For the first month of our 30th anniversary year, we are going old-school and featuring a car on the cover.
This tradition began back in January 1999. Over the course of the next 20 years, 15 of the January issues had car covers, and of the five that didn’t, four were billed as the Auto Issue or contained a car feature. All of this tied into the Detroit Auto Show — at the time officially called the North American International Auto Show.
We took a break from the Auto Issue and a car photo in 2020, when, for the first time since 2011, the feature Detroiters of the Year — which recognizes movers, makers, and thinkers who have influenced and continue to influence life in metro Detroit — returned to the magazine.
While the Detroiters list has included up to 75 individuals — like in 2005, when we featured 75 women who were members of a Detroit-based support group called Michigan Military Moms — I prefer a more curated approach. This year, we have six honorees, all of whom have made a significant contribution to metro Detroit over the course of their careers and especially in 2025.
As far as automobile content, we have a page devoted to Hour’s car covers, details about this year’s Detroit Auto Show, and a photo feature with enough classic-car eye candy to satisfy you until August’s Dream Cruise.
In January’s editor’s letter, I always like to look at major anniversaries coming up for Detroit institutions. Here are just a few of the Motown staples that are celebrating this year:
120 years: College for Creative Studies (founded in 1906 as the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts)
100 years: Detroit Red Wings (originally the Detroit Cougars), Detroit Masonic Temple, Wurlitzer Building (now The Siren Hotel), and De La Salle Collegiate High School
50 years: Renaissance Center (first tower)
25 years: Cuisine restaurant in the New Center neighborhood
20 years: Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit
10 years: Grey Ghost restaurant in Detroit’s Brush Park
5 years: Freya in the Milwaukee Junction neighborhood
One way you can celebrate these and other local institutions, businesses, and individuals is by writing their names on our 2026 Best of Detroit readers’ ballot by 11:59 p.m. Jan. 9, and voting for the winners from our list of finalists from Feb. 9 to March 9. Visit hourdetroit.com/best-of-detroit-online-ballot to make your voice heard.
This story originally appeared in the January 2026 issue of Hour Detroit magazine. To read more, pick up a copy of Hour Detroit at a local retail outlet. Click here to get our digital edition.
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