Anyone who was around and aware during that summer of 1986 remembers it. They’re likely to have a story to tell as well. In fact, quite likely many, expansive stories.
This was the first of two “Pre-Prix” races run through Saline downtown. The photograph above faces southeast across Michigan Avenue, just past Manufacturer’s Bank (now Comerica), where a large platform had been erected for the grand marshall and VIP viewing. [1,2]
Spearheaded by Donald Shelton, who was our mayor of Saline at the time, this event played off timing of the nascent Detroit Grand Prix held later that same month. And this was a real race, too, featuring mini-Indianapolis-type cars. [3]
D² Enterprises extensively covered these dramatic summer events as they unfolded — both before and after the checkered flag was waved. The photograph above is from a surviving archive of over one hundred film images, 35mm and 120mm format, both black and white and in color. D² Enterprises also backed the two Saline Pre-Prix races financially.
According to The Saline Reporter, the Pre-Prix came with a budget of $30,000 and an additional $10,000 in expenditures incurred “by the City in the form of additional labor costs ….”
In its December 24, 1986 edition, The Saline Reporter — which characterized this event as “teetering on the edge of extinction since its controversial debut last summer” — said that the Saline Pre-Prix had “received a new lease on life from City Council” and would return for a “second annual” event in 1987. Uptown Saline Association (precursor to Saline Mainstreet) had voted unanimously to support this subsequent run. [4,5,6]
Another year and another race later, Mayor Mark Hopper, now having officiated his own Pre-Prix in 1987, expressed enthusiasm about a third installment, in 1988. [7]
But this momentum was to be short-lived. Less than three months later, Saline City Council voted 4-3 to deny permits necessary to hold a next race, effectively ending the event. In response, Cathy Brubaker-Clarke of the Uptown Saline Association summarized this end as follows. [8]
[The] Pre-Prix was a unique event. Finding another unique event that would draw people here is going to be tough. The Pre-Prix was totally different.
Exactly thirty years later now, it may be worth revisiting the broader concept of what a distinct signature event such as this meant to the City of Saline, the proper role of such undertakings, and how its value should be measured.
References
- “Saline Pre-Prix Festivities To Unfold This Weekend” Karen Gillette (June 11, 1986) The Saline Reporter.
- “Pre-Prix Postmortem: The Jury’s Still Out” Karen Gillette (June 18, 1986) The Saline Reporter.
- “Encyclopedia of Detroit: Detroit Grand Prix” Detroit Historical Society.
- “Pre-Prix Up For Review” (November 12, 1986) The Saline Reporter.
- “Saline Pre-Prix Changes Course for Summer Date” (December 24, 1986) The Saline Reporter.
- Saline Main Street (home page).
- “Pre-Prix Back on Track For a 1988 Summer Run” (December 30, 1987) The Saline Reporter.
- “City Council Gives Boot To 3rd Saline Pre-Prix” Renee Lapham Collins (March 9, 1988) The Saline Reporter.
