Enjoy Auto Culture in Flint & Genesee

For many, summer is a time of taking long drives with the windows down. Along with the summer and the warmer weather come car cruises and classic car events. With Back to the Bricks returning for its 20th anniversary, it’s a great time to enjoy some of the history and attractions related to cars and car culture in Flint & Genesee.

The American drive-in movie is deeply rooted in car culture and spending an evening at the movies is a perfect way to enjoy the summer. Genesee County is home to one of the state’s few remaining drive-ins, the US-23 Drive-In Theater, which offers three screens to choose from and still shows double features. With the usual drinks and snacks available, the US-23 is a must for fans of driving culture and lovers of nostalgia.

With our minds on drive-ins, it seems apt to drive on to Flushing to the Flushing-A, which still offers the classic drive-up service. The Flushing-A offers traditional American fare like hot dogs, fries, and burgers, and with it being located beside a large park that features occasional summer concerts and a playscape for kids, this is a great way to spend an evening.

Heading back into Flint you can stop by the UAW Sitdowners Monument Park. The monument pays homage to an important moment in local and automotive history.

From Sitdowners Park you can head into Flint to see the many statues located downtown. From legendary figures from the early days of automotive history, many of these statues can be found in a statue plaza just off the bricks of Saginaw Street. Just down the street from the plaza, near city hall, can be found several more statues with a final two of William C. Durant and J. Dallas Dort, two of the earliest automotive pioneers who founded the Durant-Dort Carriage Company, can be found near another point of interest.

Durant-Dort Factory One was declared a national historic landmark in 1978 and was once where Durant and Dort had business dealings that started General Motors. While not generally open to the public, its proximity to the Durant and Dort statues makes it a nice side trip to see where some American history began.

For those interested in more automotive history, head over to the Sloan Museum of Discovery where there is a wonderful display of some of the museum’s extensive classic car collection, including rarities and concept cars.  

Finally, Saginaw Street, which makes up the main street through downtown Flint, is part of a sort of “mother road” in Michigan. Made up of bricks that give Back to the Bricks its name, it offers drivers the beginning of a long, leisurely drive. If you are interested in a drive, you can take Saginaw Street from Flint right to downtown Detroit on a long car cruise. The road may change names – from Saginaw Street to Dixie Highway to Cesar Chavez and finally to Woodward Avenue in Detroit. This cruise will wind through Flint, Grand Blanc, Holly, Waterford Township, Pontiac, Bloomfield Hills, Birmingham, Pleasant Ridge, Ferndale, and on into Detroit.

While the summer may be winding down, there’s still plenty of time to take your history cruise check out some landmarks, and make some memories in Flint & Genesee.