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St. Louis \u2014 \u00a0Imagine the Woodward Dream Cruise taking place in the middle of winter instead of summer. And stretching not 16 miles through nine Woodward Avenue communities, but 3,000 miles through nine states. And ending at the foot of Woodward in front of Cobo Center.<\/p>\n
Welcome\u00a0to \u201cThe Drive Home,\u201d an epic classic car journey<\/a>\u00a0from Tacoma, Washington, to Detroit, kicking off the 2016 North American International Auto Show.<\/p>\n For the Kansas City-St. Louis leg, I joined the expedition featuring three red classics: a\u00a01957 Chevy Nomad<\/a>,\u00a01961 Chrysler 300G<\/a>, and a\u00a01966 Ford Mustang<\/a>. It was kind of like meeting your buddy at 13 Mile and Woodward for a cruise from Royal Oak to Ferndale in his favorite muscle car. Except my Drive Home leg covered 250 miles across America\u2019s farm belt.<\/p>\n This glorious adventure is the brainchild of David Madeira, who runs the nation\u2019s biggest (165,000 square feet) auto museum, LeMay America\u2019s Car Museum, in Tacoma. A grizzled car-and-cycle globetrotter, Madeira last year traversed the Indian Himalayas\u2019 fearsome Khardalungala Pass on a motorbike. In a hailstorm. With his wife on the back. So braving the Rockies in January in a \u201966 Mustang must seem like a day at the beach.<\/p>\n Madeira is no ordinary guy; America\u2019s Car Museum is no ordinary museum.<\/p>\n Founded on the sprawling collection of Tacoma refuse magnate Harold LeMay, Madeira believes in a living auto museum. That is, a collection with artifacts that continue to do what they were designed to do: be driven like mad.<\/p>\n \u201cI argue that while driving vintage cars may put them at \u2018risk,\u2019 not driving them makes their \u2018death\u2019 certain,\u201d writes Madeira in his Drive Home blog at AmericasCarMuseum.org. \u201cCars that don\u2019t move are sad objects to look at. And driving them is the only way to give them a chance for a meaningful existence, giving pleasure to driver and passengers.\u201d<\/p>\n Madiera would fit right in in Detroit\u2019s cruise culture, where road warriors and their antique machines hit Woodard every August to rev their engines.<\/p>\n So it\u2019s no surprise that the museum\u2019s chief found kindred spirits in Detroit Auto Dealers Association Executive Director Rod Albert and their 2016 auto show. Madeira\u2019s \u201cDrive Home\u201d means to showcase the museum\u2019s classics and kick off the country\u2019s biggest car circus with some of the showstoppers of yesteryear.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Drive Home is \u2018driving home\u2019 the point that ACM is an entity which promotes and celebrates America\u2019s automotive heritage and is relevant to the car culture today,\u201d says Madeira.<\/p>\n \u25a01957 Chevy Nomad:\u00a0The product of GM design legend \u201cHollywood Harley\u201d Earl, the Nomad was inspired by Chevy\u2019s 1954 Corvette Nomad station wagon concept (I\u2019m not making this up). Sporting the same small-block V-8 architecture that powers \u2019Vettes today, the \u201957 Nomad wagon is distinguished by cold air intakes above the headlights, which prevent the fenders from rusting out.<\/p>\n \u25a01961 Chrysler 300G:\u00a0The king of the \u201coriginal muscle car\u201d 300-series, the 413-cube, V-8-powered G was designed by airplane-obsessed Virgil Exner. With its rear fins, angled headlights and sloped trunk, the G is an early \u201960s icon.<\/p>\n \u25a01966 Ford Mustang:\u00a0The pony that created pony cars. Powered by a 289-cubic inch V-8, this hardtop head-turner sports the long hood, grille and three-bar taillights that are still a Mustang signature today.<\/p>\n We were given a hearty send-off at Kansas City\u2019s Roasterie coffee factory by area car clubs on a brisk, sunny Sunday morning. Locals met the America\u2019s Car Museum threesome with an array of iron \u2014 modified 1930s Ford hardtops, a ground-shaking 1969 427-cubic-inch Chevy Corvette, various Porsches, a 1959 Aston M DB3 \u2014 even a 2014 Tesla P85D.<\/p>\n Fortunately we didn\u2019t need oars in St. Louis \u2014 the Mississippi Valley\u2019s flooding had subsided and all major highways were open. But the Chevy Suburban-length, 220-inch 300G still felt like a boat. As Cruisers know, the biggest advances in the last 60 years have come in handling, where numb steering (even in my 1966 Porsche 906 racer) have been replaced by modern links that feel rooted to the ground. The three classics cars also lack today\u2019s electronic console infotainment systems, though I didn\u2019t miss them what with the constant chatter over the caravan\u2019s walkie-talkie system between \u201cGiraffe\u201d (my handle), \u201cThe Dude\u201d Madeira, \u201cThe Kid\u201d Bill Hall and the rest of the crew.<\/p>\n But the old-guard cars can still school the current generation with better rear visibility and dashboards that are works of art. The Chrysler\u2019s delicious detailing deserves its own museum. And its button-controlled transmission and climate controls \u2014 even foot-button operated high beams \u2014 were ergonomically intuitive. After a stint in the 300G, I took the helm of the short-wheelbase Nomad which maneuvered like a jet-ski by comparison.<\/p>\n Only the Mustang eluded my grasp, because \u201cThe Dude\u201d was nursing it through a carburetor issue. But like the cold bug that had swept through the crew, the cars had suffered only minor illnesses \u2014 a silent 300G radio, an unresponsive Nomad speedometer \u2014 that never slowed the Tacoma-Detroit safari as it clocked 2,225 miles under the St. Louis arch.<\/p>\n \u201cDavid Madeira is like a preacher,\u201d smiled Mark Hyman, CEO of\u00a0Hyman Limited Classic Cars<\/a>, at a barbecue feast welcoming us into St. Louis. \u201cHe\u2019s out on the road spreading the gospel of the American automobile.\u201d<\/p>\n Amen. That passion also fuels ACM\u2019s mission, through its Hagerty Education Program, to baptize today\u2019s youth as tomorrow\u2019s car craftsmen. ACM\u2019s generosity funds programs across the country like\u00a0Wexford-Missaukee Tech in Cadillac<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"http:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-mm-\/ab33f93264a1eb220b83a5b35304bf11f4ac2cd1\/c=497-0-3576-2315&r=x408&c=540x405\/local\/-\/media\/2016\/01\/05\/DetroitNews\/B99342263Z.1_20160105113452_000_GJCOGCOC.1-0.jpg\")
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