(WXYZ) — The annual Woodward Dream Cruise is technically called a “cruise,” so a boat rolling down the iconic avenue on four wheels does actually make a whole lot of sense.
“I wasn't planning on building this; it just kind of happened,” said Brent Ankney of Jackson.
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In the stormy seas of COVID-19, an idea floated by in Brent’s mind.
“Everyone was real sad, and I was like, 'we're just going to make people smile,’” he said.
And so, while many people were baking bread, as Brent likes to say, he was "baking a boat.”
But not just any boat. A boat with some interesting guts under the hood—well, hull.
Part SeaStar, part 1999 Chevy Suburban, this boatmobile, affectionately named “Sea-Burban,” is a Frankenstein labor of love, built by Brent and his father.
Brent said he was looking for something to do with his older Suburban, started scrolling Facebook Marketplace, saw the SeaStar, and got the idea. The assembly, however, proved challenging.
“A lot of it's just staring, just standing there staring, looking at it ... I parked them right next to each other, and I was like, I think we can do this. I think it's going to work,” said Brent.
So, he sawed off the top of the Suburban, and then he sawed off the bottom of the SeaStar—and to greatly simplify it, stuck them together.
“I think the hardest part was the wiring ... because we had to extend a lot of the wiring to get it up because the boat is so much taller than everything else,” Brent said. “And then just ... getting everything to fit, because everything that's in a normal Suburban underneath the hood is nice in a tight package while this one is shaped the opposite.”
Brent’s wife, Morgan, is quick to admit she, originally, couldn’t get her sea legs about the project.
“Oh, it was questionable,” said Morgan.
But the finished ride definitely floated her boat.
“We climbed on up in it. And it was love at first sight,” she said.
And that seems to be the case for most people who are lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the Sea-Burban rolling, not on the river, but down the road.
“I never expected this, I mean, I just loved being able to roll around town with him and just to see people's faces,” said Morgan.
The Sea-Burban definitely does roll, to ice cream shops, over sand dunes, and of course, to the Woodward Dream Cruise.
“I love taking it places and just seeing everyone's smiles. When we go to car shows, I like to just leave the ladder down. All the kids, I just let them climb all over and check out the inside. It's not too fancy, so it's like ... just let him have fun,” said Brent.
There’s just one place it absolutely cannot go: the water.
“It does not float … it will sink faster than the Suburban would ever sink,” said Brent.
Despite not being one for the water, the Sea-Burban is anchored to plenty of smiles and fun right here on dry land.
