{"id":24119,"date":"2019-08-23T11:59:44","date_gmt":"2019-08-23T15:59:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=24119"},"modified":"2019-08-23T11:59:44","modified_gmt":"2019-08-23T15:59:44","slug":"three-future-dream-cruise-classics-bmw-i8-f-150-raptor-any-tesla","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/three-future-dream-cruise-classics-bmw-i8-f-150-raptor-any-tesla","title":{"rendered":"Three future Dream Cruise classics: BMW i8, F-150 Raptor, any Tesla"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"speakable-p-1 p-text\">The Woodward Dream Cruise is a celebration of Motor City past with earth-shaking V-8s, chromed cruisers and\u00a0modified rat rods.<\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable-p-2 p-text\">But it\u2019s also a buffet table of everything automotive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">While we revelers bow to 20th-century majesty, we also hail the 21st century\u2019s future classics. Like the 1960s, the 2010s are a historic period of innovation, performance and good old-fashioned over-indulgence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">This year, I hot-footed three modern, instant classics down Woodward that \u2014 25 years hence \u2014 will be remembered as fondly as the epic Ferraris, Continentals and DeLoreans of yore.<\/p>\n<div id=\"module-position-SCWyCCqFmb0\" class=\"story-asset image-asset\">\n<aside class=\"wide single-photo\"><div align=\"left\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/08\/21\/PDTN\/99c04a82-05a8-43f1-8b3e-7bc9490265d2-cruise_bmwi8-dairymat.jpg?width=540&amp;height=&amp;fit=bounds&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Sweets. The 2019 BMW i8 makes a stop at Woodward's Dairy Mat.\" width=\"540\" data-mycapture-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/08\/21\/PDTN\/99c04a82-05a8-43f1-8b3e-7bc9490265d2-cruise_bmwi8-dairymat.jpg\" data-mycapture-sm-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/08\/21\/PDTN\/99c04a82-05a8-43f1-8b3e-7bc9490265d2-cruise_bmwi8-dairymat.jpg?width=500&amp;height=281\" \/>Sweets. The 2019 BMW i8 makes a stop at Woodward&#8217;s Dairy Mat.\u00a0<span class=\"credit\">(Photo: Henry Payne, The Detroit News)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/aside>\n<div class=\"clearfix\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"presto-h3\">BMW i8<\/h3>\n<p class=\"p-text\">\u201cI thought that was a new Ferrari!\u201d yelled a cruiser as he rolled down his window next to my 2019 BMW i8 Roadster.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Born in 2014, the sexy i8 is easy to mistake for mid-engine\u00a0Italian supercars. It\u2019s the first mid-engine\u00a0BMW since the iconic\u00a0Giorgetto\u00a0Giugiaro-penned 1978 M1. Like the M1 \u2014 which launched BMW&#8217;s performance M badge \u2014\u00a0the i8 has big ambitions. Where the spartan M1 was about raw speed, the exotic i8 is about signaling BMW\u2019s electrified future.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">It\u2019s a rolling technology lab. The three-cylinder turbo engine is mated to electric motors front and rear, with a lithium-ion battery running down the the car\u2019s spine. Like the Ford GT or McLaren supercars, the central chassis is a lightweight carbon tub. Interior is state of-the-art from its Pixar-perfect digital graphics to flowing dash lines.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Expensive and complex, the future of plug-in drivetrains is uncertain. It\u2019s the sci-fi design that ensures this $164,298 car will be coveted for decades.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Like a space pod, butterfly doors rise for passenger entry. With the push of button, the roof disappears into the rear deck making the i8 a topless Dream Cruiser in just 15 seconds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">\u201cIt\u2019s something out of the movie \u2018Tron,\u2019\u201d shouts another cruiser-by.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Dressed in copper tone, the i8 was a Cruise showpiece. I rolled into Birmingham\u2019s annual D-MAN Foundation\u00a0charity rides for the disabled and was swarmed. I could have given rides all weekend.<\/p>\n<div id=\"module-position-SCWyCCq3Bu8\" class=\"story-asset image-asset\">\n<aside class=\"wide single-photo\"><div align=\"left\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/08\/21\/PDTN\/d458ab2c-17e5-4ba5-9ee4-df3c4738a63a-cruise_raptor-fr.jpg?width=540&amp;height=&amp;fit=bounds&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"The 2019 Ford F-150 Raptor is the most powerful of a new breed of performance pickup hitting the Dream Cruise.\" width=\"540\" data-mycapture-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/08\/21\/PDTN\/d458ab2c-17e5-4ba5-9ee4-df3c4738a63a-cruise_raptor-fr.jpg\" data-mycapture-sm-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/08\/21\/PDTN\/d458ab2c-17e5-4ba5-9ee4-df3c4738a63a-cruise_raptor-fr.jpg?width=500&amp;height=281\" \/>The 2019 Ford F-150 Raptor is the most powerful of a new breed of performance pickup hitting the Dream Cruise.\u00a0<span class=\"credit\">(Photo: Henry Payne, The Detroit News)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/aside>\n<div class=\"clearfix\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"presto-h3\">Ford F-150 Raptor<\/h3>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Cruise in traffic in the low-slung i8 and you feel like you\u2019re in a canyon next to all the Dodge Challengers, Chevy Bel Airs\u00a0and tail-finned Cadillacs. The canyon walls are getting taller.