Largest Tire In The World: Uniroyal Tire Of Detroit

 

Largest Uniroyal Tire in the World - Detroit

In a place like the "Motor City", it stands to reason it would have a landmark that proves its dedication to the auto industry. Weighing in at 12-tons and as tall as 80-feet, this real rubber tire is designed to withstand hurricane-force winds. 

You can see this amazing piece of rubber by taking I-94 in or out of Detroit. Just off to the side of the expressway, not far from the metropolitan airport, if you miss the largest tire in the world, you must have been sleeping. 

When and Why it was Built

The Uniroyal tire was built in 1964-65 by the architectural firm of Shreve, Lamb, and Harmon, the same company that designed the Empire State Building. It was used at the New York State Fair as a Ferris Wheel to help promote the Uniroyal product. 

Shipping the Big Uniroyal Tire to Michigan

In 1965, the huge Uniroyal tire was shipped from New York to Michigan in 188 pieces by rail. It was then put together and anchored into concrete in Allen Park off of Interstate 94 in a four-month period. 

Changing the Look of the Uniroyal Tire

The huge Uniroyal tire received a makeover three different times throughout the years, once in 1994, again in 1998, and once more in 2003. All three times the makeover included either new hub caps or new lettering on the sidewalls of the tire. 

Another Largest in the World

In 1998, Uniroyal had the largest nail in the world punctured into the tire. It was an advertising campaign for Uniroyal's new run-flat tires. The nail was eventually pulled out and sold on eBay for $3,000 to a businessman to raise money for the Historical Society. Ralph Roberts was the buyer and loaned out the nail to be put on display at local events. Allen Park originally received the nail when it was first pulled out and they were hoping to get about $100,000 for it, but it wasn't something too many people had too many uses for.    

Why the Uniroyal Tire was Placed Where it's At

Although just a myth, a lot of people believe it was placed on the side of I-94 heading into Detroit to let everyone know they were entering the "Motor City". Of course, now there's really no car factory action down in Detroit, but Detroit still holds the Autorama, the North American International Auto Show, and Indy Car Race Weekend at Belle Isle. 

On top of everything else, you can't miss General Motors headquarters down in the heart of Detroit. The Renaissance Center scrapes the sky with the GM logo on it for everyone to see.   

 

Covid-19 Cancels Detroit's Most Anticipated Event: Detroit Auto Show

The Covid-19 virus has caused the cancelation of one of Detroit’s most anticipated events in modern Motor City history. Like with most cities and industries, their economies have taken a huge hit due to the pandemic. But for Detroit and the surrounding regional area, having the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) and the Grand Prix canceled is the worst thing that could happen to a city that has just started to really hit its stride. 

Detroit has suffered for many years economically, and with the new build of the Little Caesar Arena, Detroit has really started to see an up-turn. The arena gave the Red Wings a new place to play and brought the Detroit Pistons back to Detroit from their previous home at the Palace in Auburn Hills, MI.

The North American International Auto Show 

This year would have been the first year for the NAIAS to be held in June instead of in January. Last year the show experienced 35,000 fewer guests than the previous year due to a massive snowstorm. And it’s these kinds of wintery problems that the NAIAS has always experienced when trying to get and keep attendance up. 

Even with the 35,000 fewer guests, the NAIAS boosted Detroit’s and the regional economy with revenue gains of over $430 Million, the equivalent of two Super Bowls. Restaurants and hotels all reap the rewards of this extraordinary event. But as of right now, with all these businesses already hammered with the restrictions of the Covid-19 virus, the cancellation of the NAIAS will only make things worse. 

More Problems For NAIAS 

The second biggest reason for the move to June other than attendance was to bring back some of the automakers that have backed out of the event in the past few years. As attendance declined because of weather and other reasons, a lot of foreign automakers have backed out of the event - with fewer people - fewer people to promote their product to. Moving the NAIAS to June from January was supposed to be the game-changer. 

Having the event outside during the summer would allow interested consumers to take vehicles for a test drive, experience new self-driving cars in the flesh, and give more room for automakers to set up their displays. Also, adding to the fun, there was going to be off-road events at the TCF Center and Hart Plaza, rally cars were to "drift" on the rooftop of the convention center, the Motor Bella festival of Italian and British cars on Broadway, live music, and more. 

Unfortunately, if you show up to any of these places this year, you’ll find that they are either closed or turned into a temporary field hospital for Covid-19 patients. 

Detroit Grand Prix At Belle Isle

The Detroit Grand Prix was also cancelled. The Grand Prix was to be held May 29-31 just before the June 7-20 NAIAS was to be held making Detroit a true Motor City again. The two events put together so close at such a nice time of year should have been a great chance for Detroit to get more people down to the city than usual. Gearheads and just curious people altogether would have been able to witness a new Detroit starting to deveolp.  

Unfortunately, like with all cities around the world, the pandemic is affecting all new and exciting things and traditional things that goes on in our cities. And for a city that was finally bouncing back after decades of decline, this will put a big halt on the progress Detroit has made.  

