Prior to the Grand National Meet in Hickory Corners, dedicated LCOC members gathered in Dearborn, Michigan to soak up more nostalgia. Organized as a pre-meet trip by meet organizers, this was an opportunity to visit both historic and contemporary sites in car manufacturing history.
The visit kicked off with a welcome dinner at the host hotel, the historic Dearborn Inn, built by Henry Ford to service those flying into his nearby airfield. The next day, an extensive bus tour took folks to the original Piquette Plant, where Ford created and initially built the Model T, and then wound its way through downtown Detroit highlighting the Fisher Building, the Albert Kahn Building, Cadillac Tower, Cadillac Place, One Detroit Center, GM Headquarters, and Minoru Yamasaki’s One Woodward Avenue, to name a few. The city has lost almost two-thirds of its population through several economic downturns and evidence of that decline could be seen in boarded up buildings juxtaposed with areas of revitalization.
Following the lunch at Andiamo overlooking the Detroit River and Canada on the far side, the bus travelled through the Grosse Point and Grosse Pointe Farms neighborhoods and along the scenic Lake Shore Road past beautiful homes on the river, stopping for an extensive tour of the Edsel and Eleanor Ford 1930’s era estate and grounds in Grosse Pointe Shores.
Dinner at the Dearborn Country Club offered an opportunity to see some of our vintage autos side by side with the new Lincoln Continental and the 2018 Navigator on the grounds of the club. Lincoln representatives were on hand to answer questions as guests sipped cocktails, browsed, and tried the new models on for size.
Kumar Galhorta, Vice-President of Ford Motor Company and President of Lincoln Motor Company, addressed the group after dinner and took spirited questions from the audience.
Before heading to Kalamazoo, attendees had the chance to take their classic cars for a photo op at Ford Motor Company Headquarters, check out the gift shop and have lunch in the company cafeteria.
Numerous people also planned side trips through downtown Detroit, toured the Rouge Plant where the F-150 trucks are assembled, and visited Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village.
More pictures and details will be in an upcoming Comments issue.
