MotorCities Automotive Themed Tours Now Available!

MotorCities is partnering with five Detroit-area tour operators (and one in Lansing, too!) to offer public tours related to the automotive or labor heritage of Michigan.  

Tour experiences available vary from riding in a vintage Ford Model A to pedaling a bicycle – all while visiting key automotive historical sites and learning the story of how the region put the world on wheels.

We are proud to offer the following experiences:
 

Antique Touring Company - From Tinkerers to Titans Tour  
Hop in a Ford Model A and explore the "coming of age" story of the automobile during the first decades of the 20th Century from the vantage point of Detroit’s Woodward Corridor. Tours are offered every day, except Mondays, May 1 through November 1. Additional information can be found on their website: https://antiquetouring.com/experience/motor-cities-heritage-antique-car-tour/

City Institute - MotorCities Auto Heritage New Center, Pontiac and Dearborn Walking Tours 
On the New Center walking tour, guests will experience the past, present and future of the Detroit area, going back in time with a visit into the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant and speak with some of the innovators who now call these neighborhoods home. The New Center tours are offered monthly May through September. New for 2022 are one-time walking tours of downtown Pontiac and Dearborn. For more information, please visit https://www.thecityinstitute.com/public-tours

Magical Michigan Tours - Henry Ford: From Farm to Factory Tour

Learn about the life of Henry Ford--an auto pioneer and titan of industry is known as inventor of the Quadricycle, Model T, and the moving assembly line. This bus tour connects visitors to actual historic sites that reveal Henry Ford’s life from his farming roots to becoming an industrial magnate. Bringing Ford’s story alive, while visiting locations important to his story, will give tour-goers a personal view of his life and the impact the introduction of the Model T automobile and how it revolutionized transportation and American industry. This tour not only covers Mr. Ford’s greatest achievements, but it will also cover some of his greatest challenges. The perspective presented in the tour will also look at the impact he had on society in the 20th century. For more information, visit https://magicalmichigantours.webs.com/henry-ford-tour..

Russell Brothers City Tours – Customized Automotive History Tours 

Get on board for a fun-filled tour of automotive landmarks in the city of Detroit.  Your guide, Emmy-winning TV and radio personality Greg Russell, takes guests to places they may know and some sites they might not. If guests have particular sites they’d like to see, just let Greg know. The tours are informative, insightful and most importantly, fun! Russell Brothers City Tours also offers virtual tours online. Guests can visit via their computers or other devices some of the fun and historical places from Detroit’s automotive history. https://www.russellbrotherscitytours.com/

Wheelhouse Detroit - Auto Heritage Bicycle Tour 
On this 15-mile tour, guests will discover how Detroit became the center of industry. The tour takes in the Globe Building, Dequindre Cut, Packard Plant, the GM Detroit-Hamtramck (Poletown) Assembly Plant, Milwaukee Junction, New Center (old GM Headquarters and Fisher Building), and TechTown, where we will learn how industry is evolving with advanced technology. Tour dates are available seasonally one day each month. For more information, please visit https://www.wheelhousedetroit.com/auto-heritage.

GLAD Tours - REO Town Walking Tour

Enjoy a walking tour of REO Town with our Lansing MotorCities tour operator partner, GLAD Tours. Tickets are available for $10. Before there was a REO Town, there was REO City. Take a walk down the main drag with GLAD Tours and see where Ransom Eli Olds started the auto industry. Tours are available by appointment by clicking here: https://gladtours.biz/