Although Leonardo daVinci had done preliminary design sketches in the 15th Century, there were no such things as automobiles when the lines were laid for Woodward Avenue in the rebuilding that took place in the aftermath of the big fire that virtually destroyed the settlement of Detroit in 1805. "We hope for better things; It shall rise from the ashes," remains the Motown motto.

Fast-forward two centuries, however, and Woodward Avenue celebrates its 200th anniversary with the 13th annual Woodward Dream Cruise with all eight lanes of Woodward packed with cars and lined with people who were eager to see them.

It's fitting that the Woodward Dream Cruise has become the world's largest one-day automotive event. After all, it was the first paved road in the world (in 1909, from Five to Six-Mile). It also was the location of Henry Ford's Highland Park assembly plant, the first with a moving assembly line that rolled out Model T after Model T after... Woodward also was the location of the first three-color traffic signal (invented by policeman William Potts in 1920).

And, of course, Woodward Avenue provided a handy test track for automotive engineers who wanted to test their work, and for auto buyers eager to verify that those engineers had done their jobs properly and that my fill-in-the-brand-of-the-car-you're-driving can beat the fill-in-the-brand-of-the-car-in-the-adjacent-lane from this stoplight to the next one.

Thus cruisin' - and racin' - on Woodward was a pastime long before it was an official automotive celebration that brings together some 40,000 cars and as many car guys and gals as can line the curbs, with law enforcement officers from various communities poised in the median to make sure no one misbehaves. Rev that big V8 and let that mega-watt auto audio crank, but light up the rear tires and do a burnout and the scolding can be expensive.

One of the beauties of the Dream Cruise is that it's free and open to anyone, and to any vehicle. Cruise etiquette asks that the two lanes closest to the curb be reserved for the cool cars, with more mundane traffic in the two lanes nearest the median. Not everyone keeps in line, but you're as likely to see a four-abreast spread that includes a Mopar muscle car next to a Corvette next to a classic Mustang next to a Viper as you are to see a minivan creeping along the curb side.

Saturday, we probably saw every Plymouth Prowler ever built, perhaps half of the Vipers on the planet, and such unexpected gems as an Opel GT and a Honda Civic CVCC, looking factory fresh and painted as green as it's engine (the first to meet modern emission standards).