Car CruiseN

Mr. Viper Club

2010-10-06T17:22:00.000-07:00

Now here's one of my favorite people, Jess Hackney.
Jess is the pres. of the local Viper club, Motor City Viper Owners (a chapter of the Viper Club of America).
All clubs thrive on active members. A key to active members includes people willing to put in the time and effort and put up with the day-to-day trials of group activities. Jess does a great job of doing that without taking himself too seriously. The result is a club and a bunch of people that have a great time with each other and, of course, with their cars. Here's a video to let Jess put it all in perspective.
Enjoy,
Bob

More Cruisen' Friends

2010-10-05T18:57:00.000-07:00

I've rattled on about some of the good cruises this last summer and among those the "Back to the Bricks" week's worth of activities in Flint, Burton, & Grand Blanc. Now I'll add that the folks we meet were friendly and very nice. And I know where the "bricks" reference comes from now.
Enjoy your crusin'
Bob

Car Clubbing

2010-09-11T18:09:00.000-07:00

Clubs, I gotta talk about clubs. Car clubs, of course.

I think they are great things, actually. People willing to get together with similar interests helps build "community" for sure. It's nice when you can blend similar automotive interests among a group.
I'm active to widely varying degrees in about 4 car clubs. My favorite is the Motor City Viper Owners club. Why? Lots of reasons. Of course, we all love our cars. It's a great bunch of folks from literally all walks of life. We're spoiled because here in what I say is still THE Motor City there's lots of Team Viper members and retirees in the club and willing to be available to the club as a resource; love it! They/we have good events; some are strictly social (good for winter activities) but most involve driving as in driving cruises, drive to a restaurant and eat cruises, fall color tours, maybe a drag strip visit occasionally, tech days for good info, and autocross and some road race course time during the summer, and always, good contacts for help with anything about the cars. Depending on the nature of your favorite car, your club of choice will do similar things; maybe throw in a swap meet or a dyno day or a tune or polish day.

Don't get me wrong, if clubs just isn't your thing, so what? Stay the "Lone Wolf" to enjoy your ride. Just don't "dis" the other guy doing his/her thing. And, sure, some clubs seem snooty or maybe it seems they stack the deck at trophy time so their buddies claim all the shiny brass. Please don't paint all clubs and club members with that brush; just drive on and let them slide around in their own oil drippings if that's the way it seems to you.

I'll work in a "club" related video or 2 soon but in the meantime, have fun with your club or consider checking one out some day. Yeh, that applies even if it's a Studebaker; the Stud-y folks have a right to think their car is cool too.

Happy Trails,
bob

A Great Benefit Cruise

2010-09-09T04:12:00.000-07:00

Here's a good Cruise coming up for you all to consider.

My cruisen' buddies, Jerry and Rose, will host a benefit Cruise on Sept. 22 from 5 to 8 PM. It'll be at the Airway Lanes bowling alley in Waterford (4825 Highland Road).

All the proceeds will go to benefit Ryan Miller and his family. Ryan is 6-years old and is being treated for inoperable cancer.

Jerry and Rose plan to include a bake sale (I love those!), 3 gift baskets will be available, and the usual fundraiser activities. Again, all proceeds go to the "Ryan Miller Fund" (sounds like a good phrase to put on a check for a free will contribution too).

It's a great venue and the regular sponsors have agreed to keep the music going and making it a great cruise besides the good cause they also support.

As a sidelight, Dad's Deli located in the bowling alley is a fantastic place to have an outstanding deli, pizza, or grill dinner - with all the trimmings!

I'm in. How about you?
Bob

The Best of WDC ?

2010-09-06T06:46:00.000-07:00

Yeh, I'm still basking in the memories or WDC past. Save for a little dampness in the AM it was a great year for the WDC and me. And I gotta admit, "Back to the Bricks" in Flint was the overall real highlight.

You bet, poor old, down on it's heels, unemployment capital of the unemployment center of the universe was the best. In all honesty I couldn't find anything wrong with "Back to the Bricks" except maybe for the name "Flint" being associated with it. To all the organizers and workers in Flint that made it happen, I salute you and encourage you to keep up the good work.

