Cruising Grand River

A lot of articles have been written about Woodward, Gratiot, Telegraph, Michigan Ave. and others, but from what I can remember (and trying to remember things is getting harder every year), I don’t recall a whole lot of stories on cruising Grand River Ave. in Northwest Detroit.

We all had our local cruising areas where we used to hang out with our cars back in the 60’s & 70’s, mostly in the neighborhoods where we lived. We never seemed to “venture” far from home, mostly due to a lack of “funds”.  Places where we would meet friends, tell lies and try to pick up chicks and, for the ladies, pick up guys…see who was going to race who that night and trying to size up the new guy who showed up that week from who knows where and try and see just what is under the hood before anyone decides to try and race him or her…(yes, there were ladies with hot cars back then also) on Grand River between Telegraph and Lahser…where most of the racing happened in that area.

The stops were Giger’s Drive-In (Grand River & 7 Mile, next to the State Police Post, which was not a problem because the State Troopers were patrolling the freeways). Henry’s Drive-In, 7 Mile near Lahser, was a big Mopar hang out (was also a big “greaser” hang out).  Daly’s at Grand River and Burt Rd. was usually the “second” stop on the Grand River circuit (the first being Giger’s). Daly’s was usually the place where we would get something to eat, usually a Daly Burger with the “secret sauce” or the famous “Foot Long” hotdog.  A lot of drag racing started out at Daly’s; Westbound Grand River toward Telegraph back then was pretty free of traffic at night.

After Daly’s, the next stop was McDonald’s at Grand River and Fenkel (5 Mile West of Telegraph). McDonald’s was a great place to pick up “Frat” chicks. “Donald’s” was a big “frat” hang out. Maybe you would get a “Coke” and maybe some fries, but the burgers just were not up to the caliber of the “Daly Burger”.

After McDonald’s, the last stop at the East end of the Grand River circuit was the Big Boy’s at Grand River and Greenfield. Great place to just hang out for at least an hour or two. Lots of traffic came through there. Joining the Grand River cruisers were cruisers from the Dearborn area who would cruise down Greenfield from the south and also hang out at the Big Boy’s for a long time. Used to meet a lot of cruisers from the Michigan Ave. cruising circuit. The Big Boy’s was like a melting pot where North met South.

I remember the cars (and the girls) being fast. The muscle car scene was as big as anywhere. The smell of burning rubber and “leaded” gas sort of hung in the air at every stopping point on the Grand River circuit, mostly on those hot summer nights when there was absolutely no breeze in the air.

And some of us would even make it out as far west as Farmington, where the Grand River Drive-In was with stops at the Top Hat at Beech Rd. on the way out to catch a movie with your favorite girl.

Memories abound when I think of those days, the people, the cars, the music…(can’t forget the music)…some of us also trying to get the loudest stereo as we cruised though any of the Grand River cruising stops with our tops down and/or windows open.  Motown, Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels, Beach Boys, Doo-wop, Four Season’s, Doors, Led Zeppelin, the “Girl Groups”, the Bobby Darin’s, Beatles, Dave Clark Five, and the British invasion groups groups, all played a big part in the Grand River Cruising Scene….lots of wonderful memories there for a lot of people.

Most of those places are gone now. I think (and again I might be wrong) that the McDonald’s and maybe the Big Boy are still there. Henry’s, Gigers and Daly’s have all closed (only the original Daly’s is still left in Livonia). I have not been down Grand River for many years now. I’d rather keep my memories as they are. 

Anyway, I just thought I would try and mention cruising Grand River to Dana and his staff and maybe he would put my little note in print or have one of his staff do a “re-write” and hopefully get the gist of what I am trying to keep in our memories.

A big thanks to all of you loyal readers for listening to me rant and rave about past cruise nights from Grand River in Northwest Detroit. Thanks for tuning in.

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