Keeping a car running when it’s more than 50 years old can be a challenge. When you’re a member of a car club, you meet other people who might have encountered the same repair issues. You meet members who know where you can get the parts you need, said Gordon Michael of Oak Park. Beyond that, you make some great friends, he said.

Michael met Doug Osborn of Royal Oak through the Ford & Mercury Restorers Club of America, though Osborn is no longer a member.

The two men and their families met up at the Woodward Dream Cruise Saturday, their friendships cemented around Michael’s 1969 Mercury Marquis and Osborn’s 1966 Ford Mustang.

Up and down Woodward at the Dream Cruise, billed as the largest one-day car event in the world, car club members gather in parking lots. They often congregate in the same location year after year.

Members share car restoration stories, plan trips around the country to other car shows and catch up on each other’s families.

“You get to meet good people,” said Bob Waltower of Detroit, a member of the National Brotherhood Hot Rod Assembly. He’s a former chairman of the Michigan Chapter.

Waltower, 80, gathered at the Dream Cruise with fellow members of the group, including Napoleon Dunson, who traveled to the event from Chattanooga, Tenn.

They share interests and experiences beyond a love of classic cars.

“None of us are getting any younger, Waltower said. “We’re all old school. We’re all retired.”

The group’s members enjoy employing their classic cars for good causes. The Detroit-area members frequently take their cars to senior citizen complexes and nursing homes, where the residents get a kick out of going back in time, said member Leroy Miller of Southfield.

Hundreds of car clubs operate around the country. Some have members who all own a specific make or model of car and others have a general membership.

Car club members and other enthusiasts gathered at the cruise despite the threat of rain, which fell intermittently throughout the day.