BREAKING NEWS: Awards of Excellence Finalists and Milestone Award Winner Announced

MotorCities is pleased to announce the finalists for our 25th Anniversary Awards of Excellence:

In the Heritage Tourism category, the finalists are:

 - Lloyd & Judy Ganton, the operators of Ye Ole Carriage Shop in Spring Arbor;

 - Russell Brothers City Tours for their interactive tours of Detroit;

 - and Wheelhouse Detroit for their Detroit Auto Heritage Bicycle Tour.
 
In the Interpretation/Education category, the finalists are:

 - The Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn for their Achievement series of exhibits about African Americans in the automotive industry.

 - Russ Dore’ of Dore’ Productions in Northville for his interactive historical presentations that bring early automotive pioneers to life;

 - and the Historical Society of Greater Lansing for the I-496 Pave the Way Project.
 
In the Revitalization category, the finalists are:

 - The Ford Piquette Plant Museum in Detroit for their first floor restoration;

 - M1 Concourse in Pontiac for their work transforming a former General Motors industrial site into a road racing course and event space for auto enthusiasts;

 - and the Packard Proving Grounds in Shelby Township for their work preserving the site.      
 
The winners in each of these three categories will be announced at MotorCities' 25th Anniversary Gala on Wednesday, November 8 at Ford House.

Also, the recipient of MotorCities Milestone Award, which will also be presented at the Gala, is William R. "Bill" Chapin (pictured above). Some Michigan natives can say that the auto industry is in their blood, but for Bill Chapin there is no denying the lineage from his Grandfather Roy Chapin Sr. (a co-founder of the Hudson Motor Co.), his father Roy Chapin Jr. (past CEO of American Motors) to forgin g his own legacy, mostly in automotive marketing. Bill was just finishing up work on the launch of the "Motor City" exhibit at the Detroit Historical Museum in the mid-1990s when he realized that the stories told there were relevant to today. Namely, the stories of industry leaders and rank and file workers were all there to inspire generations to come. Around the same time, he became aware of the efforts to create a National Heritage Area centered on the automotive and labor history of the region. Chapin was there when the bill was signed by President Clinton in 1998. He signed the articles of incorporation, served as board chair and continues as a member of MotorCities' Leadership Council. Finally, between 2010 and 2017, Chapin served as President of the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn.

More information on the event and a link to buy tickets are below.

Get Your Tickets By October 25 for MotorCities' 25th Anniversary Gala

Tickets are now available for the MotorCities National Heritage Area’s 25th Anniversary Gala event, scheduled for Wednesday, November 8, 2023 from 5:30 – 9:30 p.m. at the Ford House Visitors Center, located at 1100 Lake Shore Road in Grosse Pointe Shores.

Guests will enjoy dinner, drinks, a silent auction, the opportunity to view exhibits and stroll the grounds, and more including the following:

 - Our keynote speaker Frank Markus of Motor Trend discussing “Trends Driving the Automotive Future”;

 - MotorCities’ annual Milestone Award winner Bill Chapin (see above);

 - The chance to meet and mingle with General Motors founder "Billy Durant," courtesy of Dore Productions;

 - The announcement of the 25th Anniversary Awards of Excellence (finalists listed above);

 - and a tribute to a quarter century of MotorCities’ achievements.
 
This celebration also marks the observance of MotorCities’ 10th annual Michigan Auto Heritage Day, with special recognition from Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Legislature.

Tickets for the Gala are $100 for MotorCities members and $125 for nonmembers. RSVPs are required by October 25, so reserve your place now by clicking the animated graphic above or at www.motorcities.org/25th-anniversary-events.

Proceeds will help MotorCities continue to fulfill its mission of preserving and promoting Michigan auto and labor heritage.

Visit Detroit is the Presenting Sponsor for the Gala. General Motors is a Founding Partner/Award of Excellence Sponsor. The UAW International Union is our Michigan Auto Heritage Day Sponsor. Ford House is an Award of Excellence Sponsor. Supporting Sponsors include Albert Kahn Associates, Choose Lansing, Destination Ann Arbor, and The Henry Ford. Event Sponsors include Doeren Mayhew, Don Nicholson Enterprises, Gilmore Car Museum, Grigg Graphics, and Project Arts and Humanities.

Story of the Week

Remembering the 1955 Lincoln Indianapolis Show Car

by Robert Tate, Automotive Historian and Researcher

For many years, show cars have represented a vision of the future for automakers, with designs showing where they were thinking for new and upcoming models.

