[Stratuscaster]

This past Saturday - June 8th - two of the car clubs I'm involved with (Stratusphere and ASEC - Avenger/Sebring Enthusiasts Club) held our annual get-together alongside the Chrysler Employee Motorsports Association (CEMA) 24th Annual Car Show at the Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills, MI.

Billed as "the last time to tour the WPC Museum", the turnout was huge. Over 400 cars were registered to show at the event, and the number of spectators dwarfed the attendance seen in the last 4 years I've attended this show.

One of the highlights of the show was meeting and talking to Adam, SRT's Social Media guy - and then Adam went above and beyond and got Ralph Gilles (and his dog, Cuda) to meet with us and talk to us for a bit. One word that he stated a few times when hearing about our groups (not many groups today support cars that haven't been produced for over 10 years that had no aftermarket support to speak of even when they WERE in production) and our dedication (we had folks from Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and North Dakota in attendance) was "Respect." That was a big deal to the folks in the group, and Ralph was gracious enough to pose for pictures as well.

In one image you'll see many of us wearing an event t-shirt - one is made every year and this year's theme was "The Last Crusade" - it's an image of an Avenger coupe parked in front of the sculpture in front of the museum. More than a few folks were impressed - especially those volunteering with the museum who expressed some sadness that they didn't get the opportunity to make an event shirt of their own. A bit of good news - we were told that the museum received the OK to open up on more "special event" days throughout the remainder of 2013. They're also hoping for perhaps a "stay of execution" of sorts with Dodge's 100-year anniversary in 2014.

The other image is our attempt at recreating the t-shirt graphic in real life.

All in all a great show and a great time - I'll try to add more pics as I go through them.

 

[browens1534]

I have to say there were some great cars there! And the crowd was crazy. It was bittersweet going thru the meseum. I had a hard time holding back tears of joy knowing that I got to fufil a childhood dream.

 

[Stratuscaster]

Did you find our group? Would have loved to meet up with you at some point. We did get a good number of onlookers...but might have been mostly because we were near where the shuttle vans dropped spectators off. :/

 

[UN4GTBL]

I'd love to go there some time. This past weekend wasn't a good time, so I'm happy to hear about the possibility of future events again.

 

[browens1534]

Did you find our group? Would have loved to meet up with you at some point. We did get a good number of onlookers...but might have been mostly because we were near where the shuttle vans dropped spectators off. :/

Yeah we found your group. Also saw y'all walking around with your awesome shirts. I thought some of the mods were neat... Way better than the black Dart by the building with crappy stripes and a faux SRT badge... Heck my dad coulda drove their Dart in and it woulda drawn more than that one... Oh well.

 

[suzq044]

Maybe I'll make it one day with Jace.

 

[Jeepophile]

suq044, I highly recommend that you---and everyone else, for that matter---see(s) the Walter P. Chrysler Museum/its collection, if there ever is a chance again. I have a feeling that someone of your talent would well appreciate it.

Exemplifying the best of free enterprise and capitalism, the WPC Museum collection at the very least should have a wing of the Smithsonian. Serious students of automotive history recognize that since 1924 Chrysler innovations have repeatedly pushed markets forward, giving competitors absolute fits and consumers absolute delights!!! Without healthy competition, markets/the economy sink(s) toward dreary, elitist, stagnant monopoly/government-dominated sameness. Look at the Soviet Chaika car for reference--and how much worse would it have been if they did not have our Capitalist cars to copy!

Shameful that the Museum is in an area no longer high-traffic. I've travelled from the West coast to visit greater Detroit only three times in over 60 years (twice in 11 years for my family to pick up new cars at Chrysler factories, and the third much later to make a bucket-list pilgrimage to the Museum).