Weekend Driver San Diego

Indianapolis, Ind. Sunday, July 23, 2006 Instead of turning right when I exited the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, I turned right. A few minutes later I passed Bush Stadium, former home of the Indianapolis Indians minor league baseball team. There’s something cool about old ballparks… The Indians were out of town during my two visits, so [...]

Indianapolis, Ind. Sunday, July 23, 2006 When I visited the Hall of Fame Museum at the track a week earlier, the Grounds Tour was full. So, I booked my tour for my return trip to Indianapolis, before flying back to San Diego. The Grounds Tour takes visitors on the track and lets them off the [...]

Dearborn, Michigan Saturday, July 22, 2006 Greenfield Village is a real trip. One man’s vision of the good old days, it was set up by Henry Ford to preserve what he remembered as being the America of his youth. Small town. Bucolic. Rural. Agricultural. And probably a fantasy. About 22 years later, Walt Disney created [...]

Dearborn, Michigan Saturday, July 22, 2006 In the same complex as The Henry Ford is the Automotive Hall of Fame. Great exhibits of the men and women that built the industry. Exhibits talk about those folk and show how they live. Replica labs and offices show just how far technology has come since the auto [...]

Detroit, Mich. Friday, July 21, 2006 The Packard Motor Car Company was once the leading producer of luxury cars in the U.S. It’s factory and administration complex on East Grand Boulevard in Detroit was designed by Albert Kahn. It shut down in 1956, as the marque was going down the tubes. The buildings survive… sort [...]

Auburn Hills, Michigan Friday, July 21, 2006 Chrysler Corporation was founded by Walter P. Chrysler and his company, now Chrysler Group honors his legacy in this fantastic museum. Three floors, what must be a hundred or more cars, professional displays… all “top drawer,” as they might have said back in the 1920s when the first [...]

Dearborn, Mich. Thursday, July 20, 2006 Here’s something I don’t recommend: Trying to do the Ford Rouge Plant tour, The Henry Ford museum, Greenfield Village and the Automotive Hall of Fame all in the same day. I didn’t make it. After the Rouge tour, I hit The Henry Ford, a huge museum of transportation and [...]

Dearborn, Mich. Wednesday, July 19, 2006 At last… my first trip into a car factory. Well, a truck factory. A kid’s dream. And at The Rouge, Henry Ford’s famous raw-materials-in/cars-out complex west of Detroit. Not what it once was, The Rouge now boasts one of the most modern and eco-friendly plants that makes a decidedly [...]

Wednesday, July 19, 2006 My hotel was in Southfield, a northeast Detroit suburb. From here, it was my plan to visit the Henry Ford Museum, Greenfield Village, as much of Detroit as possible, check out the old Packard complex, and cruise over to Ypsilanti for a look at the last Hudson dealer. My first scouting [...]

Toledo, Ohio Monday, July 18, 2006 After a morning at Snook’s Dream Cars, I headed north to Toledo. Driving around downtown, I found the city’s relatively new minor league ballpark and a nearby branch of the famous Tony Packo’s. Now, just a few words about Tony Packo’s. I ordered a couple of the world famous [...]