Stuck In Traffic At Woodward Dream Cruise 2016

We had 707hp, and we were moving at about 4 mph. A kid on the sidewalk pumped his fist in the universal sign for burnout. I dumped it in neutral and revved it up till I got some overrun pops out the Hellcat’s exhaust. Photographer Wes Allison rolled his eyes at me, but the lawnchairs lining Woodward Ave erupted in cheers.

The Woodward Dream Cruise is a yearly celebration of Detroit’s glorious automotive reputation. From Ferndale to Pontiac, Woodward Ave is a bumper-to-bumper display of all manner of machine. It’s mostly classics and muscle, but there are sports cars, exotics, motorcycles, minibikes, and just plain freakshows mixed in with the Camaros and DeSotos.

Some folks cruise, others find parking spots and pop the hoods. The sidewalks are busy with pedestrians tramping along at about the same speed as the traffic. You could have a conversation with someone walking from the open window of your car, or, as we saw at an enterprising corner Dominos, order a pizza from a few car lengths away and have it ready and delivered to your passenger side window by the time you reached the end of the block.

OEMs and aftermarket suppliers take over grassy medians and parking lots. Chevrolet showcased the very first Camaro in a glass box, looking like Snow White waiting for a kiss to fire her engine. We were lucky enough to be in hearing when Chevy did fire up the new COPO Camaro, and mmmm-hmmm, that’s the Detroit sound. Around the corner Lingenfelter Performance Engineering showed everyone what the stock cars could look like with twice the horsepower. That’s the Detroit spirit.