It’s billed as “the world’s largest one-day automotive event,” and each year for at least the last 10 or so it has drawn between 1.0 and 1.5 million attendees and 40,000 or so vintage and, ahem, “special interest” vehicles. The cost of admission? Zip. OK, property owners along the Avenue typically charge owners a few Jacksons to back in, pop the hood, and whip out their folding chairs, but compared with the cost of any single admission ticket on California’s snooty Monterey Peninsula during the same weekend, Woodward is virtually free. Completely removing cost as a barrier to entry encourages diversity the likes of which won’t be seen at Pebble Beach any time soon, spanning from upside-down vans to bizarre oversized Ram/Cummins-powered Hudsons, rat rods, and every big- and small-block muscle machine imaginable.
Motor Trend’s Detroit office garage is situated just 3,718 feet away from Woodward, but your humble technical director’s garage is a mere 518 feet off the historic Avenue. So an editorial team of four scribes and one shooter set up operations there and cruised all week, enlisting chauffeurs from FCA, GM, and Ford, covering Tuesday’s GM Design on Woodward event, and many more. Here are the highlights of the main event.
Upside-Down-&-Backwards GMC Rally Wagon
How ya gonna get people to look at your nice, physically shiny but culturally dull van? By turning it upside down and somehow suspending it from a smaller car’s rolling chassis. Other modifications of note include a sliding side door converted to a top-hinged hatch and a second live axle with differential to spin the van’s skyward-facing front wheels along with the rear ones at something a bit slower than apparent road speed. Visibility is provided by a second set of holes cut into the rear doors above original glass ones.
Lingenfelter 1970 Oldsmobile “442” Vista Cruiser Wagon
Lingenfelter Performance Engineering does most of its business building Corvette and Camaro engines, but for Woodward, why not give a classic Vista Cruiser wagon the full 442 treatment and then some? The “then some” includes a Lingenfelter LS3 Performance Engine topped with an Edelbrock supercharger good for 650 horsepower mated to a Tremec six-speed transmission spinning through a 3.73:1 Eaton posi axle. Ridetech air-ride suspension and Weld wheels round out the package. Yum.
1937 Hudson Terraplane XXXL
This crazy project actually started with a normal-sized Hudson Terraplane but was stretched, widened, tallened (if that were a word) and plopped on a Dodge Ram 2500 diesel truck chassis converted to air suspension. It towers over traffic, perhaps heightening the “plane” aspect (har-har, see what we did there?) of its original nomenclature—though heaven knows what it would take to get this beast off the ground.
Cushman 7-Passenger Skiff
Safety first! Life jackets were being worn as this precious little wooden skiff scurried up the Avenue powered and suspended by the wee 22-hp engine and three-wheel chassis from a Cushman model 898457 Haulster refuse collector. Hopefully they didn’t drive this street-legal beauty all the way from Florida, where its motorcycle license plate hails from.
Snapper’s Buggy & Machine Co. Caterpillar Buggy
Here’s another “car” (pictured at left) where, without any vehicular traffic around it for scale, might almost look “normal.” Might. Actually the big Alcoa semi-tractor front wheels hint at the scale pretty well. Instead of burnouts, this one did “rolling coal” demos on demand #WeDontNeedNoStinkingParticleTraps.
Tommy’s Rod Shop Chopped School Bus
Folks come to Woodward from far and wide. Case in point: this too-cool-for-school bus from Guthrie, Kentucky. It’s an easy low step up from the road, but the basketball team had better watch their heads while climbing aboard.
1971 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Donk Cabrio
Most of the really big-wheel cars came out to cruise after dark, perhaps to show off their underbody and wheel-well lighting, but this one was bold enough to show off its pristine bodywork in the bright afternoon sunlight. Hot rods were admitted to Pebble Beach a few years ago—can the Donks be far behind? Yes. Very far indeed.