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Americans buy nearly 3 million new pickups a year. With a growing subset catering to us muscle car fans, pickups are changing the topography of Woodward. There are the jacked-up swamp monster, knobby-tired Jeep Gladiator, and the king of off-road speed,\u00a0the 450-horse Raptor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">The $55,000\u00a0Raptor, based on the best-selling F-150, is outfitted with intimidating grille graphics, hood scoop and terrain-shredding tires. The body armor hints at the capable technology underneath. Ten times cheaper than the epic Ford GT supercar, the Raptor is no less fun in its element. The Raptor bristles with skid plates, upgraded suspension\u00a0and Baja-worthy Fox shocks that can propel the three-ton truck to obscene outback speeds. On-road, its EcoBoost V-6 provides plenty of thrills.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Hitting Woodward, I stomped the throttle and the twin-turbo V-6 roared like, well, a prehistoric reptile. \u201cAwwwwesome!\u201d squealed a young passenger riding shotgun.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">But not as awesome as the T-Rex-roar of the previous generation Raptor\u2019s 411-horse V-8. Though down on power to the EcoBoost V-6, many Raptor faithful prefer the original eight-cylinder. Either way, it\u2019ll be ripping up Woodward asphalt for decades.<\/p>\n<div id=\"module-position-SCWyCCrKixg\" class=\"story-asset image-asset\">\n<aside class=\"wide single-photo\"><div align=\"left\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/08\/21\/PDTN\/266a3ad7-bf10-4a75-84e9-c46936789412-cruise_tesla-fr.jpg?width=540&amp;height=&amp;fit=bounds&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"The Tesla Model 3 EV poses at Cranbrook School near Woodward. The 3 was the best-selling luxury car in America in its first full model year.\" width=\"540\" data-mycapture-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/08\/21\/PDTN\/266a3ad7-bf10-4a75-84e9-c46936789412-cruise_tesla-fr.jpg\" data-mycapture-sm-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/08\/21\/PDTN\/266a3ad7-bf10-4a75-84e9-c46936789412-cruise_tesla-fr.jpg?width=500&amp;height=281\" \/>The Tesla Model 3 EV poses at Cranbrook School near Woodward. The 3 was the best-selling luxury car in America in its first full model year.\u00a0<span class=\"credit\">(Photo: Henry Payne, The Detroit News)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/aside>\n<div class=\"clearfix\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"presto-h3\">Tesla<\/h3>\n<p class=\"p-text\">In the early 1980s, ex-GM wunderkind John DeLorean sought to shake up the auto industry with his gull-winged DMC-12 sports car. Decades later, the stainless-steel wonder still wows even if its business model didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">DeLoran\u2019s spiritual successor, Elon Musk, has sold more cars than DeLorean ever dreamed. He has\u00a0created\u00a0some of the most coveted luxury cars on the planet, with the battery-powered Model 3 even besting Mercedes\u00a0and Lexus last year as America\u2019s best-selling luxury vehicle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Behind the wheel of my own Model 3, I joined a squadron of Model 3, S\u00a0and X variants at Catalpa and Woodward for a Friday evening cruise. The intersection was particularly meaningful because it was also the site of Ford\u2019s Cruise display \u2014 Musk\u2019s badges are inspired by Henry Ford\u2019s transformational Model A and T designations of a century ago. Tesla fashions itself the 21st-century Ford.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">\u201cYou know these are the fastest cars on Woodward!\u201d exclaimed one lawnchair-bound bystander as we rolled past.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Yessir. The instant-torque Teslas are shockingly fast from a standstill. Sub-3 second zero-60 times for performance Model S sedans are not uncommon. I nailed a few\u00a0silent burnouts that shamed tire-burning, ear-splitting Ford V-8s.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Like Ford, Tesla has created a brand that will resonate for years. But like DeLorean, Tesla needs to figure out how to survive without government subsidies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Folks often ask if the Dream Cruise will outlast the baby boom generation that created it 25 years ago. If my classics-of-tomorrow are any indication, it has a healthy future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Woodward Dream Cruise is a celebration of Motor City past with earth-shaking V-8s, chromed cruisers and\u00a0modified rat rods. But it\u2019s also a buffet table of everything automotive. While we revelers bow to 20th-century majesty, we also hail the 21st century\u2019s future classics. Like the 1960s, the 2010s are a historic period of innovation, performance [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24119"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24119\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}