ROYAL OAK — First-time cruisers, veterans, lowriders and even a milk truck all gathered at Woodward on Saturday afternoon. A rainstorm rolled in midway through the 2024 Dream Cruise around 3 p.m., but that didn’t stop the enthusiastic fans.
Milkman’s son
PONTIAC – The milk truck is back. In post-World War II America, milk trucks became a community staple, delivering the precious liquid to homes everywhere. Dave Kirby grew up the son of a milkman when his father returned to Detroit as a decorated war hero and drove a truck for Twin Pines Dairy.
A few years later, Dave bought a 1965 milk truck made by Detroit Industrial Vehicles Company (Divco for short) from a barn in California, restored it, and brought it back to its Twin Pines livery.
“This is the last of a dying breed,” Kirby said at the Pontiac M1 Concourse, packed with fans. “I drove it over to my dad’s house and surprised him on his 100th birthday.” Detroit-based Divco built trucks for dairies, bakeries and other delivery companies from 1926 to 1986. Only a few remain.
“Twin Pines had a lot of milk trucks in Detroit, about 1,200 of them running around, because they had the Milky the Clown TV show on Saturdays and it was really popular,” Kirby said. “As I was driving around Woodward this week, people were coming up and telling me stories about the milkmen.”
The advent of supermarkets saw the demise of milk delivery starting in the 1970s. “Kroger and Walmart came along and it became cheaper to pick up your order at the grocery store, but people still loved the milkman because bottled milk tastes better,” Kirby laughed.
Kirby is writing a book titled “The Milkman’s Son,” and he plans to donate his truck to the Henry Ford Museum when he travels with his father to the giant dairy in the sky.
Queen of the Lowriders
Pontiac – Long live the Queen.
Debbie Sanchez, star of the upcoming movie “Queen of Lowriders,” led an army of modified vehicles on this year’s Dream Cruise. The hydraulic vehicles provided nonstop entertainment, swerving side to side, going on three wheels and sometimes jumping more than six feet into the air.
“This year we have between 16 and 18 cars,” said Sanchez, proudly displaying his colorful purple mane in the M1 Concourse. “The cars go out and flip switches and move around. They’re very complicated. The heart of the lowrider is in the trunk, and it contains the pump that powers the hydraulic system and the battery.”
To withstand the cars’ dance moves and added equipment, the lowriders’ frames have been strengthened and sedans’ weight has increased by up to 40 percent. Among this year’s participants are two classic Chevrolet Monte Carlos, a Cadillac and a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air driven by Sanchez’s daughter, Olivia Cancel.
Lowriders have their roots in Mexican car culture.
“Lowriders originated in California,” says Sanchez, who started building the cars in 1995. “The story goes that a guy who worked at the airport stole some hydraulics and put them on his car.” Crowds gathered at the M1 to watch the cars perform, and the lowriders took the show to Woodward.
First Cruise
James and Kim Graff, both 43, of Baltimore, Ohio, learned about Detroit’s Dream Cruise last year and drove about four hours north this year to show off their blue 1923 T-Bucket hot rod, a modified version of a Ford Model T. The Graffs own other cars, including a 1967 Chevrolet Camaro and a 1978 Malibu, but wanted to bring along their eye-catching hot rod with a shiny, unmissable blower that hooks up to the engine and adds power.
“This makes us stand out a little bit,” James Graff said. “Everybody loves their Camaros and Malibu’s and Mustangs, but when you have this, it makes a difference.”
Veteran cruisers Shelby Westergard, 30, and Chris Palmer, 44, of Algonac, also enjoyed standing out from the crowd in their boat-sized, pale yellow 1965 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser parked in the large parking lot at the corner of Catalpa Drive and Woodward.
“I love the look of it all,” Westergaard said. “Everybody has memories associated with this car or something like it.”
It was the recently engaged couple’s first road trip since purchasing the classic station wagon three weeks ago, and they love showing off the Vista’s distinctive curved skylight.
“She said she wanted an old wagon. Her favorite color is yellow,” said Palmer, who hasn’t missed a Dream Cruise since 1996.
Three generations of cruisers
PONTIAC — The Thomas family set off at dawn for Saturday’s Woodward Dream Cruise.
“You’ve got to get here early to get a spot in Woodard,” says Waterford Township resident Bob Thomas, 43, standing next to his 1966 Dodge Dart at the corner of Pike and Woodward streets in downtown Pontiac. Bob is the son of Mike, 64, the first of three generations of Thomas family members who avidly attend the Dream Cruise every year. The third generation is Mike’s grandson, Hunter, 19, who just bought a Mazda Miata to restore.
For subscribers: Heavy Metal: Dream Cruise roars through Woodward again
Restorations are in his blood, and Mike has been attending the cruise since its inception in 1995, and he came again this year in a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro that he restored six years ago.
“I’m a first and second generation Camaro fanatic,” Papa Thomas says, “and have restored countless Camaros.”
One of the first cars he owned was a 1970 model that he used to drag race on Woodward Avenue when he was 16. The car was briefly impounded after he was caught racing twice in the same night. “I didn’t even notice the cops behind me at Woodward and 13th Street,” Mike said with a laugh. “But I just don’t like that stuff anymore.”
Gone are Woodward’s legendary drag racing days, and Bob and Hunter (who brought their 2002 Chevrolet Silverado to this year’s cruise) don’t have a similar story to tell. Instead, they look forward to legal drag racing at Roadkill Night, held each year in Pontiac the weekend before the cruise.
ICE and EV
ROYAL OAK — Sitting next to his red mid-engine, V8-powered Chevrolet Corvette C8 on Woodward Avenue, Kevin Kicinski was wearing a Rivian shirt.
“I get the best of both worlds,” said Kicinski, the service manager for the electric-vehicle brand and a fan of both internal combustion and electric vehicles, who keeps a Ford Mustang Mach-E next to his Corvette in his South Lyon home.
But he prefers the loud noise of an internal combustion engine and the quiet sound of an electric car. “I don’t like that sound,” he said of the artificially engineered V8 exhaust note of the recently released electric Dodge Charger Daytona Banshee. “If you’re going to make it an electric car, make it an electric car. If you’re going to make it a muscle car, make it a muscle car.”
Kicinski knows his cars well: In addition to a Dodge Charger, he’s also owned two fifth-generation Corvette C5s.
“This is my third Corvette, and this one’s really special to me because it’s the first time I’ve ever flown out to buy a car,” he said of the stylish, 495-horsepower beast next to him. “I bought it online, flew out to New Hampshire and drove it back. It was a fun day just to bring it home.”
Kicinski loves the variety of cars at Woodward, from custom cars to V-8s to electric vehicles. “The EV market hasn’t taken off yet,” he said. “Rivian is doing well, and we have an opportunity.”
email address
Email: hpayne@detroitnews.com