2020 Detroit North American International Auto Show Moves To June To Skip The Cold

Detroit North American International Auto Show

It's been no surprise that in the last few years and counting the Detroit North American Auto Show has been failing to achieve attendance goals. And when attendance is down, car automakers drop out.

As of right now, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi have already dropped out of the 2019 Detroit Auto Show. That’s really not that big of a surprise considering automakers like Mitsubishi, Land Rover, Jaguar, and high-end exotic and luxury brands like Bentley have been absent from the prestigious Motor City auto show for years now.  

Guilty As Charged

I love cars and worked in some way shape or form for the auto industries for many years. I try to make it every January, but I've skipped a few times just because of the cold. It always seems to be the week of the auto show that the weather temps drop to a bitter cold making it extremely miserable walking to Cobo Hall where the auto show is held.

Walking down the side streets with towering building on both sides of you turns the streets into a wind tunnel, a wind tunnel that sometimes feels like sub-below temps blowing you from side-to-side. So you have to bundle up to get to the auto show, then you have to coat check everything, and it really just becomes a big hassle when you can stay at home and watch Auto Week.

What’s New For The 2020 North American Auto Show in June?

• Plenty of courted off space for outdoor exhibits for automakers. 
• Live Music Venue.
• Outdoor conference room for world-class speakers. 
• A mini test-drive track for interested car shoppers.
• Outdoor food court with food trucks from some of the best culinary hotspots in Detroit.
• Fun and games. 
• And much more. 

This exciting indoor-outdoor event that will be held right after the Belle Isle Grand Prix will really help the Motor City seem like the Motor City again.

"The potential to create a month-long automotive festival in Detroit starting with the Detroit Grand Prix, going through our show and concluding with the nationally-celebrated fireworks on the river, will provide an unmatched festival-like experience for all attendees," Detroit Auto Show executive director Rod Alberts said in a press release. "June provides us with exciting new opportunities that January just didn't afford."

The first annual “No Holds Barred” Motor City Showdown legal drag race in September at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Airport was a huge success. This further lead Detroit into making more changes to really make the Motor City the Motor City again and just a great city all around.  

Detroit is really becoming a great place to visit. There is plenty of great places to eat, visit, shop, listen to music, and drink. A far cry from what it used to be three decades ago.  

Legal Detroit Drag Racing - New Detroit Motorsports Venue?

Legal Drag Racing in Detroit

When the “No Holds Barred” Motor City Showdown legal drag race at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Airport was finally legitimized and given an official date, all Detroit and surrounding area car enthusiasts were ecstatic, to say the least. With the two closest drag strips to the Detroit area being long traffic crammed drives away, this gave illegal street racers a place to show off what they had without the worry of authorities or traffic intervening and with safety personnel on hand.

The event went off without a hitch and everyone seemed to have a blast. Detroit Police Chief James Craig kicked off the event with a parade of many classic-looking roadsters and hot rods. After the short but glamorous parade, the competition began. Drag racers and their cars from all across the Metropolitan area made many quarter-mile passes giving the jam-packed crowd and their cameras just what they wanted - smoky burnouts, wheelstands and side-by-side action-packed drag racing.

Now that the event has come and gone with such success, many racers and fans are wondering if it’s going to be an annual event or even better, will the washed-up airport be turned into a complete Motorsports venue. This thought has been tossed around at many city council meetings. Current Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is accepting proposals for what to do with the airport with a drag racing venue being just one of many other proposals. Other proposals include an update and revamp to the airport, an area designated for techno dance clubs, and others that haven’t been publicly announced yet.

Although the Detroit airport is still in use it has not had regular service from commercial airliners in 15 years and is on pace for a $1.3 million loss for the 2017 fiscal year. With Detroit still trying to recover from its most recent major economic decline, the job opportunities a Motorsports venue will create would be ideal. And just like with Detroit’s professional sporting events, concerts, auto shows, and the many other activities that Detroit puts on every year, it will only help bring business to a city that desperately needs it. There is also talk about moving the very profitable Detroit Grand Prix to the new Motorsports venue if it gets built. This would help with some of the conflicts that Detroit has been having with the Grand Prix in the last few years.

So what’s the verdict? Mayor Mike Durgan just recently got re-elected, and from what everyone seems to understand is that he likes the Motorsports venue idea and is eager to do something profitable with the airport. We also have two major problems in the city - drugs and illegal drag racing. With a place nearby to drag race legally, that would definitely help combat the drag racing problems (Detroit has always had a bad one), and adding techno dance clubs to the city would probably help promote more opportunities for drug use and drug distribution. To me, it sounds like a Motorsports venue would be a win-win for the city of Detroit.  

Brian Olatunji and his group Leadfoot Events LLC. are the ones that came up with the idea for the “No Holds Barred” Motor City Showdown. Brian is a native of the city and a professional drag racer. He says, “We hope that this will bring tourism and highlight the city no different than other major events such as the Thanksgiving parade and the auto show”

It could do just that. With the right amount of big names behind a state-of-the-art Motorsports venue, getting big money IHRA and NHRA events to Detroit might be something the city could end up seeing. With Kalitta Flying Services located next to the Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti about 50 miles outside of Detroit - the owners of the mega-aviation business are some of NHRA Top/Fuel drag racing’s biggest faces - and that could really help way in on a decision to bring another professional race event to the Motor City.

