Why be normal when you can let your freak flag fly at the Dream Cruise? Here are some of the most, um, interesting sights Saturday on Woodward.
He’s a mean one
All the gearheads on Woodward liked the Dream Cruise a lot. But the Grinch, who lived just north of Cruiseville, did not.
Riding sidesaddle on the back of a black and orange dune buggy and sporting a Santy Claus hat and a coat, the creature with termites in his smile sneered at all the Whos, we mean Cruisers, making merry Saturday along Woodward. But try as he might, he couldn’t steal their joy as they feasted their eyes on a parade of Motown classics.
Now that the Dream Cruise has come and gone for another year, the old Grinchy Claus has 126 days to find some way to stop Christmas from coming.
—Myesha Johnson
Some serious skullduggery
What’s black and covered with hot pink, gold and white skulls? Whatever this car is. This rolling homage to the macabre was seen skulking along Woodward during Saturday’s Dream Cruise.
Not creeped out yet? Take a look at the rear bumper — now how does that grab you?
—Todd McInturf
Bugging out
Onlookers along Woodward in Birmingham at lunchtime saw a Volkswagen Beetle that had the stance of a horse rearing back.
The silver Bug’s front end hung in the air, showing off something not normally seen in a Beetle — a front-mounted engine. Starting in the late 1930s when the “People’s Car” was first produced in Germany, Beetles came from the factory with rear-mounted powerplants until the last models rolled off a Mexican assembly line in 2003.
More than 21 million original Bugs were produced, and they’ve long been a favorite of car customizers.
—Myesha Johnson
Little Red, White and Blue Corvette
Some folks were born made to wave the flag. Hoo, their car’s red, white and blue.
This couple spotted Saturday on Woodward were waving it AND riding in it. Their vehicle for displaying patriotism? A 1967 Corvette Stingray, painted in Old Glory’s stars and bars — just as Betsy Ross envisioned, no doubt.
—Todd McInturf
They love Lucy
For 15 years, longer than “I Love Lucy” was on the air, Elaine Vermeersch, 74 has been taking folks back with her Scotty trailer that pays homage to the classic 1950s TV sitcom.
“Her and I wear the little costumes, we have a lot of fun,” Vermeersch said as she and friend Victoria Mobley, 76, put on the chocolate factory outfits from the legendary “Job Switching” episode, in which Lucy and Ethel fail hilariously as candy makers.
Averaging about six to eight car shows a year, the two women said the trailer has probably been to about 100 auto shows in Michigan.
—Anna Liz Nichols
Here comes the Spider-Man
Who’s that cruising down Woodward on a sport bike? It’s just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. But instead of catching thieves just like flies, at Saturday’s Dream Cruise, he was watching double-takes from amazed onlookers.
—Todd McInturf