Windsor woman's muscle car triumphs at Detroit's Woodward Dream Cruise

Diane Leonard-Humphrey describes herself as a car enthusiast and says oftentimes people figure her muscle car belongs to her husband.

"It's 2023, guys," she said. "Women drive nice, powerful cars." 

The east Windsor resident's 2013 Dodge Charger won an award at the recent Woodward Dream Cruise in Michigan — where she also got to meet Jay Leno.

Leonard-Humphrey spoke with Windsor Morning host Nav Nanwa.

Here's part of that conversation.

So, Diane, the first question that I have for you is when did you first fall in love with muscle cars? 

Well, it was actually when I met my husband. He was already into muscle cars. He had a 1970 Firebird.

So it just became a natural thing. And I mean, when he picked me up, he was in his 1970 Firebird, and it was like, "Oh my God. Nice looking guy. Nice looking car." So, yeah, that's how it started. 

Tell me about the car that we're sitting in currently. It's quite beautiful. 

It's a 2013 Dodge Charger SRT. So it's already 10 years old but I've had some changes to it.

I've had a new motor put in last year and so it's a brand new motor. It's a great motor. So it's not a modified motor, it's a brand new out of the factory motor. 

You love this car so much that you actually opted to get some work done on it versus getting a kitchen renovation. Is that true? 

Well, I had some lift problems last year. And it was like, how much money do you spend to find what the problem is? And you keep going down and then something else can be found. And so I made the decision.

It was our budget to go for a new block rather than, you know, letting the car sit there all summer, not functional. 

The kitchen can wait. 

And because we're passionate about cars, I don't want to be sitting all summer in my new kitchen and not do nothing. 

So that's the choice we made. And I don't regret it one bit. 

Why do you like driving it? 

I always love driving. I always said to myself, I should have been a trucker. 

But yes, I love driving. I love long trips. 

And so for me it was a natural thing to do to decide to get a new motor rather than a new kitchen. For now. 

We're also sitting in an award-winning car because you recently attended the Woodward Dream Cruise event in Detroit. Tell me a bit more about that experience and the award you won. 

When you go to Woodward Dream Cruise, a lot of times you go with a group, you go with the club. And I went with this group that does a car show, but they're also drag racers. 

So every year I go to the Woodward Dream Cruise with them, and they have. A car show. And they have awards. So I've won a couple awards with them in the past. And then this time around I won another award, so I was pretty honoured. 

You have cars over there that are just spectacular. 

And I'm not there for the award. I'm there for the people. I'm there for the passion, the enthusiasts. Because when you're in a group like this, it's like a big family. And everybody kind of talks about cars and and they're just as passionate as I am and they'll help you if you have a problem or whatever. 

You also got to meet another car enthusiast, a well-known one, in fact. What was it like to meet Jay Leno? 

Oh my God. That was the highlight of the show. 

So Dodge invited special guests. We didn't know until the morning who the guest was. And so we found out it was Jay Leno. And everybody got excited because, like you said, he's a car enthusiast just like us, except his collection is like a lot more than us. And so everybody wants to meet him. 

But so, yeah, Jay Leno came out and everybody wants to meet him. Everybody wants to take a picture with them. So it's exciting. And I'm very short. And so I weaseled in front of everybody and they let me go because I'm short. So sometimes it's an advantage. 

I shook his hand and I said, "Can I take a picture with you?" And he just looked at me and said, "Oh, yes." So he grabs me and cuddles me and puts his head against my head, like if I'm some small child, you know? And everybody was laughing because you know, of that the way he did that. So, yeah, it was really exciting. 

Diane, where do you see your love for muscle cars going in the future? 

If my budget would let me, I would definitely have a Hellcat [Dodge Charger]. But unfortunately, I got two years. I'm retiring. Maybe someday. 

You have a beautiful ride that we're sitting in right now. And I'm curious, when you're in your charger, what's your favourite song to cruise to? 

Ramble On from Led Zeppelin. I love it. 

Why do you like that song? 

I don't know. I just go to the beat. It's just always the song that I put on. 

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