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2008 GM Century Cruise participating vehicles staged in GM Renaissance Center parking lot before the parade begins

Like any good birthday party...a really good birthday...the thing you remember most is the simple fun everyone had celebrating. The smiles, laughs, meeting folks and the general shared excitement about gathering to be part of something pretty special.

By now, the events leading up and during GM's 100th Century Cruise are well documented. 106 GM cars and trucks each representing significant vehicle milestones collectively crawling up a historic section of a road in Detroit under perfect blue skies to part of a much bigger annual celebration of the overall ownership experience that has been such a big part of America...and now the world...for the past 100 years.

Of all the events that day...from everyone arriving at 6:00am on Saturday for pre-staging, the drive itself up Woodward and the remaining events...the most memorable was during the first 5 mile stretch of the drive on Woodward Avenue from about the Fox Theatre / Comerica Park area up to the State Fair grounds.

Escorted by Detroit Police, we slowly drove through the cool morning shadows of the downtown Detroit office buildings. Folks on the sidewalks beginning their weekend in the city with their coffee and newspapers...some on their cell phones...began to figure out that the first couple of "old cars" they saw while waiting for the intersection traffic light to change were part of something much more than a chance vehicular sighting on a sunny Saturday morning.

With the city skyline behind us, we passed residential areas, store fronts and local businesses. Word must have spread fast about this collection of cars as folks came to the curb and waved. Employees and customers alike stood in-front of their shops and smiled...some calling out the names of the cars as they went by "Hey, man look at that Chevy!...look, a Riviera!". We saw a couple folks hanging out their apartment windows cheering us as went by. Mothers and Fathers holding their children’s hands seemed pleasantly overwhelmed by what they saw...with Dad's bending over and pointing to a car while they explained what it was to their daughter's. Old men dressed in their Sunday best, some with canes, stood silently but with smile as we drove by...you could almost see them remembering back when they saw many of these cars when they were brand new at the GM Building on West Grand Boulevard in Detroit

Woodward Dream Cruise poster

All those folks we passed during the first part of the Century Cruise may not have known exactly what happening that sunny Saturday morning in August, but they knew that whatever it was, it was happening in their neighborhood. And for as far away as they were from what was the supposed official cruise location 10 miles north, they did everything they could to make us feel as genuinely welcomed as any host for such a special birthday celebration ever could.

For us that simple exchange of big waves and broad smiles made this very likely the best birthday party anyone has experienced in the past 100 years.

Mark & Janice Uhlig
1963 Riviera #39

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