FREE FOR ALL; If you want to see everything and anything automotive, this is the place to be.(News)

Byline: MAC MORRISON

So you are planning the summer's ultimate automotive pilgrimage and-unless you are a CEO with two months vacation or a pro athlete biding your time until the season begins-you need to make a choice. Which single extravaganza will satisfy your motorhead cravings? The Indy 500? Nah, you're still dizzy from last year's race. The USGP? About as suspenseful as every other Formula One parade. Monterey Historics? Please. You're an enthusiast of the people, damn it. Plus, you'd like to see a variety of cars, drivers and events, preferably in one place. Impossible? Nope, just the 10th installment of the Woodward Dream Cruise.

Originally concocted by local resident Nelson House as a one-off, soccer field fund-raising event, the Dream Cruise is now cemented in our national car culture. It has grown each year, from the 250,000 who showed up in 1995 to the approximately 1 million who lined the byway in 2003 - despite the largest blackout in U.S. history. Cruise officials expect 1.7 million attendees and 40,000 noteworthy cars this year.

We've spotted just about every make and model along the official route's 16 miles over the years. From '32 Fords, Hemi 'Cudas and GTOs, to Ferraris, Porsches and barely street-legal race cars, this is the most diverse collection of tire-burners you are likely to ever come across. With no official entry requirements, costs or forms to complete, the Cruise is also the easiest enthusiast event in which to participate: Just show up and drive.

This casual philosophy is the Cruise's trump card, as it's rooted in genuine history, not marketing scams. Woodward was the world's first concrete paved highway, and a hot-rodding mecca in the '50s and '60s. In its prime, the strip rivaled American Graffiti for capturing the essence of Americana, though the local constabulary is not nearly as tolerant as it once was: There is a strict no-burnout policy. Unfortunate, but perhaps due in part to the actions of one AW staffer who, in the event's early days, staked out a prime location from which to pour gallons of bleach onto the roadway.

Of course, you can't expect corporate America to ignore such a large-scale gathering of fanatics. Ever ones to sniff out ...