Road-trip warriors who are familiar with driving in “The Mitten State” – or even billboard spotters who travel up and down the I-75 corridor – have likely either been to or have seen signs for Frankenmuth. This Bavarian-themed little town in The Thumb area of Michigan is well-known as the home to Bronner’s, “The World’s Largest Christmas Store” as well as the mega family-style restaurants Zehnder’s and Bavarian Inn, where you can get their “World-Famous Chicken Dinners.” But for enthusiasts, the big attraction is the yearly Frankenmuth Auto Fest, held on the weekend following Labor Day.
It’s actually a three-day event full of food, fun, music and cars that draws some 2,500 vehicles and 150,000 people. It began nearly four decades ago as a main-street fundraiser for the Frankenmuth Rotary Club, Lion’s Club, American Legion, VFW and the Michigan Heroes Museum, but has now grown into a huge event managed by over 500 volunteers and now spilling into and filling the town’s sprawling Heritage Park.
If classic American Iron and pre-1987’s are your favorites, then you’ll want to head to town on either that Friday or Saturday. If you’re more into modern-day muscle, the show field opens up to all makes and model vehicles up to current model year on Sunday. If you can manage to pull yourself away from the car show, downtown Frankenmuth offers plenty of shopping, dining, and entertainment for the whole family. With a population of just over 5,000, it’s small-town quaint with big-time appeal. In addition to Bronner’s and the chicken dinner restaurants, there a local brewery, specialty stores and even a wine-tasting shop.For show-goers, the Big Block Party is held Friday from 5-10 p.m. on Main Street. Saturday is the BIG car show, and on Saturday night there’s a live band under the pavilion with dancing, food and beverages. (Frankenmuth is the home of rock band Greta Van Fleet.) On Sunday they have another car show concluding with a 1 p.m. people’s choice awards ceremony where some 60 German Steins are the “trophies.” The event closes with a tribute to Veterans.
In this episode, John and Mike take us through the Mustang photos from the event taken by noted Ford car-show photographer Bill Cook. We couldn’t help but notice that this fall’s Mustang show-car footprint was dominated by the 1971-73 “Big Horses” – more and more of which seem to showing up on the show circuit. So check out the Stangs seen at the Auto Fest – without having to walk miles to see the Mustangs or gain all the calories from eating one of Frankenmuth’s world-famous chicken dinners!
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