First Corvette Shots from Woodward

We wanted to bring you photos of the outstanding Corvette events taking place in and around Detroit and Flint, Michigan, last week. Along with the world famous Woodward Dream Cruise which began midweek (last week) unofficially, Corvettes on Woodward, Back to the Bricks, and the Corvette Reunion all took place and featured heavy attendance.

Though officially the Woodward Dream Cruise does not start until Saturday, hot cars of all types have been cruising Woodward each evening since last Saturday to continually growing crowds of spectators. Even Tuesday night’s temperatures which plummeted into the 50’s could not keep the crowds from lining the eight lane highway to watch the cars cruise by. Wednesday morning, Corvettes on Woodward kicked off with a tour of General Motors’ Heritage Center at 10AM. In the afternoon, hundreds of Corvettes converged on the Bloomfield Hills Radisson Hotel to get ready for the 7 PM all-Corvette fifteen mile parade down Woodward Avenue. Larry Courtney, organizer of the event, stages the event annually to benefit the Open Hands Food Pantry, which relies heavily on the generosity of Corvette owners participating in the event. It has grown into a premier Corvette gathering over the last few years attracting hundreds of Corvettes from as far away as Sweden.

The large parking lot behind the Radisson Hotel in Bloomfield Hills began filling up shortly after midday on Wednesday with Corvettes of all generations and at the start of the parade the lot held over 500 Corvettes. The fifteen-mile parade commenced with the Corvettes running two abreast but got separated due to the heavy cruising traffic on the eight lane highway and lack of police escorts. The parade was over five miles long and literally crept its way to the Open Hands Food Bank at 11 Mile and Woodward Ave.

The Avenue was so crowded between 15 Mile Road and 12 Mile Road that traffic virtually inched along in front of thousands of spectators lining the historic street that was once the epicenter of street racing in the 1950’s and 60’s. The audience lining Woodward tried goading the drivers to do burnouts (which are illegal and subject to citation), but several cruisers sought to placate them with revving engines. Meanwhile, the aroma of racing gas permeated the area much to the pleasure of most gearheads. All things considered, Larry Courtney’s event was a good time and the food and cash donations raised for the food bank will feed thousands in upcoming months.

If you couldn’t be there to join in the festivities at least you can enjoy the pictures. We’ll be running features on the Woodward Dream Cruise, the Back to the Bricks Event and the Corvette Reunion, within the next few days. We will be covering them all and to borrow one of Chevrolet’s old advertising themes from 1969, “Putting You First, Keeps Us First.”

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