U-Matic
1) Cobo Hall P.M. Station Opening & P.M. Route 11-15-88
2) Auto Show 1989 & Ribbon Cutting
U-Matic tape containing footage shot of the 1988 opening of the Cobo Center Detroit People Mover station, views from the window of the People Mover, Mayor Coleman A. Young's speech at the grand opening of the first North American International Auto Show in 1989, and of displays at that auto show. The auto show footage appears to have been copied from tape 2015.008.164.
The tape begins with the videographers shooting several trains passing through the Cobo Center station from the station's platform. Between trains they also capture the "Cavalcade of Cars" mosaics by Larry Ebel and Linda Scarlett which decorate the station's walls. Mayor Coleman A. Young's car then arrives. He is filmed exiting the car, approaching a large green ribbon, and then cutting it to official open the station. He then addresses the crowd from a podium adjacent to the platform. He talks about the mosaics, mentions the international participation in the upcoming First North American International Auto Show, the plans to expand Cobo Hall, the Fox Theatre's renovations, and the construction of the Greater Detroit Resource Recovery Facility. He closes by explaining that he has an appointment in Windsor to speak at a Kiwanis Club lunch event. The press then asks him questions about funding for the Cobo expansion, alterations to the Thanksgiving parade route to accommodate traffic from the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, and plans for a light rail system on Woodward Avenue. This segment ends with a pan across the crowd.
After a cut, the video continue with the camera now positioned to face out the front window of the lead People Mover car as it departs from Cobo. As the People Mover departs the Greektown Station, it begins panning back and forth to the side windows to catch sites along the route, and the other stations. Some notable things visible during the ride are the LANSDOWNE at Hart Plaza, the 150 West Jefferson under construction, and a special announcement over the loudspeaker that the train will stop at the new Cobo station.
After another cut, Mayor Young is then filmed speaking to a crowd in the lobby of Cobo Hall for the grand opening of the first North American International Auto Show, he stresses the new international nature of the event, and reminds the crowd about Detroit's proximity to the headquarters of the Big Three. After his speech the camera pans around the lobby to show a collection of world flags, and a laser light show happening overhead.
The recording then cuts again, and then resumes on the floor of the auto show. First, the Pershing High School marching band performs among the displays. A long series of shots around the show's floor follow. The camera pans around the room capturing many different displays but the most prominently featured are the Chevrolet Corvette, the Dodge Spirit presented by the robot Seethru-P.O., the Dodge Shadow convertible, the Ford Saguaro, the Ford Aerostar minivan, the Pontiac Grand Am coupe, the Pontiac Stinger concept accompanied by dancers doing a routine, the Lincoln Ghia Continental concept, the Mercury Concept 50, the Mercury Cougar, a chamber music group performing in the Oldsmobile section, the Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais, the Ford Splash prototype demonstrated by a woman in a pink and black wetsuit, the Dodge Dakota pick-up truck emerging from Chrysler's Mt. Rushmore-shaped display, the Dodge Shelby Dakota, Chevrolet's 4-Door Compact Sport Utility Vehicle concept, Chevrolet XT-2 concept truck, the Plymouth Laser inside of a rotating tube-shaped display outfitted with an internal laser light show, the Buick Riviera, the Buick Park Avenue Essence concept, the Geo Storm, the Dodge Viper concept, the Mazda MPV minivan, the Mitsubishi Eclipse, and the Infiniti Q45. This segment of the tape ends after a brief low-angled walk past some of the European manufacturers' displays.
The previous footage appears to have been recorded over Robert Altman's 1970 film M*A*S*H, as the tape ends with the film's final scenes.
The video is on a 3M UCA-60 U-Matic tape with a handwritten 3M label on its top. Marker titles directly on the tape are still visible beneath the label; they read "Det. Fest Audio" and "MASH #2." The tape is housed within a latching black plastic case with a matching label on its cover.
Request ImageRelated Records
U-Matic
Press Conf #7
Fred Martin
1. Auto Show @ Cobo Hall
2. Vavoline/Indi-Cart Press Conf 3/23/89
3. CAY @ Martha Jean Queen Show 3-9-89
