BIRMINGHAM, MI – While it is true that Detroit’s massive annual Woodward Dream Cruise is a one-day event held in the middle of August each summer, experienced dream cruisers well-know that the best actual cruising experience isn’t on that mega Saturday, but rather on the Tuesday through Friday leading up to the weekend gridlock. That’s precisely why the Shelby American Automobile Club – Motor City Region (SAAC-MCR) stages a Pre-Woodward Dream Cruise Event each year.
If it’s a club meet-up place right on Woodward Avenue that you’re looking for, then likely the best-known spot would be at “Pasteiner’s Auto Zone Hobbies,” a favorite weekly Cars & Coffee venue among local gearheads that’s located right on the famed avenue in Birmingham, Michigan. As we recently reported, we find an eclectic group of cars there pretty much every Saturday, so this made for the perfect gathering place for SACC-MCR on Woodward week.
Our own roving photojournalist correspondent, Ford retiree Bill Cook, was there for that special event, along with fellow Ford superfan Mark Storm. Together they mingled, took gobs of pictures, and filed this report:
“On pre-cruise Wednesday night, SAAC-MCR had our annual Club Members event prior to the 30th annual Woodward Dream Cruise on Saturday. We rumble in late afternoon and generally hang out until 9 p.m. or so. The location is just yards away from 8 lanes of the action on Woodward. It’s like this the entire week before the cruise. You feel like you miss something if you’re not out there every night. It’s the best!”
To kick off our Woodward Dream Cruise 2025 coverage, check out some of the Fords in Cook’s photo gallery of the club meet-up below:
FORD PERFORMANCE PHOTOS / COURTESY BILL COOK
