High unemployment and plunging revenue for businesses has been toughest on the state of Michigan. Even the wildly popular Woodward Dream Cruise has been hit by the region's economic despair. Several sponsors have reportedly dropped out, and some participating cities have scaled back their participation in light of budget shortfalls.

In an effort to raise more money for the Dream Cruise, the classic car extravaganza will take on a new name for 2009. The cruise will now be called the Woodward Dream Cruise presented by the MotorCity Casino Hotel. The casino, which is owned by the Detroit-based Ilitch family (Little Caesers/Detroit Tigers/Red Wings owners) is increasing its sponsorship profile in order to attach its name to the event. With over one million people from all over the world attending the event, the sponsorship will also give the casino some big-time exposure. The Detroit News is reporting that Dream Cruise officials are still looking to obtain two more sponsors in advance of the event's August 15 date. Good luck with that, fellas.

[Source: The Detroit News]

At first blush, the city of Birmingham's decision to pull out of its official relationship with the Woodward Dream Cruise doesn't strike us as a big deal. After all, 40,000 or so classic cars are expected to descend on the historic Woodward Avenue just south of the Motor City whether Birmingham has representation on the Dream Cruise's Board of Directors or not. Officials representing the Cruise, though, don't quite agree with this assessment.

The Detroit News reports that Dream Cruise board President Greg Rasse sent a not-so-friendly letter to Birmingham City Manager Tom Markus requesting that the city cease-and-desist using Woodward Dream Cruise logos and event name when promoting its own event, which is scheduled to run concurrently with the official Dream Cruise. Not terribly surprising, given that Birmingham's departure from the Dream Cruise Board means that the city is not paying the Board or its Executive Director any money.

No matter what happens, the show must go on, as they say, and we'll be there as always this August with digital SLRs in tow and live streaming video of all the action. We don't imagine that many of those attending the Cruise in 2009 will notice the difference, and we hope the organizers and the locales involved can get along well enough not to ruin an enjoyable event.

[Source: The Detroit News]

Last year, organizers for the Woodward Dream Cruise teamed up with Motorcities National Heritage Area to bring the classic car festivities all the way from the southern suburbs in Oakland County to Downtown Detroit. Ironically, it was the first year that the longstanding event officially entered the Motor City itself. Next year, the Dream Cruise will retreat back across 8 Mile and out of Detroit. Why? The economy, of course, as it seems the Detroit-specific programs didn't earn enough money to repay the costs associated with promoting and running them.

The good news is that the 2009 edition of the Dream Cruise is still on schedule to run on a hot, humid Woodward weekend in August, and Autoblog will be there to bring you live coverage as always.

[Source: Detroit News]

If you're the type who disappears on the weekend only to spend your first hour of work on Monday morning going through all the posts you missed on Autoblog, well, then you missed a lot this past weekend. In addition to our extensive coverage of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and all the events that occurred in Monterey, we also took you to Detroit for the 2008 Woodward Dream Cruise. Below you'll find a comprehensive yet easy to navigate group of our posts and galleries from the Dream Cruise. Be warned, it may take longer than usual to absorb everything you missed this weekend, but it's absolutely worth it. Below you'll find booth tours for each of the Detroit Three, and there's lots more after the jump. Enjoy and we'll see you next year on Woodward Ave.

GM Booth Tour - Post | Gallery
Ford Booth Tour - Post | Gallery
Chrysler Booth Tour - Post | Gallery

Click above for high-res gallery of details shots from Woodward Ave.

Sometimes the whole is not greater than the sum of the parts. Sometimes the parts are cool enough to stand on their own. We took a lot of pics - a LOT - yesterday while walking up and down Woodward Ave., though most were of cars driving past us quickly. In that split second we have to snap a pic, there's no time to savor those special elements that separate great cars from merely good ones. Things like fins, vents, badges, grilles, and gauges are often what we remember most about the cars we see during the Woodward Dream Cruise. Fortunately we found a few parking lots filled with parked cars yesterday and took some time out to inspect them with our DSLRs. Below you'll find a gallery of our best detail shots from the Woodward Dream Cruise.

Click above for high-res gallery of the best foreigners on Woodward Ave.

Traditionally, when people think of cruising, they visualize American muscle cars, hot rods and classics. What they don't think of is Smart ForTwos, MGs, Austin Healeys, Citroens, Lotuses, Opels and Jaguars. The Dream Cruise, being the all inclusive event that it is, welcomes all comers. Saddle up to the gallery below and check out all the foreign models that mingled with American muscle on Woodward Ave. yesterday.

click for some high-res pics

In the category for best misuse of hydraulics, this car definitely takes the trophy. There were a couple of honorable mentions but nothing quite as extreme as this example. The S10 with the 30-degree starboard list might have been in the running had it demonstrated the ability to this sort of dog-next-to-a-fire-hydrant maneuver, but it was rather pedestrian by comparison. Plus, this one is all sparkly-shiny! I suppose if you're going to add this much bling to your car's normally unseen undercarriage, just have to show it off.

Click above for high-res gallery of classics on Woodward Ave.

Who could have imagined back in 1957 that so many contemporary Chevrolet Bel Airs would still be driving the roads of America a half century later. Something about those models seems to compel their owners to preserve them and then bring them out for cruise nights all these decades later. They aren't the only cars being preserved, as the classics that participated in yesterday's Dream Cruise clearly demonstrate. Check out the best classics we came across on Woodward Ave. in the gallery below.

Click above for high-res gallery of the oddities on Woodward Ave.

Honestly, we have no idea what you're looking at above. In fact, we couldn't tell you much about many of the vehicles in this gallery because they defy classification. A low-rider semi? A V8 Isetta? Widebody GTO? Seriously? We can't tell you what compels people to create these oddities, but we're certainly glad they did. Check out all of the oddities we found on Woodward Ave. during the Dream Cruiser yesterday in the gallery below.

Click above for a gallery of Hot Rods on Woodward

Cruising amongst the various cars down Woodward this weekend were quite a few machines that fit into the Hot Rod genre. Starting with a classic old-school vehicle platform, adding power and lowering it to the ground, the Hot Rod ethos still manages to attract its fair share of gawkers, including those of us wielding cameras. Take a look at the gallery we assembled below for the coolest 'rods and customs we could find.