Other new cruise items announced at press conference By Jeremy Carroll ROYAL OAK — Along with celebrating the muscle cars and hot rods of yesteryear, the 2008 Woodward Dream Cruise will be keeping an eye on the possible future of hot rods — changing ordinary cars into electric, hybrid or alternative-fuel vehicles. This year’s cruise will feature 50 vehicles in a juried contest dubbed the “Dream Show.” There are 10 classes of vehicles, including a “green” car category. That was just one of the announcements made during a Dream Cruise press conference July 31 at the Northwood Shopping Center. “Our future is in ‘green’ cars,” said Dick Ruzzin, who helped design the Dream Show. “There are a lot of people in the area that have converted cars to electric or hybrid.” He said those people embody what it is to make a hot rod — taking a manufactured vehicle and customizing it to their own specifications. Troy Trepanier, the first-ever grand marshal of the cruise, is known throughout the country as a premier custom car designer. He said the “green” hot rod is the next big thing. “I think having the awards and having them on display is very important,” he said. Trepanier said the last three hot rods built at his shop outside of Chicago have been made with an ethanol kit making them ready to use E-85 fuel. “What’s fun about cars is they are the expression of one’s personality,” he said. “There’s no right or wrong.” Dale Dawkins, president of the Woodward Dream Cruise, said the cruise itself is a celebration of the history of the car and cruising, but that it will also become the celebration of the future of the automotive industry. “We’re not just talking about telling stories about how ‘when I was young, I cruised Woodward.’ It’s a much bigger than that,” he said. The Dream Show will be held the day of the cruise, Aug. 16, at the Northwood Shopping Center, at the southwest corner of 13 Mile Road and Woodward Avenue. Among the other announced new features: • Trepanier is being featured in the event’s first-ever program that will be on sale during the cruise. • The cruise will hold a classic car auction in conjunction with American Concours Foundation and eBay Motors. • And Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit will help the local communities clean up after the Dream Cruise has left town. The nine communities that border the Woodward cruise route incur an estimated $350,000 in costs for cleanup and police work during the cruise, Executive Director of the Cruise Don Tanner said. “The partnership with Goodwill Industries will help us defray some of these costs by putting people back to work,” he said. Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit provides people with disabilities and other barriers to employment the opportunity to become independent through work experience and employment throughout metro Detroit. For more information on the Dream Cruise and activities throughout the big day, visit www.woodwarddreamcruise.com. You can reach Staff Writer Jeremy Carroll at jcarroll@candgnews.com or at (586) 279-1110. |
