The few dark clouds gathering on the morning of the 11th annual Cruisin’ Downriver broke early to let the sun reflect itself and the sky in the waxed paint and polished chrome of rumbling Detroit steel.

By 3 p.m. Saturday, crowds began to fill every empty space along Fort Street. Whether the surface was grassy, concrete or otherwise, spectators relaxed in chairs, stood with signs or danced to booming music, while classic and new cars alike crept along.

Parking lots smelled of grilled meat, and smoke billowed in the streets. Some street smoke, however, was provided by the friction created when rubber met the road.

Many said the rain in the morning made for a slow start to this year’s cruise, but when the sun began to shine in the afternoon, it brought with it temperatures that spiked into the 90s.

The Southern Wayne County Regional Chamber, The News-Herald Newspapers and the cities of Lincoln Park, Riverview, Southgate and Wyandotte helped coordinate the event.

Sandy Mull, the chamber’s interim president, rode in the 10 a.m. opening drive with the mayors of the four participating cities: Frank Vaslo of Lincoln Park, Tim Durand of Riverview, Joseph Kuspa of Southgate and Joseph Peterson of Wyandotte.

The drive along Fort Street from Riverview to Lincoln Park consisted of a police escort of squad cars and motorcycles with lights flashing.

“A police escort is great,” Mull said. “You don’t have to stop at stoplights.”

“I was in a silver 2005 Mustang convertible,” Vaslo said. “Anything’s better than my 1999 Ford Windstar with one hubcap missing.”

Vaslo added that Lincoln Park enjoyed record numbers of people who attended the Concert in the Park featuring The Detroit Jazz Octet on Thursday and the Movie in the Park featuring “Shrek the Third” on Friday at Memorial Park.

Thousands of people attended the cruise, and the number grew even larger into the night.

“I think it went pretty well, once everybody was pretty sure it wasn’t going to rain,” Mull said. “I was concerned that people wouldn’t come out if it was going to rain in the afternoon.”

She said the event went according to plan, and there were no surprises except for the weather.

“The event runs itself,” Mull said. “People just come out and have a good time.”

A police car could be found on nearly every corner and, as a result, police departments in three out of four cities reported a slow night with few incidents.

Lincoln Park Officer Nicholas Vaiyanet said it was one of the quietest cruises he had ever seen.

“Everybody was orderly in the city,” Riverview police Lt. Cliff Rosebohm said. “Everybody was well-behaved.”

Southgate’s mayor praised those attending the event.

“The public needs to be commended for their cooperation, along with the public service officers from all four cities,” Kuspa said.

Wyandotte’s reports were not available as of yesterday morning.

While the cruise spectators were well-behaved, parties still were in full swing at places along the route like McCaffrey’s Lounge in Lincoln Park and Quit-N-Time in Wyandotte.

Quit-N-Time owners Kevin and Carrie Ward consider the cruise to be their second-busiest day of the year, behind St. Patrick’s Day.

The bar’s adjoining parking lot had a stage for music featuring Downriver’s Forest Wade, an ear-thumping disc jockey playing hard rock and a dunk tank featuring their bikini-clad servers to raise money for the fight against breast cancer.

“We started the breast cancer campaign last year, and we raised $1,200,” Carrie Ward said.

She said the bar met its goal of $1,500 this year.

Krysta Kleinsorte, a Quit-N-Time server, donated her time in the dunk tank and said she was glad to be “soaking wet” for a good cause.

Canopy tents peppered the roadside with spectators relaxing in the shade while munching on freshly barbecued food.

Jason Leavens of Melvindale had his gas grill fired up with hamburgers sizzling and popping in the afternoon sun.

“I absolutely love Camaros, and besides the cars, I love the people,” he said. “Everybody comes out.”

Along with the fun and excitement that took place off the road, there were plenty of glittering gems on it.

The rolling thunder made its way up and down Fort Street in countless shapes and sizes, and the spectators’ shouts could barely be heard as the cars roared past.

Larry Hehl of Flat Rock brought his 1944 Woody Wagon for his 11th consecutive year attending Cruisin’ Downriver.

“I’m a cruiser,” he said. “I like all old cars.”

You didn’t need a classic car to enjoy the festivities, however. There were plenty of people who walked or bicycled to Fort Street, including Durand.

“I rode my bicycle from Sibley to Eureka a few times during the day to check out the cruise,” he said.

He added that Riverview’s Summerfest will be back to help kick off the Cruisin’ Downriver weekend in 2011.

Frank and Laurie Sobczyk of Wyandotte rode their two-seater bicycle to the cruise and said they were “loving it.”

“I like the Mustangs,” Laurie Sobczyk said.

Martin “Buzz” Thomas said he regretted that he wasn’t able to drive his 1962 Corvette that recently received a paint job.

“I bought the car 30 years ago and I’d been driving it ever since, and it needed to be repainted,” he said.

Thomas also owns a ’73 Corvette and an ’81 Corvette.

“I like the ’62 the best,” he said.

Oldies station WOMC-FM (104.3) provided the theme music for the event by pumping out classic tunes to match the classic cars along Fort.

Lincoln Park’s mayor said it worked well.

“I was at Memorial Park, and WOMC did a very nice job promoting the route, and I could listen to it on the radio,” Vaslo said.

The cruise had plenty of sponsors and activities for adults and children alike.

The Meijer parking lot in Southgate contained inflatable bouncers filled with laughing, squealing children for the majority of the day.

“The crowds were great to see,” Kuspa said. “It’s kind of a rallying point for people. Obviously, cars are a big part of Downriver.”

Durand said he saw “a lot of nice cars.”

“People Downriver have a lot of pride in their cars,” he said.

Contact Staff Writer Nate Stemen at nstemen@heritage.com or 1-734-246-0882.