Before calling it a night we went for a small drive in the 'hood and to check out if the Snake and Mongoose haulers would be still outside the Palladium Theater in Birmingham where the first showing of the movie had just taken place. And yes, they were!

http://www.snakeandmongoosemovie.com/



















I sure wish that my lens was better for the night shots but it was a great thrill to see both on these parked on a city street.

Saturday was not only the actual Woodward Dream Cruise day but also the day for Back to the Bricks in Flint. I wanted to see some of it and since the Ramchargers were also present it would be nice to see Dave Rockwell who has written the fantastic "We Were the Ramchargers" book and who I had exchanged some emails with the last couple of years. Not to mention all the other legends of course. Let's start the Flint tour at the old Dort-Durant office building just across the street from the factory. This is where the Buick folks gather;









1966 Buick Riviera GS 425 2x4, only 179 made;



It was open house at the office building;













Downtown Flint was packed already in the morning. Here's the Corvette folks;



Not a huge fan in general but this was a really good looking Vette;





The uniforms made these guys stand out, very nice;

Dig the Van, man!;















I wish could have seen this on Detroit Dragway back in the day with a cloud of clutch smoke following it...











Shut up already Finn and go away! Actually they had a sort of cacklefest type of thing when all the race cars were started for a moment. I feel though that I didn't have much of intelligent things to say, seeing the legends face to face is quite humbling. But it was a great moment to exchange a few words with the guys who have influenced your life so much on the other side of the globe. Thank you again for the good words and all the autographs!

Thanks for sharing. So many cool cars... '61 300 convertibles, '62 bubbletop 409/4spd Chevies, more Hemi cars than you could shake a stick at...etc. I think I've sat in that #91 Oreca Viper before.

It's refreshing to see an outsider's viewpoint of Detroit.

Heading back to Detroit to catch all the action. As usual, there was too much traffic to drive on Woodward. After driving through Pontiac there was no other choice than taking side roads to be able to reach a good spot to park a bit south from 13 Mile.









Never made it to the Ford display this year...or the emergency vehicles...but there were nice Fords everywhere;

Thanks for the kind words fstfish66 and Blusmbl!













GetAwayDriver was also checking out things on Woodward in his stylish new Challenger. He also kindly offered to loan a spare tire for the New Yorker as it seemed that the left rear tire was starting to give up. But a closer examination that evening revealed that I had a bent axle. Something that wasn't so evident when the car was running rough on the highway but with a rebuilt carb it became a lot quieter (still needs a new exhaust) and slow city driving made the issue quite clear. In addition to that the master cylinder started to go...the trip being almost over it would be good to park the car soon and give it some attention before new adventures. Just a short drive to Flint and that's mostly highway lol.



Before stopping by his garage there was still some time to look at the Woodward action.



Checking out some Mopars in a motel parking lot somebody shouted, you got a Mopar shirt, do you have a Mopar too? It was Shirley from MCG! We had quite a long chat and her being the nice person she is she gave some cookies and the latest issue of MCG! Thanks again Shirley!

I love that 66 W100... Isn't that Mopar Ron's old chop-top van?

With some amazing luck I happened to score on eBay a never seen photo of the first Dick Boynton Max Wedge D100 outside a California dealership. This truck is one of my favorite Mopars ever;



It was time to say thank you and good-bye to Kurt who had been so impressed about my last Detroit adventure that he offered me a place to stay on this visit! Thanks again! Kurt is a bit of an adventurer himself, he has Finnish ancestors and decided some years ago to check out the old country, found work at Sisu trucks and ended up helping out the factory race team! In addition to that he was able to pursue his real passion, motorcycle racing as well!



Before heading to Flint for storing the New Yorker I was invited to take a nice drive along St Clair to Port Huron. I really wanted to be at Moparfest in Canada but there wasn't anyone heading that way on Saturday evening on Sunday morning and the NY wasn't an option. I had a flight from Chicago on Monday so not much room for errors...not to mention that my Kansas plates weren't quite...ummm...up to date. But no worries, a nice day ahead with excellent tour guides!









Have to make a stop when seeing a place like this;

Next stop was at Chrysler Marine & Industrial in Marysville! Now it is a Mopar Parts Depot. There was a small local car show going on too;

Arriving in Port Huron we witnessed a big event where people floated downriver in all kinds of interesting devices, some seemed to have their own private island to travel on.;



Canada can be seen in the background;





It was time to grab something to eat, this beautiful 62 Dodge was in the parking lot;







With full stomachs we made one more tour in Port Huron and headed back towards Detroit. This bridge goes to the Canadian side;











First truck cab I've ever seen! Cool!





Thanks for the tour guys! Driving to Flint makes one a bit thoughtful, it's back to the daily grind soon. Jim is meeting me in Flint as he is coming back from Moparfest;



Looking one more time at Auburn Hills, see you soon!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t0Am2E94-o



Bad photo of a groovy van in Flint;



Unloading at MrNorm and making it to the airport just in time;



That was all, thanks for looking!

Looks like a very successful trip. Thanks again for posting all of the pics.

OK, we know you have more pics. Start over and post more pics.

Hans does the BEST job of summing up all the things I grew up on and still love about Metro-Detroit/mid-west US. The irony is that he travels from halfway around the earth to do it! I hope you can get a Euro American car magazine to purchase your photos/writing.

On a slightly political note, Hans has a better understanding of the Constitution, state's rights, seperation of powers, etc. than most any American I've ever met. This guy could write a citizenship test, forget about just passing one!

Btw, you weren't the only one taking photos of cool cars. This is when he found out his master cylinder was failing.

And it is always a pleasure travelling the country and talking history and politics with Hans, though we can't talk about it here. Sometimes I wish he could live here, but he will find out all too soon about what really goes on, though I am sure he knows it already I would hate to ruin his enthusiasm. Thanks again for helping me out on my adventures, Lord knows I need the help!

Very gracious of you Hans to post this entire thread of all things that we find wonderful about the automotive culture here in the US...


FYI, I did read/view the entire thread...very nice!


Mike

Uhhhh, almost too much praise for a low key Finn! Thanks, I appreciate it! It seems that each trip makes the "bucket list" longer though! I really have to stay at least a couple of weeks in Detroit the next time! And then there's Windsor and I haven't been to the Petty Museum yet (which is moving back to the original historic location as we speak), I'd like to see the guards of the unknown in Washington, take the Airstream tour, see the Peterbilt factory if possible, visit my uncle's neighborhood in Chicago, the Chrysler mansion in New York, get inside the Chrysler Building...the list just goes on...and I never seem to have time for any wrecking yards anymore!

No worries about my enthusiasm getting ruined Jim! I am pretty well aware what is going on. Years of research really made me love America even more, the wisdom of the Founding Fathers is really amazing not to mention how well their thoughts fit even in the world of today.

My sincere thanks to everybody who made yet another trip to America an unforgettable one! Hope to see you soon again!