Locals preparing for Woodward Dream Cruise

By Don Rush

This year will mark the 28th running of the Woodward Dream Cruise, which celebrates America’s first highway and classic cars that cruised up and down the highway. This year the cruise starts at 9 a.m. on Aug. 19. Locally, two vintage car lovers will be participating. One, picked up his vehicle less than a year ago, the other worked on her vehicle with her grandfather since she was 11-years old.

Addison Township resident Matt Tomczak, 52, plans on taking his “new” 1969 Ford F100 Ranger pickup truck to the cruise that he brought back from Georgia this past June. “My wife Chrissy and I planned a week-long vacation in Savannah. Purchasing a truck was nowhere on the agenda,” he said. “While my wife was driving on Friday, as we arrived to Savannah, I was killing time scrolling on Facebook. I came across a post for a restored 1972 F250 for sale in Indiana. My wife and I really liked it. I contacted the seller and received more information on the truck. We had an agreement to purchase the truck for full asking price.

“I informed the seller my son could come up from Kentucky with a deposit if necessary but the seller agreed to wait until Saturday for us to pick it up on our way home. I went to the bank in Savannah on Monday morning and withdrew the funds and sent the seller a copy of the withdrawal slip. I asked for the VIN to contact my insurance company but I didn’t get a response. On Wednesday morning we were informed that he sold the truck to another buyer.

“Fast forward to the end of the week and we’re leaving Savannah — with a pocket full of cash — and again I’m scrolling Facebook and find a 1969 Ford F100 Ranger for sale in Georgia. My wife says she actually likes this truck better than the one in Indiana. I contacted the seller and he said he could meet with us Saturday morning. Chrissy and I drove up to our son’s house in Kentucky. Upon arrival, I informed our son Tyler that I wanted to drive back to Georgia with his truck and car hauler trailer to look at a different truck. At 3 a.m. we hit the road back to Georgia. We met with the seller and made a deal. We hauled the truck back to Tyler’s barn in Kentucky until I could get back down two weeks later with a truck and car hauler from Michigan to pick her up. We named her Savannah.”

Ashley Venneste, 38, and her family are taking a white 1957 Lincoln Premiere convertible to the Dream Cruise.

“My grandparents, Harley and Violet Nichols, adopted me when I was 11 after my Mom passed away. My Grandpa claimed he was one of the original roadsters who cruised Woodward in the 1950s,” she said. “My Grandma was the racer and loved shooting off the line from lights racing other cars. My Grandpa even worked at a hot rod shop in Royal Oak in the 1950s, too.

“He bought a 57 Lincoln Premiere Convertible for $200. Just the shell and it sat in his garage for years. The year they adopted me, I asked him if we could start working on it. Well, we did. We restored it almost completely, even though it doesn’t have the original engine or trans. We went to our first Dream Cruise in 1996 and have gone every year since. He passed away this past October, after he signed the title over to me. It’s been with me now in Oxford.”

Like Venneste, the love of cars is in Tomczak’s blood.

“We have been to many cruises on Woodward,” he said. “My dad started it all with having a few Corvettes and a custom 1975 Chevy van while I was growing up. He built a custom 1986 Corvette show car that we had down many times. In recent years my wife and I have taken down our custom 2005 LJ Jeep Wrangler.”

Vanneste and her family, husband Dan and two sons, Jacob (14) and Tyler (7) moved to Oxford in 2014. “We decided on Oxford because my other Grandma, Jena Robertson, lived in the village for about 20 years prior to us moving here.”

Tomczak and his wife Chrissy have two sons Tyler (25), who lives in Kentucky and Dylan (22) who still lives at home with their canine friend Shya, a 12-year-old Coton de Tulear.