2023 Woodward Dream Cruise Live Video, Photos and News

Table Of Content

• A rare look inside the city of Detroit's classic car collection
• Jay Leno unveils vehicle inspired by Sam Walton at the Woodward Dream Cruise
• Pontiac Transportation Museum shines spotlight on city's auto industry impact
• Where do folks park?
• Early cruisers line up on Woodward, share their car stories
• How to get SMART bus rides during the Woodward Dream Cruise?

Mustang Alley will take place with Ford Motor Co. from 10 a.m. With the entrance starting at Hilton Road at  East Nine Mile Road. Pre-registration is closed but vehicles not pre-registered can enter at about 10 a.m. Parking for this event can be found in one of six Birmingham parking structures; metered parking will also be  available.

A rare look inside the city of Detroit's classic car collection

In August 1995, Nelson House and a group of volunteers looked to relive and recreate the nostalgic heydays of the 50s and 60s, when youth, music and Motor City steel roamed Woodward Avenue, America’s first highway. Groups like Tri Five are the backbone of the Cruise, with members attending in 2020 during the pandemic even as risk-averse corporations backed out with the official event canceled. With the pandemic in the rearview mirror, Posey says Tri Fivers from all over the country will be coming this year, including members from Florida and New York.

Jay Leno unveils vehicle inspired by Sam Walton at the Woodward Dream Cruise

The event caps off a week of festivities — starting with Roadkill Nights in Pontiac Aug. 13 — that includes charity events, car club parades and the Detroit Three showing off their latest wares. The Woodward Dream Cruise is the world’s largest one-day celebration of classic car culture that attracts over 1 million visitors, and more than 40,000 muscle cars, street rods, custom, collector and special interest vehicles. Behind the Woodward grandstands, attendees can also enjoy a variety of experiences on M1’s 87-acre property. Take a tire-smoking, tail-wagging, supercharged Dodge Hellcat thrill ride on M1’s 1.5-mile race track and skid pad. Or ogle displays of Metro Detroit's finest hot rods, muscle cars and trick trucks while noshing a hot dog and cola. Every year, the event draws in about 1.5 million people who can expect to see over 400,000 cars, including muscle, street rods, custom builds, collector cars and special edition vehicles participating in the cruise.

Pontiac Transportation Museum shines spotlight on city's auto industry impact

Registration is $40 until Wednesday  and will be $45 the day of the race. WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) and WOMC-FM  (104.3) will be broadcasting live from Birmingham. Detroit — Auto enthusiasts from around the globe will rev up their engines and descend on Metro Detroit this weekend for the highly-anticipated Woodward Dream Cruise.

This had resulted in the federal government's Corporate Average Fuel Economy regulations of 1975 and the proliferation, temporarily, of more fuel-efficient and less powerful automobiles. However, the Woodward Dream Cruise also welcomes vehicles of all models whose owners have either scrupulously maintained or customized their car to create a unique vehicle or statement. At M1 Concourse, over 600 cars in 13 classes including  hot rods, race cars, muscle cars and cruisers will be on display and compete in exhibition competitions.

Electric vehicles spark interest ahead of the 2022 Woodward Dream Cruise

Parallel to the M1 Concourse Car Club at the intersection of South Boulevard, Pontiac closes down a section of Woodward for street legal drag racing. Some of the country’s top drag racers are invited to bring out their rocket ships — past participants have included everything from dragsters to V-8-powered Priuses — for a daylong competition down a 1/8-mile track. The Woodward Dream Cruise is an annual automotive enthusiast event held in the northern suburbs of Detroit. Held each year on the third Saturday in August, the Cruise runs along Woodward Avenue, a major thoroughfare in the region, from Ferndale to Pontiac. Ushering in more than 1 million people and roughly 40,000 classic street machines to the region, spectators will line up along Woodward Avenue for a stretch spanning nine Oakland County communities this weekend. Today, the cruise takes over metro Detroit's most famous road as people flock to see classics, oddities and more.

Where do folks park?

Past cruises have showcased everything from the mid-engine Ford GT to the 7-electric-motors Mustang Mach-E 1400 (as in 1,400 horsepower). "Collaborating with the Woodward Dream Cruise is very important to Ford Motor Company because we strive to contribute and give back in meaningful ways to the communities where we live, work... and cruise." Starting as early as Thursday, car enthusiasts will crowd Woodward and surrounding communities to showcase their wheels.

Public parking is available along or near the cruise route. M1 Concourse will host its second annual Woodward Dream Show on Friday, August 19th in Pontiac with some 600 examples of the Cruise’s finest vehicles. In particular, the event will celebrate 90 years of the 1932 Ford “Deuce”, 100 years of the Lincoln brand, and 55 years of the Pontiac Firebird. Ford is also going electric and will show off its new F-150 Lightning pickup and Mustang Mach-E at its Ferndale activation.

Police departments from each community patrol on foot, horseback and vehicles during the Cruise to ensure a safe and family-friendly environment for everyone. A team of amateur radio operators also serve as additional “eyes and ears” of law enforcement officials along the Cruise route. The Woodward Dream Cruise is an alcohol-free, family-oriented event. As public safety is paramount, cruisers are asked to obey all rules of the road. One of the biggest gatherings will be at the Cruise’s epicenter, Memorial Park at 13 Mile and Woodward, where a variety of car clubs congregate. You’ll see anything from a hot pink 1955 Ford T-bird to a 1,000-horse Chevy Nova dragster to a striped 427 Shelby Cobra.

This year, kids will get in free, live music is expected and there will be shaded seating for 1,000 guests. In addition, there will be a live reveal about noon of Mobsteel's Lincoln Coupe. Mobsteel is a design company that focuses on manufacturing automotive aftermarket products.

Ferndale officially kicks off the Dream Cruise on Friday, Aug. 19, with its annual Emergency Vehicle Show, 5 p.m. In addition to those familiar events, Ferndale will also have a Storyland of Floats featuring Detroit Thanksgiving Day parade floats, live rock music and an electric go-kart play zone for the rug rats. Rain or shine, the official event is the highlight of an unofficial summer of cruising along “America’s main street” as enthusiasts gather to celebrate the automobile on weeknights and weekends. The Cruise really gets rockin’ a week before with Motor Trend Presents Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge at M1 Concourse in Pontiac. Prior to the organizing of the Dream Cruise residents of the west side of Detroit and the western Detroit suburban communities had been cruising Woodward Avenue since the 1940s.

We're revving our engines, getting ready for the cruise. In addition to the photo galleries, videos, and news you'll find here, watch for live coverage Dream Cruise week on 7 Action News. The Woodward Dream Cruise is a spectacular experience to drive, or, merely watch and marvel from the sidelines.