{"id":34849,"date":"2025-08-14T14:53:36","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T18:53:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=34849"},"modified":"2025-08-14T14:53:36","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T18:53:36","slug":"corvettes-on-woodward-king-vette-fires-up-the-dream-cruise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/corvettes-on-woodward-king-vette-fires-up-the-dream-cruise","title":{"rendered":"Corvettes on Woodward: King &#8216;Vette fires up the Dream Cruise"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><em>Pontiac<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 It\u2019s good to be king.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">If the Woodward Dream Cruise were the Pride Lands, then Chevrolet Corvette would be its lion king. For eight generations and 72 years, America\u2019s longest-running sportscar badge has ruled Woodward Avenue with its roaring V-8 engines and muscled bodywork. And for over 20 years, the Corvettes on Woodward event has been a focus of Woodward Dream Cruise week with its massive gathering of muscle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">This year&#8217;s Pride Rock is Michigan\u2019s premier motorsports club, M1 Concourse in Pontiac, where over 500 Corvettes gathered Wednesday from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. for pictures, exhibits, panel discussions, camaraderie, and, of course, cruising.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/gcdn\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2025\/08\/13\/PDTN\/85646412007-corvettes-on-woodward-flag.jpg?width=660&amp;height=440&amp;fit=crop&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"A gathering of red, white and blue Corvettes form an American flag during Corvettes on Woodward on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025.\" width=\"548\" height=\"365\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"gnt_pg_img_cap\"><em>A gathering of red, white and blue Corvettes form an American flag during Corvettes on Woodward on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025.<\/em><\/div>\n<p><em>M1 Concourse<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">\u201cThere\u2019s nothing like a Corvette with the top down on Woodward,\u201d said Andre Walker, 60, of Detroit as he rolled onto Woodward at Rapid Street, rowing the gearbox of his red, fifth-generation 2002 Corvette C5. \u201cThey only made 178 of this particular trim because the manual was rare for that model year.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gnt_x__c gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\" aria-label=\"advertisement\">\n<div id=\"ad-slot-7103-mi-detroit-C1561-native-article_link-money-autos-2-ac1\" class=\"gnt_x_sl gnt_x_al\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-method=\"llx\"><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Passion for the Corvette runs deep and brought not only generations of cars but generations of owners here to celebrate the marque. Larry Courtney, 78, of Warren and his wife, Vern, started Corvettes on Woodward over 20 years ago to benefit the Open Hands Food Pantry in Royal Oak. It\u2019s grown into the largest Corvette gathering in Michigan, attracting owners from all over the country \u2014 and spectators with a $20 gate charge.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/gcdn\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2025\/08\/13\/PDTN\/85646420007-corvettes-on-woodward-walker.jpg?width=660&amp;height=372&amp;fit=crop&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Andre Walker, 60, of Detroit heads out to Woodward in his C5.\" width=\"509\" height=\"287\" \/><\/figure>\n<div class=\"gnt_em_img_ccw gnt_em_img_ccw__cap gnt_em_img_ccw__crd\" data-c-caption=\"Andre Walker, 60, of Detroit heads out to Woodward in his C5.\" data-c-credit=\"Henry Payne, The Detroit News\">\n<div class=\"gnt_pg_img_cap\"><em>Andre Walker, 60, of Detroit heads out to Woodward in his C5.<\/em><\/div>\n<p><em>Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/div>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">\u201cThe urban legend is there were 40 of us hanging around with our Corvettes having ice cream, and someone said: \u2018we can do a lot better than this,\u2019 because we have Michigan\u2019s largest Corvette Club,\u2019\u201d smiled Courtney, then a member of America Corvette Club who now runs Michigan Corvette Events.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gnt_x__c gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\" aria-label=\"advertisement\">\n<div id=\"ad-slot-7103-mi-detroit-C1561-native-article_link-money-autos-3-ac2\" class=\"gnt_x_sl gnt_x_al\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-method=\"llx\" data-x-c=\"2\"><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Corvettes on Woodward first gathered at the Kingsley Hotel in Birmingham, where it eventually burst at the seams. Over 500 Corvettes were crammed into a hotel lot with 180 parking spaces. When the group spilled out on to Woodward for a lap of the Cruise route, the chain would run for seven miles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">\u201cThe police said we couldn\u2019t all go out at the same time anymore,\u201d said Courtney. \u201cIt was just too many cars.