You wouldn’t think that they’d run out of space along Woodward Avenue.
But Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Chrysler Group are busy scraping together space for this year’s Woodward Dream Cruise, Detroit’s home grown version of Mardi Gras, which annually celebrates the city’s passion for cars old new.
With Detroit’s fortunes on the upswing this year, the Motor City’s Big Three have renewed their commitment to the annual event – which routinely draws as many as 40,000 or more classic muscle cars and other cruisers – and a million or more fans lining the long route from Detroit to its northern neighbor Pontiac.
Ford, Chrysler and GM are fighting for turf along the route of the Dream Cruise, which is already drawing crowds and special events that are used for everything from raising funds for charity to corporate entertainment.
GM, for example, is using the 2011 Woodward Dream Cruise to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Chevrolet Brand and on Thursday paraded dozen of classic Chevy metal – along with a number of brand new vehicles, including more than 60 Chevrolet Volts — down the wide boulevard in what was the largest gathering of privately-owned Volts since the cars was launched last year.
GM CEO Dan Akerson in an old Corvette leading off a parade of classic Chevies.
GM also claimed the naming rights to this year’s Dream Cruise so it is officially named the “2011 Woodward Dream Cruise presented by Chevrolet.”
That didn’t preclude some significant participation by GM’s cross-town rivals.
A day before the official Saturday event, Ford is preparing for “Mustang Alley,” which sandwiches Woodward at a key intersection in the suburb of Ferndale. One of the busiest and most popular features of the Cruise, the Ford display will feature arrays of street and racing engines and an exhibit of classic and modern Ford-built performance vehicles and race cars — as well as an expected 700 Mustangs from all over the county.
A pair of old "Goats," Pontiac GTOs, get set to cruise Woodward.
“If the weather cooperates and all cars arrive as scheduled, this year’s event is expected to feature at least one of every type of Mustang model made since the car debuted in April 1964,” a Ford spokesman said this week.
The full Mustang line also will be on display, including 2012 examples of the 550-horsepower Shelby GT500, both street and racing versions of the Boss 302, and the Mustang GT and V6 Coupe with performance package.
Ford Racing engineers also will stage test runs of the new 5-liter V8 Mustang GT engine, which is mounted on a run stand. The Mustang Garage on 9 Mile Road is again open for business, allowing owners of Mustangs built from 2005 to 2012 to drive in and have Ford Racing technicians install high-performance parts on the spot.
Ford may not have naming rights, but it is an active participant in the Woodward Dream Cruise.
The Ford display also will include a peek at a high-performance Focus ST powered by the company’s new EcoBoost technology, which features a 2.0-liter EcoBoost engine that makes an estimated 247 horsepower, a six-speed manual transmission and race-tuned suspension. Due next spring, the Focus ST will be the first high-performance compact that Ford has offered in the United States since 2004.
Chrysler Group LLC’s reorganized Street and Racing Technology unit is planning to use the Dream Cruise to show off the full SRT Line including the 2012 Dodge Charger SRT8, Dodge Challenger SRT8, Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 and Chrysler 300 SRT8 as well as a display of Chrysler-made classic cars from the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The Chrysler display will occupy a prime piece of real estate along Woodward that GM had previously used for an employee car show that also featured 2012 versions of the Chevrolet Camaro. The Camaros are being moved to Birmingham for the Saturday’s official cruise, which is expected to draw dozens of new t-shirt designs and cover bands as well as an estimated 40,000 vehicles and more than 1 million spectators for what is essentially a grass roots celebration of the automobile.