Here's what I liked about it.

Short version = everything.

The details:

Rolling Cruises - great concept. You could cruise the from the south end of Burton through Grand Blanc to the city center of Flint and back; lots of folks on lawn chairs viewing and partying. There were a couple traffic choke points but you creep through for a couple traffic lights or so and you're back to rolling. And there were sponsored stops along the way. We stopped at the Grand Mall and were treated to 4 lanes of nice diagonal parking for "show" cars only, a pass-through lane for cruisers and spectators, a good DJ, a goodie bag with a couple nice coupons for local businesses (along with the usual ads), and the expected friendly people. It was busy but not jam-packed crowded. Heavenly.

Easy parking on Friday night. We drove up there in a regular car and parked about one block from the center of the action. By then (6:15) everything was in full swing but no hawkers "selling" parking space; we parked on the street for free.
Friday evening was a good show. 8 blocks of Saginaw street had been closed and were packed with show cars exclusively; diagonally along the curb and one or two wide parallel along the center stripe. Plus, every side street was closed off and filled with diagonally parked show cars. Lot's a cars to see, so little time. (And the few cruisers that wanted to leave were able to creep through the crowd and go on their way! Nobody got trapped in the show.)

The Music (live with big screen tv) was all at one end of the street. You could get up close and get your ears blasted with a mass of humanity or step back 1/2 block and take it all with the cars and the music.

Food was good, a varied selection, reasonable, and in one spot where you could sit down (maybe even have a table), rest your feet and enjoy it. All the souvenir vendors were in one spot too, handy, organized.

Even the "port-a-potties" were top notch. Clean, available, and (honest) didn't stink!

Bottom line: Flint LIKES cruisers and treats them like real welcome guests. Take THAT Royal Oakies!

Sure, we went to Woodward on Sat. And we'll probably go down Woodward next year, But here's my plan, cruise WDC fairly early, break out of that traffic mess heading north, view Pontiac (always exciting), then continue the cruise on up the Dixie into or near Flint. Then maybe take in "Back to the Bricks" for a while. Now that sounds like a "Cruise" to dream about for the next 11.5 months. Maybe we can start a tradition of cruising Woodward from xx-mile, up the historic Dixie Hwy, and into Flint (or the reverse); now that's a "dream" for Cruisen'.
Happy Trails,
bob

PS Please DON'T do what I do. STAY AWAY from "Back to the Bricks". Just maybe if there's too many people & cars descending on Flint in future years it will become just as congested, trashy, commercialized, over-rated, and controversial as the official "Woodward Dream Cruise".

Mr. Chassis

2010-08-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

Now here's some good news from the WDC:

"Fast Tuesday" was another great event for my Dream Cruise week. And one of the guys responsible for both a great little event as well as a significant contributor to the world of speed as represented by the Dodge Viper is Dave Buchesky. Dave was kind enough to give me/us a little interview at the Fast Tuesday party and here it is.
Keep 'em Tight on The Bottom,
bob

Let's Make Nice

2010-08-26T18:09:00.000-07:00

Here's the deal: I'll have lots to compliment and praise the Woodward Dream Cruise and all the associated celebrations in upcoming blogs; this one is a gripe. And I think it is a serious gripe so hear me out on this.

I got some negative reports from what I consider an important group of people in the heart of "Dream Cruise Country". And it was in Royal Oak of all places. What happened is that among the many people who parked on local streets so they could walk in, several individuals had rude, sarcastic, and otherwise unwelcome and unprovoked insults for the local homeowners. This is bad form in any circumstance but at the WDC it's bad for lots of reasons.

First reason is that unlike all the jokers in minivans, SUV's, late model sedans, and other non-cruiser cars that choose to clog the streets just to look at the cars, my "good guys" instead choose to park a block or two or more away and walk in to spectate. I love those guys. More people get to see the rolling show and fewer cars choke traffic. But the few that talk trash at the homeowners and their guests stinks. And somehow I can see the cranks that seem to control city hall in RO may just decide to slap some temporary "no parking" restrictions on the side streets; their cops are already well practiced at passing out statutory bad attitude none of us need to give them a reason.

