Vibe runs from refined to Wild West along Dream Cruise route

The Woodward Dream Cruise, of course, is famously 16 miles of muscle, chrome and exhaust-induced delirium. But it's also a cultural tour of the nine communities that make up the Woodward Corridor, from Eight Mile Road to Wide Track Drive.

Indeed, longtime aficionados will tell you the cruise picks up a distinctly different vibe as it pushes north from Ferndale's dense-and-urban streetscape to Bloomfield Township's wide open spaces to the gritty, urban frontier of Pontiac.

Drivers, of course, get to sample the change in atmosphere over and over as they make the slow-mo circuit all day Saturday.

But for spectators, it raises the question -- what sort of Dream Cruise do you want? Where you plant yourself has everything to do with how you experience the rumbling nostalgia on parade, and the excitement along the sidelines.

"I've taken in the cruise from every possible vantage point," says Munk's Motors owner Chris Braden of Waterford, noting that he's watched in several of the towns along the loop.

"Pontiac is my favorite," he says. "In terms of ease of access and the best place to throw a party after dark, that's Pontiac. Plus there's a lot more cheering."

Braden's done the cruise in his 1950 Hudson Hornet and 1972 Olds Toronado, but this year will drive his 1967 Volkswagen camper. But he can't shake his sense that the cruise has gotten tamer since its 1995 birth.

"Compared to the rest of the cruise," he says, "Pontiac is the wild, Wild West. In some other towns it's overcontrolled. I remember when the cruise started, it was a lot more free and easy -- a lot more burning rubber."

Longing for someone to toss that pail of water onto boiling pavement so a piston-heavy GTO can peel out? By wide acclamation, Pontiac is still your best bet.

Another Pontiac virtue? Tons of parking, and easy escape routes north, east and west -- something you can't say about the lower Woodward communities, where gridlock can imprison hapless, exhausted spectators.

Still, there's much to recommend the urban compression at Nine Mile, where old-fashioned commercial blocks press right up against the sidewalk -- unlike the strip-mall and parking-lot universe that takes over farther north in Birmingham.

"There's definitely a different atmosphere through Royal Oak and Ferndale," says Royal Oak city manager, Don Johnson. "Businesses are up close and personal. Sidewalks are close to the road. And there are lots of places to duck into" if you tire of the throbbing of engines.

"Of course," Johnson adds, "Royal Oak is really kind of the heart of Dream Cruise. And while there are crowds, they're not so bad you can't walk along the sidewalk."

For his part, he'll be taking in the cruise on foot.

"My car is not appropriate for the cruise," he says, declining to identify the make, "which is why I'll stay off Woodward."

Royal Oak has never mounted a municipal event like Berkley's CruiseFest Classic Car Parade (Friday evening at 6:30), and this year Pleasant Ridge has canceled its party due to budget cuts.

But Ferndale will be sponsoring three days of music, fun and food starting tonight -- so expect boisterous crowds and congestion all over the place at Woodward and Nine Mile.

"Ferndale's take is family-oriented and community wide," says Mayor Craig Covey. "The Cruise goes right through the center of town. We couldn't avoid it if we wanted to -- and we don't want to. But this year," he adds, "we're purposely leaving Sunday for rest and recovery."

If the crowds vary from community to community, so too do the automobiles on parade and on display along the sidelines.

"You see the real hotrods in Ferndale and Royal Oak, or up in Pontiac," says Byron Cancelmo of Waterford, who will be exhibiting with other Delorean owners at Memorial Park at 13 Mile Road. "Whereas it's very high end up in Birmingham. At 15 Mile you'll see all the specialty cars -- the Ferraris and Cobras and all the fancy-schmancies."

Looking for an uncrowded oasis far from the madding crowds? Consider dragging your lawn chair to one of the grassy spots on North Woodward in Bloomfield Township.

"You can take in the cruise at a slower pace up here," says Bloomfield Township director of community relations Leslie Helwig, from her dock on Lake Charlevoix.

"By contrast, Ferndale is more compressed, though that adds a certain excitement."

But if you choose Bloomfield Township, bring your own cooler and snacks, since commercial options north of Birmingham get a bit scarce. And if you tire of the passing parade, you can mosey over to the Bloomfield Township Classic Car Show at the Mercedes-Benz dealership just north of Quarton Road.

Wherever you station yourself, keep an eye out for Pontiac Mayor Leon Jukowski, who will be cruising in his mother's classic 1965 Volkswagen Beetle -- "the least-cool car on Woodward," as he puts it.

"I'm 53," Jukowski says, "and the Beetle was the car everyone dreaded driving to high school because it spoke volumes about where you were on the totem pole, or whether you were in the cool group or not."

But time has a way of healing even the most-humiliating high school wounds.

"Now," he adds with a laugh, "guys my age see me and get a nostalgic grin on their faces when I pass by."

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