Hit the Woodward Dream Cruise with Your Ford Truck

Although muscles cars are the main attraction at the legendary Detroit event, the Ford truck is well-represented.

Detroit’s Woodward Dream Cruise is an automotive event that every gearhead has to experience at least once in his or her life, especially if the gearhead in question is a fan of the Ford brand. While all three American automakers are well-represented by cruisers and the companies themselves, Ford Motor Company puts on the biggest and most impressive spread of the Big Three. In fact, the Dream Cruise route covers 16 miles of four-lane roads in both directions, the Motor Company display running along both sides of Woodward Avenue on 9 Mile Road in Ferndale has enough to keep you busy for the entire day.

What is the Dream Cruise?

If you are not familiar with the Woodward Dream Cruise, it is an automotive event like nothing else. Woodward Avenue in Metro Detroit runs through many of the area’s towns, but the stretch that runs from Fernale to Pontiac is the Dream Cruise route.

Each year in early August, cruisers spend an entire Saturday cruising Woodward with hundreds of thousands of people lining the streets on both sides. Every parking lot along Woodward is like a mini car show with music, food and drinks and Dream Cruise apparel. There are multiple playground areas for kids, including one in the Ford area, so it is truly an event for the whole family.

Out on the road, you will see every possible make, model and type of vehicle. While new and classic American muscle cars are the largest groups cruising and on display in the many parking lots along the route, you will see European exotics, Japanese sport compacts, motorcycles and lots of trucks. From lowriders to flawlessly restored antiques to modern trucks built to tear up the drag strip to diesel monsters, every type of truck is on display and many of them are Ford trucks.

Corporate Displays

In addition to the small car shows and small displays setup along the route, FCA, GM and Ford each have areas with new models on display, but the Motor Company offers so much more. In addition to giving fans a close look at the newest vehicles, particularly from the Mustang, sporty packages for the Fiesta and Focus and the entire Ford F-Series, but the vehicles that the automaker brings to Woodward are only a fraction of the vehicles on display along 9 Mile Road in Ferndale.

On the west side of Woodward Avenue, Ford’s display on 9 Mile road begins with a display of new Ford trucks, generally ranging from the Transit Connect to the F-150 to the Super Duty.

There are also usually some performance-minded SUVs on display, such as the Explorer Sport and the Edge ST, but in 2019, we bet that the new Explorer ST will be on display. Beyond the truck display, the company usually has a stage with live music, a large area with food for sale and a kid’s play are with bounce houses, airbrushed tattoos and other fun for the family.

Mustang Alley

On the east side of Woodward Avenue, 9 Mile Road plays home to the legendary “Mustang Alley”. What begins with a look at the newest Mustang models from Ford transitions into one of the most amazing collections of privately owned pony cars that you will ever see.

Both sides of the road are lined for nearly a mile, but along that stretch, nearly every single parking lot is full as well, and they are almost all Mustangs. There are some other models in the parking lots, as companies like Roush have displays with their other models on hand, but 95% of the thousands of vehicles in this area are Mustangs of every imaginable trim and color. Mind you, this doesn’t include all of the Mustang parked in mixed lots along the route or the many cars that spend the entire day cruising Woodward, so if you are a fan of the Ford Mustang, Woodward is a gold mine of classic and modern pony cars.

If you have a modern or classic Ford truck that you have customized or restored, you want to make sure that you bring it to Woodward to cruise and show off at least once. Even if you don’t have a vehicle to show off, any Ford truck fan will find plenty to love at the annual Woodward Dream Cruise. The 2019 Woodward Dream Cruise is being held on August 17, but if you are coming in from out of town, you want to come in a few days early, as at this point, the cruising takes place all week long, as do some of the festivities along the route.

Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

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