Today in pandemic reopenings: The Woodward Dream Cruise will officially be back this August, and sponsor Ford will be making it about the Bronco.
As you may well remember from last year, the Dream Cruise initially got downgraded to a virtual car show, and then ultimately even that plan got canceled. The coronavirus was hitting Michigan hard, cities along the route had voted not to issue permits, and it simply didn’t make any sense from a public-safety standpoint. This did not stop a certain amount of cruising to occur on Woodward Avenue regardless, but it was all unofficial.
But now we’re past the worst of the pandemic, barring any major upsurge of a variant, and the cruise is back on for Saturday, Aug. 21. As usual, you can bet that the week leading up to official cruise day will be filled with pre-cruise cruising as well.
It’s the 26th year for the Dream Cruise, and the fourth year that Ford is sponsoring the event. The automaker plans to showcase the first original Bronco, which rolled off the assembly line in August 1965. You can count on seeing the Mustang Mach-E, Ford F-150 Lightning electric truck, and Maverick hybrid small pickup on display as well at Mustang Alley in Ferndale.
If you’ve attended the Dream Cruise, you know that it feels like a million people are there with you, and you’d be right — 1.5 million or by some accounts 2 million. And with thousands of cars participating — Ford and the cruise folks say 40,000, but who could even count it. Safe to say it’s the world’s biggest one-day automotive event.
For more details on what will be taking place along the route of America’s first paved road, check out the official Dream Cruise website. Meanwhile, above and below are some views of the 2019, 2018 and 2017 cruises to get you in the mood: