posted 08-13-2007 10:04 PM                  

Here is a link to the big show. http://www.woodwarddreamcruise.com/

Tthe official cruise is Saturday but it is already starting to mount a full charge, building every day this week.

posted 08-13-2007 10:19 PM                  

Woodward - a 27-mile multi-lane road - stretches from the heart of Detroit through the suburbs of Highland Park, Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, Royal Oak, Huntington Woods, Berkley, Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Township and Pontiac.

At the onset of the automobile industry in the early 1900s, the roadway was asphalt paved over wooden blocks in downtown Detroit. Northern portions remained covered with gravel or planked. The majority of the road was dirt, which became rutted with mud during the spring. In 1909, responding to demand for smoother roads by bicyclists and early auto owners, the first mile of concrete highway in the world was laid by Wayne County between Six and Seven Mile Roads in Greenfield Township (present-day Northwest Detroit). Constructed in less than three months at a cost of $13,493, the new roadway construction technique attracted international attention, as its advocates claimed concrete more durable, cleaner and easier to maintain than former methods. In 1916, the entire 27-mile length of Woodward Avenue to Pontiac was paved and, in 1919, the first three-color traffic light appeared on the thoroughfare. In the 1920s, Michigan Legislature proposed widening Woodward to 200 feet from Detroit to Pontiac. Underway by 1926, the construction project provided an eight-lane boulevard from Six Mile Road to Pontiac.

The "Big Three" automakers had their roots along Woodward Avenue. Henry Ford built his first car at his home, just four blocks west of Woodward. He conceived the Model T and experimented with an assembly line at the Piquette Plant two blocks east of Woodward. In 1910, Ford continued to apply the assembly line concept at his new massive complex - known as the Crystal Palace - on Woodward Avenue in Highland Park. By 1914, Ford's workers were able to assemble complete cars using three lines. Economies of scale allowed the car to be sold at a price low enough to be afforded by average citizens. Over 15 million Model T cars were sold before the design was retired in 1928. Ford, then the largest automaker, revolutionized American industry with these advances.

By 1921, General Motors relocated its headquarters to the Albert Kahn designed office complex on Grand Boulevard, one block west of Woodward. Five years later, its Oakland Motor Division introduced its new Pontiac line and GMC Truck and Coach, along Woodward Avenue extensions in the city of Pontiac. Led by Alfred Sloan, over the next decades General Motors would overtake Ford in car sales and, with a diversification of products and services, become the largest and one of the most influential corporations in the world.

In 1925, the newly founded Chrysler Corporation located its headquarters three blocks east of Woodward at Colorado and Oakland Streets in Highland Park. With the 1928 acquisition of Dodge Brothers, Inc. - a company five times the size of Chrysler - the formerly fifth ranked auto maker could claim its place as one of the Big Three by the following year.

posted 08-13-2007 11:31 PM                  

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Originally posted by LAwil:
Thank you for all the info. I wished I would have found the site sooner. I don't know if this required some kind of a special invite, but we would have definitely been there. In any event, thanks y'all for all the info. have fun and a safe one. And of course post lots of pictures. Will

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You don't have to be invited, just say I'M GOING and show up.

I would guess there are some rooms since we always have cancellation

the only thing people that show up this late are the items that have been done in advance for the ones that have been registered for some time

If you have vacation time do it, if not call in sick, pack your bags and get on the road

posted 08-14-2007 07:41 AM                  

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Originally posted by ed monahan:
According to my Road Atlas, the first concrete paved road in America was in Bellefontaine, OH in 1891.
That is just east of Sidney, OH, which is on I-75.
I don't know what the significant difference is, but that is what it says right on the map.

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Ed > why are you bringing this up? We all know that Michigan kicks O-State's ass in everything, lol.
I heard that Woodward was the first paved road on Car Crazy tv show also,,,so it must be true . Your atlas was printed in China,,,I give it little credit, like I do you

posted 08-14-2007 08:36 AM                  

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Originally posted by LAwil:
... I definitely would have attended if I had known sooner.

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posted 08-14-2007 07:28 PM                  

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Originally posted by ALLEY CAT:
Ed > why are you bringing this up? We all know that Michigan kicks O-State's ass in everything, lol.
I heard that Woodward was the first paved road on Car Crazy tv show also,,,so it must be true . Your atlas was printed in China,,,I give it little credit, like I do you

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