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/gcdn\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2025\/08\/13\/PDTN\/85646413007-corvettes-on-woodward-courtney.jpg?width=660&amp;height=372&amp;fit=crop&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Corvettes on Woodward founder Larry Courtney, 78, of Warren with a pair of two-seat Chevys.\" width=\"522\" height=\"294\" \/><\/figure>\n<div class=\"gnt_em_img_ccw gnt_em_img_ccw__cap gnt_em_img_ccw__crd\" data-c-caption=\"Corvettes on Woodward founder Larry Courtney, 78, of Warren with a pair of two-seat Chevys.\" data-c-credit=\"Henry Payne, The Detroit News\">\n<div class=\"gnt_pg_img_cap\"><em>Corvettes on Woodward founder Larry Courtney, 78, of Warren with a pair of two-seat Chevys.<\/em><\/div>\n<p><em>Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/div>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">So Corvettes on Woodward has found a new home here in Pontiac on M1\u2019s 87-acre campus where \u2018Vettes can sprawl across two paddocks, a skid pad and 1.5-mile race track.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">\u201cIt\u2019s logical for Corvettes on Woodward to be here,\u201d said M1 CEO Paul Zlotoff, who teased that Corvettes on Woodward will move to Thursday in 2026 as part of a three-day M1 Dream Festival. \u201cWe\u2019re set up for this kind of event because we celebrate motorsports in an organized way. We could bring 2,000 Corvettes in here.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside id=\"gnt_atomsnc\" class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_anc\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-method=\"loadAnc\" aria-label=\"Newsletter signup form\">\n<div class=\"label\" hidden=\"\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"container\">\n<div class=\"message\">\n<div class=\"title\">Get the\u00a0<span class=\"highlight\">Michigan Politics<\/span>\u00a0newsletter in your inbox.<\/div>\n<p class=\"description\">Washington and Lansing, red and blue, we&#8217;ve got your government covered.<\/p>\n<div class=\"frequency\">Delivery: Daily<\/div>\n<div class=\"container\">\n<div class=\"input-container populated\"><input autocomplete=\"off\" name=\"email\" required=\"\" type=\"email\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"clickable\"><\/div>\n<p><label>Your Email<\/label><\/div>\n<div id=\"bar\">\n<div class=\"highlight\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"progress-primary\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"progress-secondary\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">On Wednesday, dozens of red, white and blue Corvettes gathered in front of M1\u2019s event center to form an American flag for a drone-snapped photograph. Corvettes like a white, first-generation, front-V6-engine 1954 C1 convertible owned by Tom Gamache, 85, from Canton Township \u2014 and a red, eighth-generation, mid-V8-engine 2023 C8 Stingray owned by Aldrin Santiago, 53, of Sterling Heights.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/gcdn\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2025\/08\/13\/PDTN\/85646417007-corvettes-on-woodward-c-1-c-8-gamachesantiago.jpg?width=660&amp;height=372&amp;fit=crop&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"From left, Tom Gamache, 85 of Canton Township with his Corvette C1 and Aldrin Santiago, 53, of Sterling Heights, with his Corvette C8.\" width=\"520\" height=\"293\" \/><\/figure>\n<div class=\"gnt_em_img_ccw gnt_em_img_ccw__cap gnt_em_img_ccw__crd\" data-c-caption=\"From left, Tom Gamache, 85 of Canton Township with his Corvette C1 and Aldrin Santiago, 53, of Sterling Heights, with his Corvette C8.\" data-c-credit=\"Henry Payne, The Detroit News\">\n<div class=\"gnt_pg_img_cap\"><em>From left, Tom Gamache, 85 of Canton Township with his Corvette C1 and Aldrin Santiago, 53, of Sterling Heights, with his Corvette C8.<\/em><\/div>\n<p><em>Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/div>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">\u201cI was 12 years old in 1953 when General Motors showed the first Corvette at Motorama in New York,\u201d said Gamache, who bought his car in 1999. \u201cAnd I thought it was the most beautiful car I had seen and I would own it someday.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">How does he think the first-mid-engine Corvette C8 looks?<\/p>\n<figure class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/gcdn\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2025\/08\/13\/PDTN\/85646418007-corvettes-on-woodward-trackroom.jpg?width=660&amp;height=372&amp;fit=crop&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Pontiac - Corvettes on Woodward. M1 Concourse's 87 acres has plenty of room for 500 Corvettes - or even 2,000.