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Woodward Dream Cruise Event 2007

The largest car show in the world, and its in the Motor City! The Dream Cruise celebrates the heydays of the 50's and 60's when Woodward Avenue was the heart and soul of American cruising in the city that put America on wheels.

Although the cruise officially ran on Saturday, August 18th, participants attended a FULL day of spectacular activities on Friday as well. Major sponsors included DMC Houston, DMC Florida, DMC Midwest, Lawrence's DeLorean Repair and DMOCO. Everyone had a great time at our Friday events, and all the beautiful DeLoreans represented the marque well on Saturday at the Dream Cruise. In addition, we met with several new DeLorean owners in the area that were not aware of our activities, and in some cases the parts and services that our sponsors provide. This alone made the event worthwhile because at the end of the day its all about the people, our friendships and our enthusiasm for the DeLorean.

Here is the breakdown:

Friday, August 17th, 2007

The day began at the GM Heritage Center, the company's private collection of cars, artifacts and memorabilia. We saw the amazing history from John De Lorean's GM roots including several GTOs and the incredible AeroVette! This museum is not open to the public but DeLorean Motor City secured private access for our sponsors and those that RSVP'd for the Dream Cruise.

After the GM Heritage Center, participants attended the John Z. De Lorean Heritage Tour, a driving tour of the Detroit-area locales that played a critical part in the history of John De Lorean, his company and DeLorean cars. Stops included: John's birthplace and childhood home, the former GM World Headquarters where John worked for Pontiac and Chevrolet, his bachelor home, the home he shared with Kelly Harmon during the heyday of DMC, the Detroit DMC offices and John's final resting place at White Chapel Cemetery.

Next on the agenda was the DeLorean Motor Company tech inspection at Les Stanford Chevrolet, the Corvette King. The experts from the DeLorean Motor Company personally performed a tech inspection on several DeLoreans! Thanks to Les Standford for generously donating the use of their lifts to DeLorean Motor City for this event.

After the DMC tech inspection we attended a private dinner where Jeff and Sue Synor shared their personal insights into the history of the DeLorean automobile. Jeff was a technical field expert for the DeLorean Motor Company and his wife Sue Synor worked for JZD at the Composite Technology Corporation. They had great historical accounts of the company, the car and the man.

Saturday, August 18th, 2007

The Woodward Dream Cruise itself took place on Saturday. The business owner that we rented space from said in the 13 years that the Dream Cruise has been running he has never seen such large crowds at his location. All the DeLoreans parked along Woodward Avenue were quite a site, and people loved seeing the cars driving with the doors up during the cruise.

Also on Saturday, the DeLorean Motor Company introduced the Stage III Hi-Performance DeLorean! The car's supercharged performance was incredible, and will be available soon. DMC also had a chassis and underbody display, and our sponsors had merchandise available for purchase.

The GM Heritage Center

AeroVette, the last Vette showcar overseen by John DeLorean before he quit GM. Silver, gullwing doors, engine in the back. Hmmm, interesting...

The GTO, another DeLorean creation.

The GM Heritage center is filled with incredible cars. Here is the amazing turbine-powered Firebird III.

DeLorean's childhood home on Marx Street in Detroit. Humble beginnings.

John DeLorean grew up on this street. Decades later it is filled with cars bearing his name, and people visiting his birthplace.

DeLoreans line the street in front of the old GM Headquarters building on West Grand Blvd. DeLorean ran Pontiac and Chevrolet from these offices.

Inside the beautiful art deco lobby.

DeLorean's bachelor pad from the 70's, located in Bloomfield Hills.

The home John shared with model Kelly Harmon, his wife. This home is also located in Bloomfield Hills.

The Michigan DMC headquarters were located in this Bloomfield Hills office complex.

John DeLorean's final resting place is the White Chapel Cemetery in Troy, MI.

The DMC Tech Inspection was a great learning experience. Here Mike from DMC Midwest checks one car,while Dave inspects another one on the lift.

Our private room at dinner was almost standing-room only but a fun time was had by all. Great food, friends and conversation.

Our guest speakers, Jeff and Sue Synor, shared some amazing stories from their time working with John DeLorean.

They played a part in creating the car we have a passion about, the DeLorean.

The Dream Cruise was a great success. We had a reserved location On Woodward between 12 and 13 Mile Rds.

The DeLorean Motor Company brought several items for the event. Pictured below are the DeLorean frame and, on the left, the black car is the Stage III prototype. Its supercharged engine ensures that the DeLorean will go as fast as it looks!

On the left you can see the black composite underbody that DeLorean Motor Company brought for display. On the right is Monte's amazing Back to the Future time machine, always a crowd pleaser.

There were plenty of "regular" DeLoreans as well (if there is such a thing!). Cruisers and spectators were all interested to see the cars; many have never seen one up close, let alone an entire fleet in one location!

Of course there were thousands of amazing classic, muscle and strange cars to see. For more info on the cruise and many more images from that day, visit the Woodward Dream Cruise website via the link at the top of this page.