Copper Canyon Classics

Michael Karesh
by Michael Karesh

This being metro Detroit, you’d think that weekly car meets would be thick on the ground. But, perhaps because I spend too much time attached to a computer, I’m not aware of one in the northwest suburbs. So I was quite happy to trip across the inaugural event of the “Copper Canyon Classics” on Saturday morning at the Copper Canyon restaurant in Southfield, MI.

Today’s event was largely composed of local Lamborghini, NSX, Jaguar, and Thunderbird clubs, but other makes were present and even my lowly Protege5 was welcome. The NSX group included a husband and wife (with a manual orange car and a blue automatic one) and a black car with a huge turbo in what used to be the trunk (good for nearly 600 wheel horsepower in its current tune, and nearly 1,000 with a few software tweaks; the transmission is the weak link). Boost reportedly arrives north of 5,000 rpm. Best listening: the Lamborghinis.

The restaurant, which sponsored the event, provided a $12 breakfast through lunch buffet (go back as many times as you’d like). A raffle was held to benefit a Sri Lankan children’s charity. Winners got to ride shotgun in one of the Diablos, the boosted NSX, or the Exige. Didn’t win, but still want a ride? Just make a donation to the charity.

The plan is to have the meet every Saturday going forward, starting at 10 AM and lasting “all day.” They had a good turnout for an initial event, and as word spreads it should only get better.

Not in the Detroit area, but want to attend an event like this, to see some interesting cars and actually meet other enthusiasts in the real world? There’s probably one near where you live. If you know of a good one, post about it in the comments. Don’t be like me. Use your computer (or phone) to find a meet–then get away from the keyboard for a while.

Michael Karesh operates TrueDelta.com, an online source of car reliability and real-world fuel economy information.





Michael Karesh
Michael Karesh

Michael Karesh lives in West Bloomfield, Michigan, with his wife and three children. In 2003 he received a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. While in Chicago he worked at the National Opinion Research Center, a leader in the field of survey research. For his doctoral thesis, he spent a year-and-a-half inside an automaker studying how and how well it understood consumers when developing new products. While pursuing the degree he taught consumer behavior and product development at Oakland University. Since 1999, he has contributed auto reviews to Epinions, where he is currently one of two people in charge of the autos section. Since earning the degree he has continued to care for his children (school, gymnastics, tae-kwan-do...) and write reviews for Epinions and, more recently, The Truth About Cars while developing TrueDelta, a vehicle reliability and price comparison site.

More by Michael Karesh

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 6 comments
  • Skotastic Skotastic on May 14, 2012

    The Volvo is pretty cool, and I'm sure the Jags are nice though not my thing. Did anyone in the Lambo club have anything remotely interesting like an Espada?

  • Drewdub Drewdub on May 14, 2012

    Check out Cars, Karts, Coffee. First Saturday of the month at Kart 2 Kart in Sterling Heights. Last month was a very solid showing, and there are Kart rides for $12.00. There is a facebook group under Cars, Karts, Coffee Detroit (it may be Cars, Coffee, Karts). . .

  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.
  • ToolGuy Ford is good at drifting all right... 😉
Next