BIRMINGHAM, Mich. (WXYZ) — Three metro Detroit men say their shared love of Pontiac GTOs has kept them connected for decades — and every summer, Woodward Avenue feels like home.
Stan Chodun, Jerry Moss and Steve Lutren show up to the Woodward Dream Cruise with three lawn chairs, three cars and years of memories to go along with them. Between them, they own a 1965, a 1966 and a 1967 Pontiac GTO.
Watch Jeffrey Lindblom's video report below:
"The three of us go back quite a number of years," Lutren said.
Lutren's first car was a Pontiac GTO, and he never quite let it go.
"There's nothing like it," Lutren said. "I love the car and I love talking about it."
For Moss, his GTO ranks among his most prized possessions.
"Next to my daughter and my grand kids. This is my baby," Moss said.
Moss keeps his engine spotless — clean enough, he says, to cook on.
"You can probably cook an egg on it. It's that clean," Moss said.
Moss said he has been coming to Woodward since the late '60s and never stopped. He said he never expected that his love of cars would lead him to his closest friends.
"No," Moss said. "Absolutely not. Not in your life. It has formed great friendships. You tend to want to keep people like that around."
The three men are all retired, which means they can arrive early and stay as long as they like.
"We just happen to be retired, so we can come out early and we can stay all day and all night," Lutren said.
From their lawn chairs along Woodward, the three agree that nostalgia is the word that comes to mind.
"All the good times you had on this street, which you can not imagine," Chodun said.
Chodun and his friends reflected on the hustle and bustle of their younger days, when they say things seemed simpler in the '60s — right down to the engine technology.
"You can open it up, fix what you need to fix and probably have a piece of pizza while you're inside there," Chodun said. "It's in the heart. Gear heads. We grew up in the Motor City. Great memories, great cars, great friends, great conversations."
Moss called the whole experience "a labor of love."
Lutren said his GTO feels like an old companion.
"It's an old friend," Lutren said. "I used to come out here every day."
Related video: Woodward Dream Cruise weekend kicks off with cars, family and community
The three said the spirit they share is something you can see on every face at the Dream Cruise.
"Everyone is walking around with a smile. It doesn't get any better than that," Lutren said.
"I don't know what summer would be like without a cruise," Moss said.
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