Royal Oak — Saturday afternoon brought out everything on Woodward including first-time Cruisers, veterans, lowriders, even milk trucks. A rainstorm hit at about 3 p.m. during the 2024 Dream Cruise but didn't deter the diehards.
Son of a Milk Man
Pontiac – The milk truck is back. A staple of American neighborhoods in post-World War II America, milk trucks delivered the precious liquid to homes everywhere. Dave Kerby grew up as the son of a milk man when his father returned to Detroit a decorated war hero and drove a truck for Twin Pines Dairy.
Years later, Dave made a barn find in California - purchasing and restoring a 1965 milk truck made by the Detroit Industrial Vehicles Company (Divco for short) – and restoring it in Twin Pines livery.
“It’s the last of a dying breed,” said Kerby at M1 Concourse in Pontiac where it was mobbed by fans. “I drove it my dad’s house on his 100th birthday and surprised him.”Located in Detroit, Divco made trucks for dairies, breadmakers and other delivery companies from 1926 to 1986. Few remain.
“Twin Pines had a lot of milk trucks in Detroit – about 1,200 running around – because they had a Saturday TV show with Milky the Clown that made them super popular,” said Kerby. “I’ve been cruising Woodward this week and people come up and tell their milk man stories.”
The advent of the supermarket put an end to milk deliveries beginning in the 1970s. “ Kroger and WalMart came along and it was cheaper to pick it up at the grocery. But people still loved the milk man because milk tastes better in a bottle,” laughed Kerby.
Kerby is wring a book titled “Son of a Milkman.” He plans to donate his truck to the Henry Ford Museum when he joins his father in the great dairy in the sky.
Queen of the Lowriders
Pontiac – All hail the Queen.
Debbie Sanchez, the subject of a coming film, “Queen of the Lowriders,” led an army of modified vehicles to the Dream Cruise this year. The hydraulically-operated cars are non-stop entertainment with the ability to move side-to-side, three-wheel, and hop – sometimes over six feet into the air.
“We have between 16 and 18 cars this year,” said Sanchez, sporting a colorful purple mane at M1 Concourse. “They get out there and hitting switches and moving around. It’s very complicated. The heart of the lowrider is in the trunk where the pumps and the batteries are that power the hydraulic systems.”
To withstand the vehicles’ dance moves and added hardware, lowriders frames are reinforced, increasing a sedan’s weight by as much as 40%. Among this year’s attendees are a pair of classic Chevrolet Monte Carlos, a Cadillac, and a 1955 Chevy Bel Air piloted by Sanchez’s daughter, Olivia Cancel.
Lowriders have their roots in Mexican car culture.
“They originated in California,” said Sanchez who started building cars in 1995. “The story goes that a guy was working at the airport and stole some hydraulics – then he put them in his car.” Crowds gathered at M1 to watch the vehicles perform, and some lowriders took the show to Woodward.
First Cruise
First-timers James and Kim Graf, both 43, of Baltimore, Ohio, found out about Detroit’s Dream Cruise last year before making the roughly four-hour trek north this year to show off their blue 1923 T-Bucket hot rod, a modified version of a Ford Model T. The Grafs have other vehicles, including a 1967 Chevrolet Camaro and a 1978 Malibu, but wanted to bring the show-stopping hot rod with a gleaming, can't-miss-it blower that connects to the engine to give it more power.
“We stand out a little more with this,” James Graf said. “Everybody loves the Camaros and the Malibus and the Mustangs, but when you have this, it just hits different.”
Veteran Cruisers Shelby Westergaard, 30, and Chris Palmer, 44, of Algonac, also enjoyed standing out in the crowd with their boat-sized, pale yellow 1965 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser filling a large piece of parking lot at the corner of Catalpa Drive and Woodward.
“I love having all of the looks,” Westergaard said. “Everyone has a memory associated with this car or something similar.”
This was the first time the recently engaged couple brought the classic station wagon out to cruise after buying it three weeks ago. They like showing off the Vista’s curved skylight windows, which are unique to the car.
“She said she wanted an old wagon, and her favorite color is yellow,” said Palmer, who hasn’t missed a Dream Cruise since 1996.
Three generations of Cruisers
Pontiac — The Thomas family was out at the crack of dawn for Saturday’s Woodward Dream Cruise.
“You have to be here early so you can get your spot on Woodard,” said Bob Thomas, 43, of Waterford Township, standing next to his 1966 Dodge Dart at the corner of Pike and Woodward in downtown Pontiac. Bob is the son of Mike, 64, the first of three generations of Thomases who religiously attend the Dream Cruise each year. The third gen is Mike’s grandson Hunter, 19, who just bought a Mazda Miata to restore.
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Restoration is in the blood. Mike, who has been coming to the Cruise since its inception in 1995, arrived this year in a 1968 Chevy Camaro that he restored six years ago.
“I’m a first and second-generation Camaro fan,” said Papa Thomas. “I’ve restored more Camaros than I can count.”
One of his first was a 1970 model that he used to drag race on Woodward as a 16-year-old. The car was briefly impounded when he was caught racing twice on the same night. “I didn’t see the cop was behind me at Woodward and 13,” Mike said, laughing. “But I’m not into that anymore.”
Woodward’s legendary drag days are a bygone era, and Bob and Hunter (who brought his 2002 Chevy Silverado to this year’s Cruise) had no similar stories to share. Instead, they look forward to legal drag racing at Roadkill Nights in Pontiac the weekend before the Cruise each year.
ICE ‘n’ EV
Royal Oak — Lounging next to his red, mid-engine, V-8-powered Chevy Corvette C8 on Woodward, Kevin Kicinski sported . . . a Rivian shirt.
“I have the best of both worlds,” said Kicinski, a service manager for the electric brand. A fan of both internal combustion engines and electric vehicles, Kicinski keeps a Ford Mustang Mach-E next to his Corvette at home in South Lyon.
But he prefers his ICEs loud and his EVs silent. “I’m not a fan of that sound,” he said of the recently introduced, electric Dodge Charger Daytona Banshee’s artificially-generated V-8 exhaust note. “If you’re going to go electric, then be electric. If you’re going to be a muscle car, be a muscle car.”
Kicinski knows his muscle. He’s owned a Dodge Charger as well as two fifth-generation Corvette C5s.
“This is my third Corvette. This one is really special to me, because it’s the first time I flew out to purchase a vehicle,” he said of the sleek, 495-horsepower beast next to him. “I bought it online, flew out to New Hampshire and drove it back. That was a fun-filled day just bringing it home.”
Kicinscki loves the variety of cars on Woodward, from his favorite custom cars to V-8s to EVs. “The EV market is still trying to find its legs,” he said. “Rivian’s doing well and there is opportunity for us.”
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