Nice re-creation of the Tucker sales office;



This Ford barn seemed to have been lighted by Lucas, the prince of darkness...



Or maybe it was just my cheap lens? The displays were very nice once again and the buildings are a sight to see themselves.



Pierce-Arrow building;



This was probably my favorite building, amazing;













The attic;



Looking down at the swap;



And the building from the outside;



Hurst detail;

Let's take a look inside the Ford dealership building;





The parts counter was really cool, packed with vintage stuff;





Then across the street to the Franklin dealership;





Checkers were manufactured just a few miles from here, in Kalamazoo;

A bit hidden in this large building was a fantastic display of traditional Hot Rods and Customs along with huge paintings and enlarged magazine covers. Quite a treat!

For the Beach Boys fans at least this one should be familiar;



















The most distant wing in the Franklin building had a Hudson display;

















This was a popular photo stop;



We left fairly early to have a chance to grab a bite on the way to Detroit and the Telegraph Cruise...but it got wet on the way...

I had a bad feeling about the evening even if the rain seemed to have stopped.



In addition to this lonely warrior we saw maybe a dozen cruisers on Telegraph.







We drove through downtown and checked out Woodward but it was dead as well. No worries, Sunday would be a busy day anyway...

I sure hope your USA vacation threads end up in the best of category. Love your pics and your knowledge of the automotive history.

Thanks Eric, I try my best although I have probably forgotten a lot more than I know....

On Sunday the North Oakland Mopar Muscle Club had a swap and show at the Packard Proving Grounds. It was again a pleasure to meet GetAwayDriver and HemiViper588 who have a great insight in Chrysler matters and the car scene in Detroit! A few interesting goodies at the swap and the Proving Grounds is a great setting for a car show!

http://www.440sixpack.com/

Got the Mopar show pretty well covered and the next thing to see was the Concours d'Elegance of America at St John's in Plymouth, MI.

http://www.concoursusa.org/

Another beautiful setting in the park at The Inn at St John's. This hotel and conference center used to be a monastery and it is a sight on its own.





Reliable Carriers had more than a dozen rigs on site and they had parked this at a primo spot by the entrance;





If it don't go, chrome it? It was pretty neat actually...









The main thing why I wanted to see this event was the fact that they had about a dozen old NASCAR racers on display;

Just go towards the sound...drool!






































Hmmmmmmm

I am pretty sure I have a picture of the Charger stock car from the mid 70's when it was tan.

"Big Tank" Vette









Very nice display of Dana, Nickey, Baldwin-Motion, Royal etc supercars;

Chrysler had set up a nice display;















We checked out the beautiful building after the show and had burgers on the second floor. Very reasonably priced and nice views from the balcony.









Oh yeah, I-696 where legends were made!



This is GM Flint Assembly where Chevy and GMC trucks are made;









A few more photos from Flint too;





I wish I could see some photos of this place back in the day. I thought that they are in the garden sculpture business but it seems to be an eatery, claimed to be quite good too by those in the know;

http://www.hoffmansdecodeli.com/





Charles W Nash house just around the corner from the factory shown earlier;



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Williams_Nash







Truck frames on the train;

Flint is struggling as there used to be about 80,000 people working for GM in the late 70:s, today only 10% of those jobs are left.















While looking at Flint we stumbled upon a small local cruise;











But almost wherever you go in Michigan the auto industry is still always present;











Hold on! What's that?



Somebody should definitely save this poor thing. The For Sale sign seemed to have been there for a very long time...

After a long weekend in Michigan it was time to head out west again. Places to go, people to meet!



But Lansing was on the way. I had time for a couple of quick visits.

The R.E. Olds Museum is a must when in Lansing;









Ironically when the Olds Freeway was built the Olds Mansion had to be demolished. This fireplace was one of the things saved from the building;





Assembly line fresh 5.7 Diesel...uhhh, uploaded the wrong pic. This is a 307...still cool

Another item added on the "bucket list";

http://mwlofts.com/residential/motorwheel/history.php













GM workers had made this "Body by Fisher" wagon;





This beautiful stained glass wall had been in the Oldsmobile executive offices;





This looked familiar...















A replica of the Hurst Hairy Olds;







Oldsmobile should have put this "Darth Vader edition" Cutlass in production;







Olds Tower

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ransom_E._Olds

There was only a bit over an hour to check out the Michigan Historical Museum in Lansing but the nice dude at the ticket counter got me in for half price Up we go to start with the 20th Century, the rest can follow if time permits...







The first thing to greet you on the third floor exhibition is a recreation of the body drop at the Ford Highland Park plant. I liked in particular the map showing the different operations. I asked if the windows were from the plant and the guy said that it has been torn down a long time ago. I said no, they shortened it a bit because some bright mind thought it was ugly and a strip mall was built in the other end. Oh, I had no idea said the fellow...















A glimpse downstairs;



They had built homes from different time periods to show typical American living;





This exhibition was the Arsenal of Democracy describing how American manufacturing won WWII;

















http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norden_bombsight

Gotta love that mid-century stuff;

























I did go through the earlier Michigan history as well, the lumber barons etc but I guess there is too much of non-Mopar stuff already so we will move in to the Chicago area...

Back to a known hoarder...this loaded 1969 Dodge Dart was really unusua;



Sure hope this one will brought back, would be a gorgeous car;



Unfortunately this fastback is beyond saving but no parts will be thrown away, some are actually on the latest Hemi Under Glass;



I'm a big Sweptline fan...





It seems to be difficult to find any Made in USA 215-235/75 x 15 whitewalls these days so I bought a set of used 255/70 x 15 Dunlop Elites from Jim. Rather classy looking tire but a bit wide for the New Yorker.



Now, here's a hauler to have...sadly the current owner cut off some of the upper parts. I wonder who had this rig back in the day? It had to be someone famous?



The last MrNorm dragster, sadly out in he elements;





The latest Hemi Under Glass under construction;



And another;



I love the small towns, this is Harvard, IL,

Finally on our way towards Kansas City (and a few other places) we stopped by the huge classic car dealer in Staunton, IL, Country Classic Cars;

http://www.countryclassiccars.com/



This place is huge, several large buildings house hundreds of old cars and there is even more outside. A lot of the inventory seems to be priced around $10K.







Don't get any ideas now Jim...



You don't stumble on a 1960 Plymouth Fury 2dHT too often. This was a big block car too;





On Route 66 we found The Rabbit Ranch. In addition to live rabbits and german ones stuck in the ground you can find some trucking and Route 66 history as well;

http://www.henrysroute66.com/











With a heavy heart we drove by what used to be the Chrysler St Louis plant;







Thunder and Lightning followed the Rhinehart family get together in Missouri Nice meeting you all!



In rural Kansas a tow/wrecking yard had an auction recently. It seems that a few people made some excellent deals;





With some creativity the buyer of this 1970 Chrysler was located. Red with a white vinyl top and interior, quite a combo! We will see if something comes out of it...







About halfway there, have to upload another 1000 photos on Photobucket, stay tuned!