Organizers were expecting an additional 500,000 people to line Woodward for the Cruise, which ran 16 miles through nine cities, anchored by the city of Pontiac to the north and to the south at the Michigan State Fairgrounds in Detroit at the Eight Mile intersection. Cars on the road ranged from 1930s Ford V8s to such "classics" as 1980s Chevy Astro Vans, 1990s Mustang GTs and even newer Chrysler PT Cruisers. However, early estimates from officials say that the turn out was a third lower than last year.
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| Just two blocks off of Woodward Avenue, Ford usually holds its Revvin' with Ford Charity Preview Party on the Friday night before the Dream Cruise and thousands of people would be congregating around. However, the worst power outage to hit the U.S. since the 1960s put a damper on all pre-Cruise festivities, including a cancellation of Ford's party. (Photo: Joseph Cabadas, Canadian Auto Press) |
The power black out on August 14 that affected 50 million people in the northeastern United States, including southeastern Michigan, and impacted large parts of Ontario and Quebec, Canada, had Detroiters scrambling to find ice for their refrigerators, bottled water and gasoline. Power to Detroit's water pumps had been cutoff for several hours, and when it came back on, residents were ordered to boil their tap water due to fears that contaminants may have worked their way into the drinking supply while water pressure was low. The boiled water order was finally lifted late Monday afternoon.
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| This big red Cadillac convertible was one of the few vehicles gassed up and ready to take to the street on the Friday before the Woodward Dream Cruise in Detroit. Motorists who didn't have a full tank of gas were urged not to come to Woodward that day because the power blackout had closed many gas stations.(Photo: Ford Motor Company) |
And, without power, many gasoline stations were temporarily out of business. All motorists, not just Dream Cruisers, went out in search of gasoline stations that still had power, thanks to emergency generators, or drove more than 30 miles to the exurbs, such as Brighton, halfway between Detroit and Michigan's capital, Lansing, which had been unaffected by the blackout. Lines formed at open gas stations throughout Thursday evening even until Sunday, resembling the gas lines of the OPEC oil embargos of the 1970s.
As a smattering of cars with empty gas tanks lined the sides of roads and highways, Dream Cruise organizers warned on the radio that would-be spectators and cruisers should not venture to Woodward unless they had a full tank of gas.