This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Dream Cruise Snapshot: Old-Fashioned Model A Is Project of Love

She still needs work, but that's all part of the fun for this Berkley couple.

 

Name: Dave and Kathy Harkonen

Ages: 59 and 55

Find out what's happening in Huntington Woods-Berkleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Residence: Berkley

Vehicle: 1930 Ford Model A Tudor Sedan

Find out what's happening in Huntington Woods-Berkleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

How long owned: Since 1980

Why this car? This model was one of the first that people customized into hot rods in the 1950s, and we love that look — plus, we were both born in the '50s and love that era for its cars and music. The price was right, but we had to tow it the few blocks to our home. We have worked on it together over the years, as funds and parts become available. Friends have helped by donating parts — thanks, guys! She’s only 75 percent done, but we are just having too much fun cruising to stop and finish her up. We'll get it done soon, we promise. Keep watching.

What’s special about Woodward and the Dream Cruise? On Friday before the Dream Cruise, we meet up at with all our unofficial “Remember When” car club cruisers, our kids, grandkids, friends and family from Capac. We enjoy the more than 300-car parade. Afterward, we go cruising Woodward for a little while, then come back and enjoy all the entertainment in Berkley in the evening. Just a great time for all.

As teens, we cruised Woodward all weekend long and made all the traditional stops: Totem Pole, Ted's, Northwood and met up with all the guys to cruise, check out who had what under the hood and maybe have a race or two now and then. All good fun back then.

Nowadays, we don’t do so much racing, but on Saturday, Cruise day, we just cruise and enjoy all the smiling faces from old and young alike as they see our Model A. They tell us to "light 'em up" or "ahooga that horn," which puts a big smile on the little ones’ faces. We wave to all the photographers and news cameras. It’s just pure fun and great memories.

We load up our grown-up kids, the grandkids, our Yorkie sometimes, too, and go ca-ruise-ing. All the fun things, crowds and all the great cars to see.

It's just such a blast from the past all in one day, and we LOVE IT ALL!

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Huntington Woods-Berkley