Secondly, the WDC has an absolutely shining reputation for good behavior of all the participants. And why not; we get a total orgy of great cars, something like 13 communities get taken over for most of a week or two, shopkeepers close up with an apology to their regular customers but still have the courtesy to post WDC posters in their windows. Who could ask for more. But I betcha that lots of those shop owners and store employees live close by. And some blow-hard has to hurl insults for no reason other than sheer stupidity. Bummer.

Thirdly, didn't their mom learn them any manners? I know they likely aren't cruisers but the folks sitting in their own front lawn see them as Dream Cruise participants. In the spectator sense they are participants, but now they've painted ALL participants as with the color "jerk".

So now I've got my rant off my chest.

To all you cruisers and in this case especially the "walk-in" spectators, I love ya.

Enjoy the cruise and make nice with the local population, please.
Happy Trails to You,
bob

The Viper's Grailkeeper

2010-08-25T06:38:00.000-07:00

Okay. I've taken my Sunday nap to recoup from all the Woodward Dream Cruise activities. Some say "If it's too loud, you're too old!" Well, I'm not too old for the noise and as long as it only takes an afternoon nap to recharge my batteries I'm STILL not too old.

But this isn't about me, it's about the WDC and the other thing I like about it - the people. So with any luck here is my first video clip for this blog. My featured guest, Herb Helbig, was and in retirement still is, a key player in making the Dodge Viper (of which I am a huge fan) what it is. From a small amount of contact with Herb years ago at Chrysler I can vouch for his being a real down-to-earth guy. Even then as a hard working engineer Herb was a great contributer to best of Chrysler's vehicles, his work on the Viper has got to be his crowning achievement. And to this day, he's the same car lover and good guy. A group of Chrysler "gearheads" meet at Duggan's for "Fast Tuesday" each year which is where we did this video. I hope it works for you.
Bob

It's Heatin' Up

2010-08-15T13:59:00.000-07:00

Hey, I’m just waking up from that “eye of the hurricane” feeling before the Woodward Dream Cruise. It’s the period that’s probably filled with rushed projects, urgent trips to the auto parts store, internet or catalog shopping for a few special parts, and general car preparation for the looks and rigors of the WDC. Now-a-days, I make sure I’ve worked in some lengthy naps too, yard work can wait; preparations of all kinds are the priority.

Now I’ll confess that I don’t actually DO that much for the WDC. It’s like I told my dear wife – I don’t have big plans this year. Besides a casual lunch at Duggan’s Tuesday, a Rolling Cruise Wednesday, an evening party at the Coffee Beanery Thursday, on “The Bricks” Friday, and a free (hee hee) parking space at a friends place two houses off Woodward for Saturday – I’m not really doing anything.

Well, my nap’s over for today. I had a nice, healthy dinner. Now it’s time to dust the car and polish the wheels. All the big stuff has got to be done and we’re in that “eye of the hurricane” before it all heats up for another year. Let’s hope the weather is kind to us again.

Happy Cruisen’
Bob

You Helped the Cause

2010-07-30T05:35:00.000-07:00

Thank you Cruisers!
The Cruise for a Cause was a huge success yesterday afternoon (7/29) with the Fellowship Cruisers at Central United Methodist Church in the heart of Waterford.

Whether you were on the crew, brought your fancy car, came to look & visit, or just thought good things for us you made it a great day.

Cruisers brought 150 show & special interest cars for us all to enjoy; Sue & Bill (TCD Entertainment) spun the discs and emceed for us; Robbie's Trophies made up 18 terrific trophies that went to a fantastic array of cars; Sheila ran a superb kitchen; and a bunch of local businesses provided gift cards and goodies for door prizes.

Best of all, the MS Society gets a donation of $5,000! ! !
That is a wonderful help in the fight to cure a really nasty disease that keeps people from moving and living the life they were meant to live.

