CHEVY VAN’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY IN
S.E. MICHIGAN FOR THE 2014 WOODWARD DREAM CRUISE

CHEVY VAN’s 50th birthday is in 2014. Not sure what GM and/or Chevrolet did in your part of the country on their 100th birthday (Chevy’s 100th was last year 2011 and GM’s was in 2008) but here in S.E. Michigan they sponsored a big parade on Woodward Dream Cruise day celebrating both events.
For those of you not familiar with the Woodward Dream Cruise here is the link to the web site for this years “Woodward Dream Cruise” http://www.woodwarddreamcruise.com/

(short info on the Woodward Dream Cruise)
Today, the Woodward Dream Cruise is the world’s largest one-day automotive event, drawing 1.5 million people and 40,000 classic vehicles each year from around the globe. North American cruisers from California, Georgia, Canada and all points in between caravan to Metro Detroit to participate in what has become, for many, an annual rite of summer.

Link to the 2001 Woodward Dream Cruise Map


Anyway GM/Chevrolet sponsored a parade for both events that started at the GM Headquarters in downtown Detroit, went North up Woodward Ave. ran the “Cruise Route” and ended up in a special parking area along side Woodward Ave. in Birmingham Michigan for the day’s festivities associated with that year’s Woodward Dream Cruise at no expense to the vehicle owners that participated (except for fuel, room & board, etc….) They even feed us on Cruise Day (for the GM 100th anyway…not sure what they did for Chevy’s 100th) …It was a great time. They provided special events before the “Cruise” and a booklet and special window plaques for each of the vehicles in the parade. For GM’s 100th it included a vehicle from each year and for Chevrolet’s 100th it included a Chevrolet vehicle for each year.
I have been in contact with a couple other vannin members who at their end to trying to persuade the GM Marketing dept. to sponsor some sort of event for CHEVY VAN’s 50th birthday and this is going to be my effort here in SE Michigan.
I have a couple contacts at the GM Marketing Dept.through the Oldsmobile Club I belong to and would like to try and see if we can put something together with GM for CHEVY VAN’s 50th birthday here in S.E. Michigan for the 2014 Woodward Dream Cruise….

so here is my idea……(as ideas go anyway)

I am asking for any CHEVY VAN owner’s to get back with me via a special e-mail address I have set up just for this ( chevyvan50th@comcast.net ) who would be interested in coming into S.E Michigan for the Woodward Dream Cruise in 2014 (3rd Saturday in August) at their own expense and hopefully participate in a special parade of all CHEVY VANS to see if we can persuade GM to sponsor the event.
I would like to try and get a list of a CHEVY VAN (G-Series and the Astro’s) for each year Chevy made them starting in 1964, in both original looking (on the outside anyway) and custom versions. (If this does get off the ground I would think it would be up to GM to pick the vans they wanted in the parade but will cross that bridge if and when we come to it).
I would keep a database to start and all I would need to start is a name and a working phone number, e-mail address and year and model of CHEVY VAN (G-Series or Astro) and if it is original looking (again just on the outside anyway) or a customized van .
I would not worry about addresses or photos until it looks like we can get GM to agree to sponsor the event then as it gets closer to 2014 then we would have to start some more serious planning, photos of each of the vans, addresses, where everyone can stay either in hotels, motels, camping, as guests in private homes, etc…..
The list would at least give me something to approach the GM/Chevrolet Marketing Dept. with the idea.
So that’s about the extent of it at this point. My work schedule pretty much keeps me from attending the bigger van events that are held around the country so please feel free to pass the word around to all CHEVY VAN owners you happen to cross paths with. I wish I could afford to print up some fliers and mail them out to all the folks who put on those van events but cannot really afford that. Maybe some of you can make copies of this posting and pass them out to the CHEVY VAN owners…..hint, hint…..
And again the info I need is the van owners name, working phone & e-mail address and the year and model of van and if it is original or custom looking on the outside e-mailed to me at chevyvan50th@comcast.net And the info that I share with GM at first will only include the year and model of the Chevy Van and if it is original or custom looking on the outside. If for some reason they request photos then I will have to e-mail everyone for the photos thus the need for everyone’s e-mail address.
So hopefully we can get this up and off the ground and see what happens.
Please pass the word around at the different van shows you attend.

Thanks again for your time and keep on vannin”…..

Greg in Ann Arbor Michigan

Greg,sounds like a plan. I'm trying to get Carlise events on board for the ALL GM show in july of 2014.We're doing Carlisle All Truck this year with arount 30 vans and GREAT anticipation!Michigan is kinda far for me but 2014 is a ways away too, would love to help

did anything become of this? is this event actually happening this weekend?

It is for the 2014 Woodward Dream Cruise...........

No offense but why is this sticky for an event 2 years from now?

Cause trying to get GM to commit to sponsor an event of this size will take a lot of advance planning, prodding, etc....
The first step is to try and get the Chevy van owners to want to do it...will not be a cheap venture for those living outside of Michigan and I have to let the idea grow and let them (Chevy van owners) think and talk about it, etc......also finding hotel/motel rooms, camping sites and the "few" camp grounds in SE Michigan will take advanced planning well over a year ahead of time.....you have to remember classic car/truck owners and fans come to this from all over the USA and also parts of the world (I have met people from as far away as Japan, China, New Zealand, not to mention Europe and South America).......50,000+ classic vehicles make their way to Woodward for this event, not to mention over a million (1,000,000+)people show up along Woodward for this event which is billed as the largest single classic vehicle event in the world, bar none..... so rooms, camping sites are at a premium. Some people have to get rooms as far away as 100+ miles away. Anyway, hopefully I can get enough Chevy van owners to at least be interested in attending this then maybe I can talk GM into it..........If not, well at least I tried.....all one can do..... Hope this answers your question.
Thanks for your reply.

Greg in Michigan

Well it's 2013. Next year is the 50th anniversary for the Chevy Van. Have only heard from a couple Chevy van owner's that are interested in the event. If it's going to happen I would need at least 100 Chevy van owner's willing to participate. Would have to approach GM later this summer.....it's takes that long for the wheels of corporate decision making to work.....kind of like the government......
Pass the word around at all the van events around the country, it's really up all of you Chevy Van owner's if you want to make this happen.
So if there is not much interest my the end of summer I will drop the whole thing. At least I would of tried.

Keep On Vannin'
The "Soundman" Ann Arbor, MI.

Vanners haven't really had much interest in this 50th thing. Not sure why, but the Econo 50th went much better, maybe Ford owners are better than Chevy owners . I lost interest in it myself when no one other than soundhd came forward. We'll see how it goes, getting 100 Chevy vans is a very optimistic undertaking especially in the middle of vanning season. But doing something at the Nationals and the CofC is definitely in order.

When this first popped up I responded via email...


I'm still up for it and it looks good for getting my early there!

BTW, linked this thread over at VCVC