Motor City celebrates 30 years of Woodward Dream Cruise
Woodward Dream Cruise celebrated its 30th anniversary in Detroit on Saturday, August 16th, 2025.
- The train station had over 1,000 vehicles.
- All manufacturers, models and era cars were on display at newly renovated stations.
Last weekend, the Top Tier car collection, which returned to Cortown, Detroit, Michigan for its second annual car at the Station Auto Show, showed over 1,000 registered vehicles along with food, music, test drives and beer gardens for attendees.
This year’s show, held at the renovated Michigan Central Station, has been expanded over two days, giving you more time to enjoy the venue and the festival. Let’s take a look at some of the more impressive rides:
Media Preview
The morning before the event, a media preview was held at NewLab, a hub for introducing new technology in Detroit. During the preview, the event’s leading organizer, Jiyan Cadys of Hagerty Partnership, spoke about how car shows are often intimidating for newcomers and want to create shows that are available to everyone through train station cars. “The show is free to enter, so you can attract as many people as possible,” Cadiz said.
This year’s AM General marks 40 years of Humvee and to celebrate the milestone, the automaker includes the latest models. The armored vehicle was presented with bulletproof exterior painted on Hunter Green. The turret on the truck’s roof featured a 50-caliber machine gun and a guided missile launcher. Naturally, AM General’s marketing executive Deborah Reyes said the model’s weapons were inactive.
Start the engine
The gate was open before the official start time, but to officially start the show, the car was turned on and the owner revved the engine. Motors of all ages and cylinder counts made a fuss to let Cortown know that the festival was ready to begin. The driver was not disappointed as they all had permission to make as much noise as possible.
varieties on display
The train station welcomed ordinary people and their vehicles, and this year online entries quickly came in. Spots were given on a first-come, first-served basis, and most arrived early at the show.
Prewar Classics such as the Ford Model T and Model A can be found around the venue. American muscle cars were hard to overlook, as they felt and heard of them in every exhibit in the area. There were modified JDM cars scattered around, with wild rap and huge turbo. The lifted truck was found to tower over the rest of the attendees. European exotics also existed.
Several carmakers had new vehicles for spectators to sit and drive. Cadillac, Genesis, Lucid, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Polestar have enabled short loop test drives around Corktown. Many people were searching for their next car, so the line quickly filled up.
ZF Engineering did a different spin on the test drive. The Ford F-150 cruises in the circle and introduces the sharp turning radius of the truck. It attracted a lot of attention from the bystanders with its impressive turning ability on full display.
Radwood lives on in the 80s
Cars, trucks and motorcycles of all ages existed, but Radwood has been offering a unique and unparalleled style since the 1980s, paying homage to cars, music and clothing. The displays are conveniently located next to the beer garden, making it easy to find the car this year.
Sitting right next to the Radwood sign was the Lamborghini Diablo and the Classic Porsche 911, two extremely popular models of this era. Behind it was a variety of customized cars with unique colors and wheels that stood out from the rest of the train station.
Keenan Thompson: Contact kthompson@freepress.com.
