2008 GM Century Cruise/ Woodward Dream Cruise

I was there

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GM Century Cruise vehicles prepare for parade up Woodward to 2008 Woodward Dream Cruise

Submitted by Mike Brazeau

GM Century Cruise parade on Woodward

Well, the 14th annual Woodward Dream Cruise is history. So is the GM Century Cruise. A good time was had by all. I started out my cruise day by getting up at 4:30am and giving my car the final pre-dawn rub down before departing from my house at about 5:45am with friends and co-workers. We were to meet at the General Motors World Headquarters at the Renaissance Center on Jefferson Avenue near the foot of Woodward, to participate in the GM Century Cruise. My 1949 Chevrolet Fleetline Deluxe 2-door Sedan was car number 11 in the parade. The Sunday edition of the Detroit Free Press captured the event, my car being the second vehicle in the photo shown on the left.

We departed from the Ren Cen right around 7:30am and traveled down Woodward through Detroit, Highland Park, Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, Huntington Woods, Berkley, Royal Oak and finally to Birmingham. Along the way, we past several historic automotive plants and office buildings where many car companies got their start, including the majestic retired General Motors Building on West Grand Boulevard. We cruised at 15-25 mph with a full police escort until we arrived at our destination just before 15 Mile Road. We had a perfect parking spot on the lawn near the Chevrolet Triangle where Woodward and Old Woodward meet. Even though everyone was tired and not used to getting up that early, there was too much excitement in the air to think about it. The weather was perfect and the day flew by, watching and photographing all of our favorite Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, Cadillac and GMC models. There were even Saabs, Opels and HUMMERs to enjoy. We walked down to the GM Heritage Center display at the Athens Coney Island a couple of times, relaxing in the shade with a coney dog and refreshing beverage and then walked back to our parking spot, enjoying all the cars and displays along the way.

With the sun starting to set, we departed about 7:45pm, returning home after a 14-hour day, and still we were too excited to rest, thinking about the fact that we had just witnessed and participated in the largest single day automotive event in the world.



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