Now that is something to be proud of and it proves that the people of Waterford and this area in general, led by the Cruisers, have their heart in the right place.

So Thanks Again!
Bob

Walter P. Chrysler Museum Legacy Gala

2010-07-25T18:25:00.000-07:00

Here's your private, on the scene report from the Walter P. Chrysler Museum "Legacy Gala" celebration last night (Sat., 7/24/10). I hope you saw the nice article here in the Oakland Press. They did a nice job describing the museum and the fine comments both Richard Petty and Jay Leno had for the museum, Chrysler, the American auto industry, and Detroit. And I've got the REAL stories here for you.

First, though you could say Leno and Petty were the media darlings but there were two other honorees: Lee Iacocca and Virgil Exner Jr.; two guys who actually BUILT cars in their own way.

The talented stylist and designer, creator of the "Forward Look" (think "tail fins", long, & low) Virgil Exner, Sr. sadly passed away in the 1970's so his son accepted his award. And he did so most graciously. Mr. Exner gave us a glimpse of his dad as a gifted stylist, mechanical engineer, builder and tinker with cars, and an amateur racer. Also, he noted the high regard his dad had for the fellow stylists, engineers, and technicians he had worked with through the years at Studebaker, GM, and Chrysler.

Now all four honorees got great applause and welcomes from the crowd of some 500 auto enthusiasts, industry insiders, and dignitaries but without doubt the loudest and longest standing ovation was for Lee Iacocca. Mr. Iacocca is starting to get up there in calendar years but his mind and spirit is the same sharply pointed flash of light that it always was. Still the straight talk; right to the point; crisp and clear; and totally positive. And with his infinite credibility from saving Chrysler once and on to great prosperity he predicted that this "rough spot" would be survived and Chrysler would come roaring back. Thank you Lee Iacocca! From a guy who used to work for you and everybody else that has benefited from your leadership.

And Jay Leno provided a welcome and totally unexpected benefit for the museum. As you can guess the whole event was designed to coax lots of dollars of support from what was generally a fairly well off audience. One part of the program was to auction off two special items; one item was "a day with Richard Petty" (that you can accurately call that "sweeeeeet"!) and the other was a personal tour of Leno's "Big Dog Garage". Apparently Mr. Leno heard the bidding from his location off stage and didn't like what he heard. In typical Leno bluster he trotted up on stage, took the mic from the auctioneer and expressed his desire to really, really raise some big bucks for the W. P. Chrysler Museum! He asked for a show of hands from the audience (500 well-heeled folks) of who would 'give the museum a contribution of $500 for a personal tour of his "Garage"? Of course, this is Jay Leno the comedian, right? So me and about 1/2 the audience raised their hands wondering if this was a joke. Jay must have been impressed. So he continued to explain that this was a one-time offer to us folks who had already purchased a fairly pricey ticket and the donation would be needed that night only!
At this point, you could see most all the audience kind of squirming in their seats because it was apparently time to "put up or shut up". Another show of hands and Jay says 'okay, that looks like at least 30 people (actually it was about 60 or 70) and that would bring in at least $30,000. Bidding is over, the deal is on, sign up at the front desk! ! !' And that's how it was; a bit impulsive but a creative and generous act by Jay Leno. I say those free shows he did at the Palace were NO publicity stunt, this guy is FOR REAL.

Everything about the Gala made it a great show.
And the Walter P. Chrysler Museum is a great place. If you haven't been there, GET MOVIN'
bob

Are We Ready ?

2010-07-23T17:43:00.000-07:00

Less than one week to go. That is until the annual MS benefit cruise my buddies and I run next Thursday.

By now we've got to have all the trophies lined-up, prizes in hand, and a crew for the event. Food (by out buddy, Sheila), our great DJ (TCD Entertainment), "Elvis the Clown" and the "Blues Brothers" (?) for entertainment, flyers passed out, ads in the paper and CruisNews, and making sure the parking lot is in shape for all the cruisers we hope will come - - all those things are already in place.