Circa 1970 Chevrolet Nova “Silver Bullet” Superbird
The front license plate identifies the owner/driver as a “fortunate son,” and indeed this is some machine he has been blessed with. The mind fairly boggles as to what must be under that hood, sucking great lungfuls of air through that elaborate hood, and just imagine the rear-end stick that wing must endow this baby with when turning into Michigan International Speedway’s turn three at 200-plus mph …
1948 Chevrolet Fleetline Fastback
Patina is the new black. Many cars observed had faux patina painted or stenciled onto their bodywork, but we’re rather more convinced by this one’s, erm, “finish.” Equal parts factory sheetmetal, rebar, and heavy-duty chain comprise the exterior surface with lovely details such as metal spiders on the grille. We’re not sure what the engine is, but it must be valuable—there’s a hefty padlock securing the hood.
Char’s Poultry Grooming 1966 Chevrolet C10 Custom Stepside
Trucks and riffs thereon were popular at Woodward this year. This 1966 Chevy is owned by retired air force serviceman Mario Guarnaccia of Mars, Pennsylvania. It’s named after his wife Charlene (Char) who is a Finn (which explains the “Finlandia” and flag inside). They have chickens, so Char decided to have the “poultry grooming” mural painted on the door. Naturally chickens don’t get dolled up, but apparently lots of folks enquire as to how the Guarnaccias groom chickens. The couple bought the truck six years ago for $600, and Mario did all the work himself, which included chopping the rearmost 2.5 feet off the 8-foot bed.
Troy Police Burnout Enforcement Unit?
Many jurisdictions pitch in to help secure the Woodward Dream Cruise, but the Troy, Michigan, boundaries do not include any stretch of Woodward Avenue. This “officer” must have been a tourist.
Jurassic Park Motor Pool 1992 Jeep Wranglers
Extreme fans will go to great lengths to express their love for movie franchises. The first two Jeeps in this lineup have completed their transition to Jurassic world tour vehicles, probably following the build instructions from www.jpmotorpool.com. The third Jeep in line has only gotten about as far as the license plate.
1956 Mercury Custom
That’s our best stab at what this long, low, lovely custom started its life as before getting its Cadillac taillamps and luggage-loading-inhibitor wing. The level of body and paintwork is stunning. There are a lot of folks in the Detroit area who are exceptionally gifted in these arts …
Rat Rods ‘R Us
Having missed several of the last Woodward Dream Cruises, your 500-foot adjacent editor was surprised at the number of full-on ultra-slammed, heavily patinated rat rods were prowling the avenue. They’re definitely a thing—and a good thing at that.
1964 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Roadster
It’s probably safe to say that during the Woodward Dream Cruise, cars originally intended to fulfill a performance mission slightly outnumber those designed for more quotidian pursuits. The Corvette Grand Sport was certainly a benchmark performer in its day. It’s a fair bet that this one’s a clone or tribute car, but we didn’t take down the seller’s number to find out for sure.
1937 Ford Model 78 Cabriolet
The Woodward Dream Cruise is all about having fun, and that often involves props—such as Kermit The Frog in a coordinating shade of green. This car probably has had an interesting history—note the right-hand drive.
1968-’73 Datsun 510
Woodward welcomes all makes and models, and although domestic fare predominates, there are plenty of imported gems such as this five-and-dime Datsun wearing minor battle scars and doffing its bumpers and radio antenna.
2003 Chrysler PT Cruiser GT Art Car
Art cars are a perennial feature of the Woodward Cruise, and this Marine has clearly festooned Bryan Nesbitt’s original design with about a thousand skulls, crossbones, and skeletal hands, plus more than a few handgun images thrown in for good measure.
Boss Hoss 572 Bike
So you think you’re a big man controlling 707 or 808 horses in a big heavy four-wheeler, eh? Well real men rock a 625-hp 572-cubic-inch Bow Tie Big Block between their legs with one-wheel drive. And they don’t bother with Snell-rated helmets or riding leathers either!
1971 Plymouth Roadrunner
As night falls the illuminated engine compartments and undercarriages really start to shine, like on this high-rise dual-quad Roadrunner. But alas by about 9:30 the police start diverting traffic onto the cross streets and closing Woodward down. Of course, after the cops go to bed the most serious scofflaws return, performing illicit burnouts and minor street races on the Avenue, with all of the audible action wafting in every open bedroom window within 500 feet of Woodward. Can’t wait for next year!
The post 20 Unique Rides From the 2017 Woodward Dream Cruise appeared first on Motor Trend.
from Motor Trend http://ift.tt/2vjR8ZA
No comments:
Post a Comment