Dream Cruise Eve: Woodward Avenue comes alive

Pontiac — Farms have roosters, the Dream Cruise has V-8s.

WAAAUUGGGHHH! A sinister black Pontiac GTO lit up the asphalt at the Woodward and Long Lake stoplight as cruisers woke up with the sun for Dream Cruise Friday. From Pontiac to Bloomfield Hills, cruisers mixed with commuter traffic as clubs set up tents, Corvette celebrated its 70th anniversary at M1 Concourse, and diehards claimed their desired parking spots.

Tom Paletti, 70, of Macomb Township arrived at Woodward and Square Lake at 6 a.m. in his 421-cubic inch, V8-powered 1966 Pontiac Ventura monster to secure his spot in front of Kerby’s Koney Island. He sat in a lawn chair watching the passing parade with his buddy Terry King, 72, of Chesterfield Township and his bright yellow 1973 Camaro Z28.

More:Here’s your guide to the 2023 Woodward Dream Cruise

“We used to get up at 4 a.m. to get a spot at the Dodge display at 13 and Woodward, but then Beaumont bought that property and the cops won’t let you park there anymore,” said Paletti, sitting in his lawn chair watching the passing parade of cars. “Kerby’s doesn’t mind. We hang out here all week — we like talking with car people.”

At the corner of Woodward and Whitemore in downtown Pontiac, a lone, bright orange 1955 Chevy 210 sat in the lush lawn like a four-wheel safety cone.

Behind the wheel (and the 350-cube V-8) sat Bruce Larkin, 63. “I took the day off, had breakfast, now I’m just hanging out before I put up my tents,” said the Waterford Township resident and member of the North Oakland Bowtie Club that sets up at this corner each year.

“The Pit Stop food truck over there will open up from 5-8 p.m. for dinner and we’ll get about 20 cars today,” he said. “On Saturday this whole lot will be packed with probably 100 cars.”

Further south in Pontiac, M1 Concourse was alive with activity as the car club’s annual Woodward Dream Show celebrates the 70^th birthday of Corvette this year. The parking lot next to the property’s event center was full of Corvettes staging for a midday photo shoot.

“We have a Corvette from every year that Corvette has been made, from 1953 on,” said M1 CEO Tim McGrane. “We even have a 1983 Corvette — one of the rarest Corvettes in existence.”

That’s because 1983 was the only year in its history that Corvette didn’t go into production. Just 43 ‘Vettes were made before Chevy pulled the plug on production, with General Motors choosing to wait until 1984 to introduce its all-new 4^th generation car. All but one of the 1983 Corvettes was crushed — save for No. 23, which was preserved and now calls the Corvette Museum in Kentucky home.

M1 managed to get it to the Dream Cruise — the first time the rare car has ever left Bowling Green. For $25, the public can come by the Dream Show from noon-8 p.m. Friday and all day Saturday beginning at 8 a.m. The 65^th anniversary of the Ram Charger is also being celebrated.

Werner Meier, 72, worked for GM from 1969-2002 and was instrumental in pulling the Corvette celebration together. “For our photo shoot with all the cars here, we have eight white Corvettes representing each generation of Corvette. They will be in the front of the photo.” One of the eight will be Meier’s 1953 Corvette, one of only about 300 made.

The Dream Cruise and charity also go hand in hand. The D-Man Foundation is set up at the corner of Woodward and Long Lake to give hot rides to underprivileged kids and adults.

Mary Anne Pacheco, 67, of Canton Township was out early Friday prepping the parking lot — including the tent under which paraplegics and others with serious diseases are lifted into convertibles and other high-horsepower cruisers brought by volunteers for a thrilling ride down Woodward.

“This is our 11^th year,” said Pacheco in front of a ferocious, 2024, Plum Crazy purple, 807-horsepower, supercharged, 6.2-liter V-8 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Demon Jailbreak. “Saturday just gets too crowded out on Woodward so we are here on Friday from 1-4 p.m. for every Dream Cruise. We run rides like clockwork.”