Maybe I shouldn't write this. It makes it seem like a lot of work. It is but it's a great group of folks that I work with. Everybody has their own strong skill that they bring so that all the important things get done. And besides that, every year somebody gets an idea or two that might just make the cruise better.

This year both Sheila and Jim had some of the good ideas. After having a bit of a rough start doing her first cruise last year, Sheila is determined to guarantee that this year it will be best ever; on top of that, she'll expand the menu from the typical hot dogs and snacks to include pulled pork sandwiches (I love BBQ) and chicken wraps. How good is that! And Jim is working a revised plan on awarding trophies. He has taken on a big challenge; we'll have at least 14 trophies to award. A big part of the whole deal is making sure each winner gets a little "spotlight time"; some of you might be accustomed to receiving trophies but some of us aren't so it's a big thrill to win a trophy. And each winner needs a little time to soak in some applause and recognition in front of fellow car lovers. Now add in some nice photos for each winner and it could take a lot of time just waiting for that to get all organized. But Jim has a plan and from the little bit that I've heard we should have a good shot at getting winner recognized and still keep the program of entertainment and prizes rolling right along.

Come check it out:
July 29th (Thursday) from 4 to 8
At Central United Methodist Church
3882 Highland Road (M-59)
Waterford 48328
(between Cass Lake Road and Pontiac Lake Road)
Even though it's a benefit the cruise is a FREE WILL offering.
We think we have a good program and some really nice door prizes so please consider being very WILLING to support the MS Society to cure this disease that steals the ability to move. The MS Society gets ALL the proceeds.
CU
bob

Second Thoughts About Strangers

2010-07-19T08:47:00.000-07:00

After considering “our” upcoming “Cruise for a Cause” in every way I thought conceivable I had this “ah-ha” moment of a different perspective. I had been telling a friend about a conversation I’d had with the owner of a nice truck at a recent cruise in Holley when it came to me.
How often do you have a conversation with a perfect stranger in the normal course of a day? I asked a couple of my favorite counselors (Marcia and Pam) that question; the best we could come up with in a couple minutes was:

“in an emergency” (not a normal day, I hope),
“in an elevator” (not usual and never a real conversation),
“at a bar” (these happen but there’s a lot of unsavory possibilities to those “chance” meetings), and
“on or waiting for a bus/train/plane” (yeh, but it’s a scary thought and many of us avoid those conversations).

So we were left with the conclusion that at a Car Cruise is one of the few places you can strike up a conversation with that perfect stranger! Once I had this planted in my brain I realized that my favorite cruises are the ones where I think I’ll see my friends AND/or get to talk with some interesting strangers, without hesitation. No fear.
What could be better than that? It’s even kinda biblical when you think about Jesus’ teachings. And the folks you bump into at cruises come from all walks of life. Over the years I’ve come to know some of those people a bit better and their careers range from janitors to plumbers to executives to lawyers to doctors, really.
So jump into this delightful mix of personalities at the “Cruise for a Cause” in our church parking* lot on Thursday, July 29 (rain date: Aug 4) from 4 to 8 PM (info @ 248-681-0040). Plus you’ll get:
Seeing nice cars,
“Elvis the Clown”
A great DJ (thanks Sue & Bill at TCD Entertainment)
Happy people like you,
Good Food (yum, thanks Sheila)
Door Prizes (thank you many local businesses),
A pleasant evening, and
You can support the MS Society too.
And it's all Free Will !
Happy Trails,
Bob

*Central United Methodist Church
3882 Highland Road (between Meijer’s and Kmart)
Waterford, MI

National Collector Car Day

2010-07-09T05:40:00.000-07:00

I might be the last person in the world to learn this but today is "National Collector Car Day". I learned about it from my favorite hobbyist magazine, "Auto Restorer". They reported that two senators got together to pass this resolution for 2010. It was backed, of course, by the SEMA and ARMO trade organizations. If I had my way this holiday would be the third Saturday in August; now that would be SWEET.