\" width=\"511\" height=\"288\" \/><\/figure>\n<div class=\"gnt_em_img_ccw gnt_em_img_ccw__cap gnt_em_img_ccw__crd\" data-c-caption=\"Pontiac - Corvettes on Woodward. M1 Concourse's 87 acres has plenty of room for 500 Corvettes - or even 2,000.\" data-c-credit=\"Henry Payne, The Detroit News\">\n<div class=\"gnt_pg_img_cap\"><em>Pontiac &#8211; Corvettes on Woodward. M1 Concourse&#8217;s 87 acres has plenty of room for 500 Corvettes &#8211; or even 2,000.<\/em><\/div>\n<p><em>Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/div>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">\u201cIt\u2019s great. That\u2019s the Corvette that Zora (Arkus-Duntov, Corvette\u2019s influential first engineer) always wanted to do,\u201d he said, standing next to his new friend Santiago, who he had just met at the flag photo. \u201cThe handling of those things is unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Corvettes on Woodward founder Courtney likes all generations but settled on a 1999 Corvette C5 for himself wrapped in an American flag color scheme. \u201cI like the C5 because I can fit and we do a lot of road trips,\u201d he said. \u201cWe travel all over the country doing events.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/gcdn\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2025\/08\/13\/PDTN\/85646415007-corvettes-on-woodward-keyes.jpg?width=660&amp;height=372&amp;fit=crop&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Bobby Keyes, 69, Lake Orion with his custom blue Corvette, left, built from two 'Vettes.\" width=\"529\" height=\"298\" \/><\/figure>\n<div class=\"gnt_em_img_ccw gnt_em_img_ccw__cap gnt_em_img_ccw__crd\" data-c-caption=\"Bobby Keyes, 69, Lake Orion with his custom blue Corvette, left, built from two 'Vettes.\" data-c-credit=\"Henry Payne, The Detroit News\">\n<div class=\"gnt_pg_img_cap\"><em>Bobby Keyes, 69, Lake Orion with his custom blue Corvette, left, built from two &#8216;Vettes.<\/em><\/div>\n<p><em>Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/div>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Bobby Keyes, 69, of Lake Orion enjoys so many generations of Corvette (he owns a 1969 and 1982) that for his third Corvette he bought a rare custom model with a 1957-style, C1 coupe body on top of a C5 chassis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">\u201cI liked it because it was different, custom, and they only built five of them,\u201d he said of the Stewart, Florida-made \u2018Vette built in 2017. Colored blue, his car formed the top left corner of the American flag photo.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/gcdn\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2025\/08\/13\/PDTN\/85646419007-corvettes-on-woodward-jewelry.jpg?width=660&amp;height=372&amp;fit=crop&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Cindy Pronze of Canton Township shows off a bracelet with the Corvette logo she bought at Corvettes on Woodward.\" width=\"520\" height=\"293\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"gnt_pg_img_cap\"><em>Cindy Pronze of Canton Township shows off a bracelet with the Corvette logo she bought at Corvettes on Woodward.<\/em><\/div>\n<p><em>Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"gnt_em_img_ccw gnt_em_img_ccw__cap gnt_em_img_ccw__crd\" data-c-caption=\"Cindy Pronze of Canton Township shows off a bracelet with the Corvette logo she bought at Corvettes on Woodward.\" data-c-credit=\"Henry Payne, The Detroit News\"><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">M1\u2019s Event Center offered relief from the day\u2019s blazing sun \u2014 and activities like sim racing, a slot car track, and Corvette jewelry for sale. Cindy Pronze, 50, of Canton Township showed off a white bracelet she bought featuring the Corvette flag logo.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">\u201cIt will go nicely with the 1976 Corvette that I\u2019m restoring,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gnt_x__c gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\" aria-label=\"advertisement\">\n<div id=\"ad-slot-7103-mi-detroit-C1561-native-article_link-money-autos-4-ac3\" class=\"gnt_x_sl gnt_x_al\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-method=\"llx\" data-x-c=\"3\"><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><em>Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pontiac\u00a0\u2014 It\u2019s good to be king. If the Woodward Dream Cruise were the Pride Lands, then Chevrolet Corvette would be its lion king. For eight generations and 72 years, America\u2019s longest-running sportscar badge has ruled Woodward Avenue with its roaring V-8 engines and muscled bodywork. And for over 20 years, the Corvettes on Woodward event [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34849"}],"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=34849"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34850,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34849\/revisions\/34850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}