As far as a permanent answer, Detroit should have one for the second annual “No Holds Barred” Motor City Showdown by spring of 2018, with more information on more permanent plans for the airport by the fall of next year.

The 2017 Autorama Detroit: Not Enough Time for the Fun

From the cars to the entertainment, the largest indoor car show in Michigan is a nice hold-over to the nicer days of Michigan car cruises, car shows, drag racing, etc. The nice thing about the 2017 Autorama Detroit this year opposed to some of the years in the past, is being able to walk to COBO Hall without freezing to death.  

The crazy Dukes of Hazard jump was even able to be performed without the worries of sliding across a sheet of ice - didn't even need to shovel and lay a bunch salt down before hand. Danny's band "Count 77" performed an outrageous show like they always do. I think since his love for cars runs so deep, being in a facility with so much automotive madness around just makes his band perform that much better. 

Seeing Daisy Duke and Luke Duke show up was crazy. I was so young when I used to watch them on T.V. it's amazing to see how great they still look. About 30 years ago I can remember my first Detroit Autorama. I was aloud to sit in the orange charger (General Lee) and the Batmobile from the Batman series and have my picture taken in it. That year they had a monster truck car crushing exhibit in the COBO arena portion of the facility. Those are some of my earliest memories and I still have the pictures and autographs. 

From what I've seen at this three day spectacular event is a lot of new and exotic looks in an attempt to probably stand out from the crowd. A lot of wild paint jobs and impractical suspension and rim setups. Cars and trucks customized to the tune of looking more like a "Hot Wheels" car than something you could drive out of COBO Hall with. 

But I did see a lot of people and car builders going back in the other direction. A lot cool vehicles that our modest - ones we will probably see cruising the streets of Woodard this year. Old classics, muscle cars, trucks, sports cars, even some of those pesky 80's cars that don't really draw much attention in any aspect of the automobile world. 

Unfortunately, I had to head home before the best part of the whole show got on its way. There's nothing like it when you get to watch the cars leave one-by-one when the show is over. All of them off to their trailers, all of the drivers wanting to give one more punch of the throttle for the cameras. Maybe Next Year Autorama Detroit. 

General Motors' Company Store Opened in GM Renaissance Center

The Renaissance Center 

Downtown Detroit on the river front of the Detroit River sets the skyline icon of the GM Renaissance Center. Headquarters to the General Motor Corporation, the 5.5 million square foot facility will play host to a new official General Motors Company store. 

Located on Level 1 in the GM Wintergarden, the GM store is part of an ongoing renovation to the tower to make public spaces more visitor friendly. The store will bring an exciting atmosphere that will use interactive exhibits to display some of GM's newest innovations, technology, and designs. The GM global brand will be promoted with novelties for purchase like branded coffee mugs, golf balls, hats, sweaters, polo shirts, model cars and much more. For more merchandise details head to www.gmcompanystore.com.

 

The new General Motors store first opened its doors on Nov. 7, 2016 with hours between 9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. during the week and will be open on some weekends as its popularity progresses. All GM employs will enjoy a 10 percent discount with proper GM ID. 

The seven tower Renaissance Center sees an estimated 17,000 people per day and is home to great eateries like Joe Muer Seafood and Granite City Food & Brewery. Among the restaurants, the Renaissance Center also offers meeting and conference rooms, shopping experiences, other than the GM store, and even lodging, which includes a 70-story Detroit Marriott Hotel.  

Chevrolet Grand Prix - Belle Isle, Detroit

What a great way to shine a bright light on Detroit and General Motors than having the Belle Isle Chevrolet Grand Prix play out on the backdrop of the cities GM Renaissance Center building in the city where GM headquarters resides.

With many great race events creating plenty of competition all weekend long, there won't be a dull moment for any race fans that come to the festivities. But if you do find yourself in the stands needing a break from the fast cars zooming by, there are plenty of infield events to keep adults and youngsters alike loving every minute of their stay at the Belle Isle Grand Prix. Between the autograph signing sessions, extreme sports demonstrations, live music, monster truck rides for kids, car shows and of course great food, there will be entertainment for everyone around every corner.

As always Penske Racing has put a huge helping-hand into making all of this work and without a doubt there will be plenty of Penske Racing Teams involved in these great events. But there not to overshadow some of the other great sponsors like Quick and Loans, Meijer who brings the Fan Zone, Motor City Hotel brings the live entertainment and of course Chevrolet and many other sponsors.

All of this great sponsorship just proves how much everyone believes in a city that has made some major changes in the past few years and are still working on making it just an all around great place to come and visit. Whether it is for a sporting event or just to paint the town red while hitting the Casinos, the great eating destinations, clubbing or pub and bar prowling - whatever suits your fantasy - you'll find it here in Detroit.

So I hope that everyone goes and does what I plan on doing - take some great pictures, but enjoy as much of the Belle Isle Chevrolet Grand Prix without an electronic device occupying your eyes and your every movement throughout the day.