In 1955, the Lincoln Indianapolis show car made its debut at the Turin, (Italy) Automobile Salon as a unique and different automobile design. Today, the car is a mostly forgotten design.

The Lincoln Indianapolis show car was designed in collaboration with Carrozeria Boano Turino. Ford Motor Company’s design team had nothing to do with the vehicle, as the styling was commissioned to Italian Fiat designer Gian Paolo Boano, who had also coined the concept vehicle’s American-sounding name. Because of this, many automotive historians have said that, in no way was it a Lincoln show car.  

To learn more about forgotten vehicle and see more images, click below.

This Week's Story

Celebrating 25 Years with Great MotorCities Programs

As part of the celebration of our 25th Anniversary, today we are continuing a series highlighting 25 MotorCities Programs introduced over the last 25 years.

The 21st is the Fort Street Bridge Interpretive Park.

On October 22, 2020, a group of community partners known as the Fort-Rouge Gateway Partnership (FRoG), along with government officials including Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, the Friends of the Rouge (FOTR) and funders, cut the ribbon and opened the new Fort Street Bridge Interpretive Park, located at the foot of the new Fort Street Bridge in southwest Detroit. On March 7, 1932, during the Great Depression, auto workers organized a march from Detroit to the Ford Rouge Factory in Dearborn. Known as the Ford Hunger March, the event was one of the most significant events leading to the creation of the United Auto Workers union. Five protesting workers were killed in a clash with Ford security and Dearborn Police. The park, which culminated years of work by MotorCities and the FRoG partnership, ensures that the history of the Hunger March, the significance of the original bridge and its importance to the region is now recognized.

The 22nd is MotorCities At Home/MotorCities On The Road.

In the Fall of 2019, MotorCities launched a Speakers Bureau, a resource for groups around the region to learn more about us and automotive history. The idea was to book presentations for groups like libraries, local historical societies and others for in-person experiences.

And then in March 2020, the pandemic happened.

Suddenly, all of the momentum generated by the launch came to a screeching halt, and the first wave of scheduled presentations had to be cancelled or postponed. In May, MotorCities At Home was launched, a way to share the same Speakers Bureau presentations – but virtually via Zoom. In 2020, 10 of these presentations were offered with an average of 50 to 100 guests for each session.

Since then, an additional 15 presentations have taken place, and the series was rebranded in the Fall of 2022 as MotorCities On The Road after the pandemic to facilitate evolving to do both in-person and virtual programs. Each session is now broadcasted via Facebook Live and posted for anytime viewing on MotorCities’ YouTube channel.

Watch for two more programs in this space next week! Catch all the previous entries by clicking here.

This Week in Auto Heritage

On October 18, 1933, R. Buckminster Fuller, American inventor, applied for a patent for what he called his "Dymaxion Car." The word Dymaxion was coined by Fuller as a combination of “dynamic,” “maximum,” and “ion.”

The pod-shaped car itself was three-wheeled and 20 feet long, capable of carrying 11 passengers and traveling up to 120 miles per hour while getting 30 miles out of a gallon of fuel.

The Dymaxion's unique style made it a real attention grabber, but the single rear wheel could make handling difficult at higher speeds. The interest extended to investors, but in the same month that Fuller applied for the patent, one of the Dymaxion prototypes was involved in an accident that killed the driver. The incident scared off investors and prevented the project from moving forward. (Image above: Chicago History Museum/Getty Images)

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Events Coming to the MotorCities

Tomorrow: Night at the Museum at the Stahl's Automotive Collection in Chesterfield Twp.

Tomorrow night from 5 - 8 p.m., check out Night at the Museum at the Stahl's Automotive Collection in Chesterfield Township.

You can see the museum in a different light and stroll through the collection by the glow of neon lights! The overhead lights will be turned down for this special event. The focus will be on signs and lighted gas pumps.

For more information, click here.

Sunday: Treats in the Streets at the Detroit Historical Museum

This Sunday from 1 - 5 p.m., check out the annual Treats in the Streets celebration at the Detroit Historical Museum.

This event features a spooktacular array of activities for the entire family! Enjoy trick or treating in the Streets of Old Detroit, along with entertainment and crafts. Costumes are encouraged. Admission is free with registration! There will be two arrival times with a Sensory Friendly Experience from 1 - 2 p.m.

For more details or to register, click here.