The main attraction of Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge is the street-legal drag racing that is held on Woodward Avenue in front of the M1 Concourse road racing facility, and that makes perfect sense. Some of the quickest street cars in the country come to Metro Detroit to race on Woodward Ave. in an effort to take home the big cash prize, and with so many wicked muscle cars on hand, the Roadkill Nights racing program is literally worth the price of admission.
However, those Roadkill Nights attendees who venture around the inside of the M1 Concourse facility will find that the Cruise-In Parking area is one of the best non-judged car shows around. Each year, Dodge issues free Cruise-In Parking passes for a great many Dodge owners, leading to a field that is predominantly Dodge Brand cars, trucks and SUVs, but since the event sells Cruise-In Parking passes to owners of other makes and models, there are some off-brand vehicles mixed in as well. That being said, in walking through the packed Cruise-In area, you find that there is a ratio of at least 10-to-1 Dodge/Mopar® products to non-Mopar products, but it isn’t all late-model vehicles.
Yes, there is a large number of modern Dodge Challengers and Chargers, which make up the largest group, but the modern Magnum, the Viper, the Durango and the trucks formerly known as Dodge Rams were all well-represented this year. There was even a late-model Charger that had been converted into a pickup with a Smyth conversion package, and that was in addition to the Smyth-converted Charger in the celebrity racing program.
While front-drive Mopar vehicles are the rarest group in the Cruise-In field, there were a few sharp Caliber SRT4 models on display, and perhaps the most unusual Dodge in the field was a black Conquest TSI from the late 1980s.
There weren’t many vehicles from the ’80s on hand, but that rare hatchback was joined by this gorgeous Dodge Ramcharger, packing 392 Scat Pack power.
Last, but most certainly not least, are the classic Mopar muscle cars on display in the Roadkill Nights Cruise-In area. There were several first- and second-generation Chargers and 1970s Challengers, along with some earlier 1960s models. This included the 1964 Polara owned by a 13-year-old gearhead named Landon, who traded his 1967 Coronet to the Roadkill crew in exchange for the Polara. There was also a 1964 Plymouth Sport Fury in the field, giving viewers a chance to see the two different 1964 model year Mopar vehicles.
Although the Cruise-In field is often overlooked by the media, the scores of vehicles on display go a long way in making Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge so incredible, giving attendees a chance to check out some wicked vehicles up close while also giving the owners of those vehicles a chance to show them off at the coolest automotive festival in the Metro Detroit area.