Corvettes Rev Up Proud, Bright Crowd in Bloomfield Hills

It's a shiny spectacle Harley Earl, a late GM design vice president, would have loved. Hundreds of Corvettes, the iconic sports car he designed in 1953, are behind the and along the Woodward Dream Cruise route as owners from California to Connecticut join a yearly Corvettes on Woodward event that began Wednesday afternoon.

The booked-solid Bloomfield Hills hotel's parking lot is a shining spread of Stingrays, convertibles, coupes, ZR1s, Z06s, C-5s and Callaways spanning six decades. Sleek lines, low bodies and rev-me flair distinguish the gleaming 'Vettes, a symbol of cool since the Route 66 TV series (1960-64) featured a new model of the convertible each year.    

Drivers are as colorful as their rides. Just about all seem to have at least a 'Vette logo on a shirt or cap, with some women sporting the name on jewelry or sequined tops, purses and hats. Beverly Ross of Rochester is in head-to-toe candy apple red, matching her 2008 Corvette.

Second-time Dream Cruiser Phil Cassel brought his 2006 model from Pittsburgh, a drive of more than four hours. "I took about a thousand pictures last year," he says. Leadership coach Matt Beucler, a 1971 General Motors Institute grad, completed a four-day drive from Huntington Beach, CA, with his newly retired wife, Pat. The couple, who're seeing the USA in their Chevrolet, look forward to their Dream Cruise initiation.     

Larry Courtney of Warren organized morning and afternoon tours of the GM Heritage Center in Sterling Heights. Suppliers, the National Corvette Museum, Cruis'News from Sterling Heights  and a Redford dealership set up booths at the Woodward hotel – fully booked by 'Vette buffs and Chevy execs marking their brand's centennial. As at any convention, serious stuff takes place between partying. Seminars focus on fuel injection systems, performance upgrades and the 2012 model.   

The first-day highlight is a police-escorted parade, starting at 7:30 p.m., to on 11 Mile in Royal Oak to donate food and cash, followed by a blowout at the in Bloomfield Hills.