Anyhow, it does seem like a good idea. Here's a link I cut & pasted in for more details from SEMA:
http://www.sema.org/sema-enews/2010/21/collector-car-appreciation-day-grows

So it's a great day to cruise and support this national holiday at the same time.
I know Multi-Lakes Conservation Association is having its weekly cruise and also, the annual cruise at 300 Bowl in Waterford is today.

Let's get out there and show off!
Happy Trails,
bob

Cruise for a Cause

2010-07-02T05:28:00.000-07:00

Here's a bit of self promotion. A club I belong to (we call ourselves the "Fellowship Cruisers") puts on a car cruise/show every year for the last 7 years now. We do it as a benefit for the Multiple Sclerosis Society here in Michigan. All the comments we've got back over the years has been favorable. Any suggestions we've had to improve our event have been pretty much all included. And at least, we all have fun. So if you or your club wants to show off, meet some new car lovers, or just do a good deed, come on out and join us. Here's the details:

Waterford's nicest cruise/car show.
Trophies, door prizes, great food selection.
ELVIS THE CLOWN :o)
Best Crusin’ DJ – TCD Entertainment with Sue and Bill Myers!
Smooth asphalt for your ride and grassy berm for your lawn chair.
Free will offering with ALL proceeds going to the MI Chapter of the MS Society.
4 to 8 PM
July 29, 2010 (Aug 4 if 50% or greater forecast of rain)
at Central United Methodist Church
3882 Highland Road
Waterford 48328
Between Cass Lake Road (by KMart)
and Pontiac Lake Road (by Meijers)
Great Cars
Great Place
Great Cause
Great Crusin'
Got a question? Post it as a comment here.

PS even though the pastor doesn't like us to say it, there's "no preachin', just crusin' " on cruise day.

I Love Food

2010-07-01T12:03:00.000-07:00

I’m going to try to be positive and proactive and all that in this post. So I’ll zero in on something that can make or wreck a cruise for me. Food. And I love food.

All you restaurateurs out there, I have these layman’s questions & suggestions:
Please make the food conveniently available to the cruisers. Coupons and such are nice but I go to cruises mostly to see cars and their people. If I have to go in to your nice building I’m not seeing them any more and I won’t know which cars belong to which people; I won’t be able to swap ideas or swap stories with them.
Could you have the wait-staff circulate around the cruisers to take orders? Maybe even bring the food out to the cars? That would be reminiscent of “curb service”, an American automotive innovation of yesteryear.
Can you do something to make sure the cruisers don’t have to wait an excessive length of time to get their food? Please staff up for the expected crowd you are anxious to attract with the cruise. Don’t short the kitchen staff either. We can see that the folks bringing the food look dog tired by 7:30 when you are short handed. Also, we can tell if the kitchen is slow and the dining area workers are trying to hide from us because they don’t have our food order.
How about a limited menu? On cruise nights by-pass the lamb chops and other fancy labor-intensive dishes. Could you bill it as “High Speed Specials” or “Power Pack Picks” to carry through on the fast service and car culture concepts?
Maybe you could have a serving station complete with register accessible from outside by the cars? Offer a basic menu there; have beverages and sandwiches/burgers/dogs/salads that are related to your central dining theme. Cruisers could order, pick-up, and pay there.
Entertainment/DJ? Keep it by the cars. You want us to bring our cars then you bring us the entertainment; that sounds like a fair deal to me.
Got a deck? Then that should be the central location for entertainment and food.

Museum Friends

2010-06-27T18:28:00.000-07:00

Whoa, it’s been a while since I posted anything. Sorry. With cruises most every night of the week the time seems to slide right on by. It makes for lousy performance but I still remember winter lasting a long time so I’m determined to have some summer fun.

It was good to hear a little detail about a cruise a bit beyond my usual neighborhood. It’s at Culver’s in the Lake Orion area on Tuesday evenings. It sounds like it might be worth checking out. There’s a comment posted here with some more details.

This post is an exception because I’ll usually not mention individual cruises. That’s mostly because I see a car cruise as a fairly local activity. The best cruise ever might be in Adrian but I don’t see me or anybody on this side of town making it a habit of driving that far. Let’s all favor our local talent and send the rest of the world our good wishes.

