The National Automotive History Collection and Downtown Detroit

Hi folks -- so I had my book signing this Saturday afternoon, and spent a most interesting day in downtown Detroit. I like this town-- gritty, blue collar, not very pretentious, probably very dangerous. A few things I discovered while there-- American Coney Island hotdogs and loose hamburgers -- very good, although perhaps not so good for my arteries at this stage of my life. I attended the lighting of the Detroit Christmas Tree on Friday evening. Greektown Casino Bistro for a buffet breakfast -- one of the best deals I have ever had for one of the best breakfasts I have ever had. the downtrodden and beaten down at the slots -- 100s of them. A sad commentary on casino gambling. The poor are always the victims in our society.

The signing was a great time. I met some wonderful people while there. Two of my Society of Automotive History (SAH) colleages -- Leroy Cole and Pat Bisson, were in attendance. More Hospitality than I have experienced in a long time. Great car guys and gals. A terrific introduction to my talk on my book by Barbara Fronz. I was glad to see Jenny Wright-King from the Detroit News there. I looked at some interesting books by other authors, including Sirens of Chrome (on auto show models) and the photography of Michael Furman (highly recommended). And I a chance on Friday afternoon to look at a magazine entitled Motor West, suggested to me by Mark Patrick. A very nice set of articles was in these volumes on the Gilmore and Mobil Economy runs.

The most bizarre thing of the weekend? You won't believe this, but it is absolutely true. As I was leaving the American Coney Island on Lafayette Street I crossed over to an area under construction that is sort of a concrete island. There were numerous boxes stacked up that had on the side of them U.S. Army imprinted. But on the ground next to these boxes was what I swear was a rocket launcher, with optical sight and all. This is true. I left there rather promptly, but in reality no one was around. What if I would have gone back to the car, had a friend and I picked that thing up, put it in the car and left? Detroit, a strange place for sure.

Will I go back to Detroit? Absolutely.