenhauser intake and a four-barrel carb. Pay close attention to how it's steered, throttled and suspended. Brilliant.

Cruisers Converge, Pity Those Who Commute On Woodward

Ben Wojdyla — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:40:00 EDT

Traffic ahead of the Woodward Dream Cruise has come to a cruiser-clogged snarl already. Great for us, but woe unto those with business on the Ave, as they will be silently screaming in their air conditioned coffins. Here's a gallery of the escalating madness that is the Dream Cruise. And for Pete's sake, if you don't want to cruise, stay away from Woodward. Be sure to click through for the full gallery.

Jalopnik Does The 2008 Woodward Dream Cruise

Ray Wert — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:40:00 EDT

Just a reminder we'll be here all day tomorrow with live 2008 Woodward Dream Cruise coverage as Team Jalopnik does the biggest single-day classic car event in the world. We'll have our troops running up and down Woodward Avenue bringing you the best of the weird, strange and epic — so you'll want to be here too. Follow along at our Woodward Dream Cruise tag or if you're RSS-inclined, click here. Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Corvette ZR1 Police Car Will Kick The Corvette Z06 Police Car's Ass

Ben Wojdyla — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:00:00 EDT

We thought the Corvette Z06 cop car the Royal Oak PD is sporting for the Woodward Dream Cruise was impressive. But now they're rolling out the bigger guns with a Corvette ZR1 police car. The cop driving this 'Vette is exactly 26.3% more bad-ass than the Johnny Law in that weak-sauce Z06. Now you hooligans have to roll out some real hardware to even think about keeping up with the boys in blue, much less escaping in the blistering 3 MPH speeds seen at the Dream Cruise. And yes, we were getting the shakes: There were no fresh ZR1 stories for like, 37 seconds.

For All You 60's-Era Chrysler Fans, Imperial And New Yorker, Oh My!

Ben Wojdyla — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 14:00:00 EDT

These two 60's-era Chryslers were rolling ahead of the Woodward Dream Cruise and parked around the corner from each other at Duggan's Irish Pub, the place where we saw the same company unveil the Chysler PT Dream Cruiser Series 5. The contrast in awesomeness could not be more poignant. The wagony goodness of the New Yorker and the impossibly complex curvature of the Imperial were causing heart palpitations amongst the assembled. There's even a flaming eyeball on the New Yorker. How cool is that? More pics below.

Jalopnik Discovers Jake's Unofficial Successor At ZR1 Ice Cream Break, Meet Elwood

Ben Wojdyla — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:40:00 EDT

We were cruising Woodward a couple minutes ago, scoping things out for spontaneous conflagrations of coolness, and we got way more than we bargained for. Parked outside the Dairy Deluxe, an ice cream parlor staple along the Ave, was a pair of Corvette ZR1s. So of course, like moths to a flame we descended for picture taking. Only thing is, the ZR1's kept coming, in all, five of the super-Vettes had been driven in by various members of the GM engineering squad, and that wasn't all we saw, we discovered the unofficial mascot of the ZR1 — he's blue, he has horns, and his name is Elwood. Get it? Jake and Elwood, like the Blues Brothers. Jump for more.

The "Jake" logo originally born of the Corvette C5R racing program has been officially nixed from all ZR1 activities. That doesn't mean the GM Design Studio couldn't work up a new, unofficial logo to act as the mascot for the ZR1. The little blue devil skull borrows elements of the Jake logo, but also hearkens back to the originally rumored name of the car, the Blue Devil, an homage to Rick Wagoner's Duke Alma Mater. Anyone else think these should come standard on the car? Because we think this whole idea is both totally awesome and damn funny.

Remember to come back Wednesday the 20th of August for our first impressions of GM's Corvette ZR1, where Wes tests the limits of his sanity, and his pampers.

2008 Woodward Dream Cruise Schedule Broken Down In Excruciating Detail

Ben Wojdyla — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:20:00 EDT

Chalk it up to personal style, but some folks prefer to wander aimlessly through the sea of cars during the big Saturday Woodward Dream Cruise event, while other like to have a plan of attack for the whole day. If you fall into the latter category, the Detroit News has breakdown of every event, by town and price, put together for your planning pleasure. We tend to be more of the former though, so we don't need no stinkin' plans. [Detroit News]