I totally enjoyed going to the cruise night at the Walter P. Chrysler Museum last Wednesday. Understand that I am one of their volunteers so I’m bound to be biased. But that doesn’t wipe out the fact that I enjoyed the variety of the cars (restored classics, muscle, customs, Hot Rods, everything was there). And of course I see a lot of people I know. And, of course, it’s a nice venue. Really, what else is there?

I saw the head honcho of the Museum there, Lori Pinter. She’s a very nice person. She was taking a walk among the cars and was nice enough to stop to say “hi”. Maybe it was just my imagination but I saw her then as stepping out of the “upper management bubble” she must inhabit all day long at work to just “hang out” with the crowd. She talked about the cars she liked and all that kind of stuff but she seemed totally sincere when she summed up her impression of the cruise (or any good cruise). It’s a social event. It’s about seeing your friends and making new friends and acquaintances.

So at your next cruise, enjoy your friends and make a couple new ones. And don’t forget, those new folks don’t know you very well so you can shave a healthy fraction off your car’s best ET or pump up your coolest award or gas mileage or whatever helps you brag a bit.

Happy Trails,
bob

It's What I Like, or not

2010-06-19T08:38:00.000-07:00

Okay. Last time I made some good, positive comments about cruises. This time I’ll get down to basics and just rattle off some of my likes and dislikes about cruises.

Don’t like rain.
Do like lots of cars.
Do like lots of variety of cars.
Don’t like scams.
Don’t like dust.
Do like a little consideration for the cruisers.
Nobody can do much about rain other than stay in the garage; if you want to bring out your ride, God bless you, otherwise, might as well rest up a bit.
If the chemistry is right, there will be lots of cars that show up, that’s great. I tend to burn out when a show caters to just one type of automobile or truck. Actually, a mix of hot cars with a bit of vintage, both original and modified, makes for good viewing and a good mix of opinions and attitudes among the cruisers. Now that’s fun.
I don’t like it when I think somebody is trying to use a cruise just to bring in a crowd for their business. Lots of businesses run cruises and that’s fine. If they have the room in their lot and want to make the space and some modest things available for the cruisers, great. I think it was a TGIFriday’s on Woodward at Square Lake Road that had a nice cruise. It was a good place to go for a meal or snack and they had a few goodies, like coupons for food, as door prizes and “not too loud” music outside; nothing special or extravagant but a nice touch. Too bad some neighbors didn’t seem to like the gathering of cars so that was the end of their cruise.
Dust stinks. Hey guys, if you have an un paved area for cars at least encourage something green to grow on the off days. If you have a gravel or dirt venue, please do a quick hose down an hour before the cruise to knock the dust down. If you want shiny cars to grace your event then do that little bit to aid the cause.
On the other hand, I really don’t like to a “cruise” and it turns out that everything is inside; especially inside a bar. Roll your eyes and call me a bad name if you like but it just doesn’t make sense to me that I should drive my prize car and then get encouraged to have “a few” beers/drinks. Anyway, if the music, door prizes (if any), entertainment, other car drivers, etc are all inside - - how can I talk to the owners of the cars that interest me? It just don’t make sense, nohow.
A good thing I spotted just recently. While lots of cruises have 50/50 raffles to raise money for the sponsoring club/group/etc one has a good way to give the money all away! That night’s winner gets the usual 50% pot and the club that puts on the cruise uses their portion they keep to buy door prizes (gift cards at that!) for the next week. That’s uncommon generosity.
That’s enough for now. Have you got any likes and dislikes about cruises? Then add a comment.
Happy Trails,
CrusenBob

Best Cruise Features

2010-06-13T18:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, so let's do some CRUISIN'.
I'm not going to use this space to tell you all the details about the wonderful time I had at this or that cruise. Of course I did; if I didn't think it would be fun, I just wouldn't have gone. And lots of Cruises aren't designed to encourage or even allow adrenalin pumping excitement. Nothing wrong with that; everything has its time and place and we'll get there.

So let me try this, here's a couple things I found that really stand out as unique or was a great feature at some cruises or events I've enjoyed recently.
At Multi-Lakes' Conservation Club Friday night cruise I enjoy four treats. Lots of great cars; as many as the high 200's. Second, it's in a big grassy field so you can either be close to the music or in the quieter back row. Thirdly, it's an ideal place for friends to gather since there's room to get several cars and lawn chairs together. Last, plenty of good food; from the grill outside to a sit-down, all you can eat dinner inside.
Then there's the Walter P. Chrysler Museum cruises on Wednesday's. Nice neat paved parking lot. Again, lots of cars; usually about 200; and there is super diversity with muscle, vintage, street rods, pro streets, all out race cars, and everything in between. It's "rain or shine" so the hard core cruisers will have a spot to hang out. A great DJ that knows the car cruising crowd and what they like. And you can get into the Museum at a reduced rate. A good show.
O'Toole's on Monday offers a live broadcast of "The Doc of Doo Wop". Dr. Roman Franklin and Benny Spears spin the oldies and stories about our "rock and roll" adventures in life for the cruisers and for WPON radio from 6 to 8. And there's great O'Toole's food to enjoy on the deck or inside.

So there's a couple highlights of just a few I've happened to get to.
If you have some favorites or things you would like to find at cruises why not add them in the comments so we all know where the good spots are.

More later.
Happy Trails,
bob

Pleasant Ridge Bails on Woodward Dream Cruise

2010-04-29T16:36:00.000-07:00

So Pleasant Ridge has decided to not hold Woodward Dream Cruise events this year. I’d like to know how you feel about that.

As to my thoughts about their choice the first and foremost would be:

It's good if, like me, you like the WDC to be a "pure" old fashion cruise without the hype and every town, vendor, salesman, huckster, and promoter trying to cash in on a "people's event". WDC should be BY the people in their cars, OF the people in their cars, and FOR the people in their cars. Spectators who wish to sit along the route are certainly welcome; otherwise, screw the commercialism!

One negative is that it indicates a reduction in the community involvement to the WDC - that's bad. The WDC has been and should be a totally open activity, the more participation in THE CRUISE the better.

Another drawback will be the potential hiccup in the "cruise" route through Pleasant Ridge; whether that's good or bad is yet to be seen and even then will depend on your preferences as to what the local governments should do.

It's bad if we'll now be faced with uncontrolled vendors, displays, impromptu bleachers, gridlocked traffic (if it could be worse), uncontrolled burnout competitions, people - in cars and on foot - taking unreasonable and/or dangerous chances thinking there is no police presence.

Since I might not like the input of the communities as it has been in past years, their opt-out would be good.

This might appeal to some displeased cruisers if it leads to a way to convince Royal Oak and their infamous police enforcement to not participate in their typical, restrictive manner :)

But who cares about what PR does anyway?

And, what has PR ever really done for the WDC?

So till my hopes are trashed by some disastrous outcome I’m seeing this as more good for the cruisers than bad.

Again, what do you think as a cruiser or spectator or local resident?

Happy Trails,

Bob

Intro Bio for Bob

2010-04-26T10:59:00.000-07:00

Hi I’m Bob Swartz. What I bring to you in this blog-spot is that I love cars. And trucks/tractors/boats/vehicles/machines of all descriptions; but mostly cars.

I’ve wanted to “built cars” one way or another throughout H S, college, and done it most all my working life at GM and mostly Chrysler. My wife, Marcia, and I live in
Waterford. We’re proud of our two grown boys. They are making good lives and all their “wheels” favorably reflect their upbringing. And we have two of the world’s best & cutest grand kids. I still like to work on cars, play with cars, enjoy other people’s cars, and “cruise”. Long trips, short trips or bring out the lawn chair at the local cruise & park are fine.

In this blog, I hope to share with you some observations, memories, and comments about cruising, our automobility, and the lure of the open road.

Happy Trails,

Bob