80’s and 90’s retro is definitely the “in-thing” right now. Just look at some of the popular shows on TV right now. From new creations like “Stranger Things” and “GLOW”, to revivals of sitcoms like “Will and Grace”, “Murphy Brown”, and “Roseanne/The Connors”. It’s also true in car culture, and a new car show called RADwood.
If you haven’t heard about RADwood, this is from the RADwood website:
RADwood is a celebration of ’80s and ’90s automotive lifestyle. The car show that blends period correct dress with automotive awesomeness. A period correct event for cars, trucks, and bikes from 1980-1999 that captures the essence of a bodacious era.
The very first RADwood took place in June of 2017 in the San Francisco Bay Area. In the past year, the event has expanded to include cities such as Philadelphia, Austin, and Los Angeles. For 2019, RADwood currently has 9 dates and locations. I highly encourage you to go. I attended RADwood LA, which was hosted at the Petersen Automotive Museum.
Forbidden Fruit (in the U.S.)
There were so many interesting cars that were never sold in the U.S. Thanks to the efforts of Mercedes Benz in the mid 1980s, you can import any of these “not for sale in the U.S.” cars here after they are 25 years old. As I get older, more and more of the cars I read about as a teenager are starting to show up on the roads here.
Oooh-la-la, check out these two French hotties. The Renault R5 Turbo started out as the car we know stateside as the Renault LeCar. The LeCar was a front engine, FWD car. To homologate for rally racing, Renault turned it into this mid-engine, RWD, wide-body rally beast! The Peugeot 205 GTI behind it was the French answer to the very popular Golf GTI.
The show had all sorts of cars with unconventional doors. Here is a BMW Z1, with doors that drop down into the lower sill area.
How about a Toyota Sera? This was based on the Tercel platform, and had the wonderful “butterfly” doors. The US got a similar looking Paseo, but it was not nearly as wild.
Finally there was a tiny Autozam AZ-1 with gull-wing doors. Lots of scoops and spoilers, but the intakes on the side behind the rear door show that this was a rear engined car.
Is this a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth? The LHD configuration and the turbo 2.3L OHC engine shows that it is just a very well done clone. It is based off of the Merkur XR4Ti, the U.S. version of the Ford Sierra.
American
There were lots of pony cars at the show. Starting out with Mustangs, here is a Fox body Saleen convertible. Given the #340, this would have to be either a 1988 or a 1989.
A nicely customized bubble-back Capri RS Turbo.
What appears to be a bone stock LX 5.0.
There was even a fully restored SSP 5.0L Mustang notchback representing the California Highway Patrol. Check out the 80’s-tastic outfit she is wearing.
3rd generation F-bodies were also well represented, primarily by a particular TV Show. Here is one K.I.T.T. replica, with the red scanner in motion.
Just down the row was another K.I.T.T. replica…
…parked next to a K.A.R.R. repilca. K.A.R.R. was K.I.T.T.’s evil twin.
This was one of two C4 ZR1s at the show.
I’m pretty sure that this is Scott’s LTD LX that I also saw at the Malaise Daze Car show. It is sporting some new wheels since the last time I saw it, and I’m really liking them.
“The Homer” also made an appearance at RADwood. This is actually a race car, raced in the 24 Hours of LeMons series. It is based off of an E30 BMW, but since it’s “The Homer” it belongs in the American category.
A very clean looking Thunderbird SuperCoupe.
European
If there was one make that dominated the show, it was Porsche. There were a lot of air-cooled 911s around.
There was a quintet of 80’s customized Mercedes Benzes. There were very period correct with their modifications except for the wheels. The style is right for the era, but the size is too big for the era. However I like the size on them. Here is a W124 convertible and a W126 SEL sedan with a body kit.
My favorite of the bunch is the cocaine-white over cocaine-white gull-wing W126 SEC coupe. The briefcase full of (presumably) drug money with the Motorola brick phone, as well as the owner’s attire, were the icing on this cake. Behind it is another white SEC convertible.
The final custom Benz was the most colorful. Another SEC convertible conversion, this one also being a widebody. The red and gold color scheme was over the top outrageous.
A little more subdued were these Volvo wagons. Here is an 850 R wagon (with a cameo by a Toyota Previa minivan)….
…and a nicely modified 240 wagon.
Japanese
Acura was a partial sponsor of the event. They brought out a very nice yellow Integra Type R, and behind it was the final scale mockup of the car when it was being designed.
Acura also pulled out the 1995 CL-X concept car. This previewed the upcoming Acura CL back in the day.
This IMSA-style widebody Datsun 280ZX looked ready to race.
This Toyota Corolla SR5 was another with modifications straight out of the mid-80’s.
This 50th Anniversary Z31 Nissan 300ZX was in pristine condition, and still sported a California Sunset license plate.
This was one of two Subaru SVXs at the show.
Could this be Japan’s Buick? A very clean Infiniti M30, looked like it had been driven by a lil’ ol’ lady.
This Toyota Tercel 4WD wagon has to be the model for today’s crossovers? Car platform, both with a couple of extra inches in height, green house a couple extra inches taller, 5-door hatchback utility, and an AWD system. You can find that same formula on any new car lot, in sizes S/M/L.
There were two, yes two, Daihatsu Charades at the show. This gray one, and the white one behind it.
Trucks
There were quite a number of trucks at the show as well. Dodge was well represented by this crew-cab dually, with a very 70’s colorful stripe job. Although with that grille, I think that this is a little older than the 1980 cutoff.
This 1983 Dodge Ram van represented the tail end of the custom van craze from the 70’s.
These two brutes represented the last of the line for the first generation Dodge Ram pickup. The white single cab dually and the two tone extended cab both featured the 5.9L Cummins Turbo Diesel engine.
A trio of Toyotas; mid-90s J80 series Land Cruiser, mid-80’s pickup truck, and a “Wonder Wagon” Van.
Another Toyota pickup, modified as a “desert runner” truck. Behind it is one of two Bronco IIs that were at the show.
And another Toyota pickup, a modified mini-truck. Hydraulics and a dancing bed represented the Mini-Truckin era very well.
GM Performance trucks were out for the show. Here is a 1991 GMC Syclone. 1 of 2,995 produced.
Not too far from the Syclone was the follow up, a 1992 GMC Typhoon. This one had several modifications, my favorite of which was the license plate “POS 92TY”. If the colors are still factory, this is 1 of 1292 built.
What??? Another Typhoon? Yup. This red over gray 1992 Typhoon is 1 of 345 built that year. The Oldsmobile Custom cruiser behind it sported an LS engine swap.
Exotics
A couple of Lamborghini Countaches were at the show. The red one belongs to Matt Farah, of The Smoking Tire Youtube channel.
This was the first time I had ever laid my eyes on a Bugatti EB-110 in the flesh.
This was also the first time I have seen a Consulier GTP in the flesh. But I didn’t get to see just one, but two parked side by side. These were originally powered by Chrysler Turbo-4 cylinder engines. Read more on AllPar.com.
The first of two Ferarri Testarossas, this one in gray metallic over red.
The second in the typical Ferrari color scheme, red over tan. The second SVX makes an appearance, matching the Ferrari’s colors.
A beautiful black 308 GTS was on the top deck of the parking garage.
After seeing the Bugatti EB 110, and two Consulier GTPs, I wasn’t expected to have another first sighting. This one being a Vector W8!!
My Top 3!!
After all of that, I’ve saved my favorite three cars of the show until the last. First up is this MkII Toyota Supra. This thing had the best 80’s paint job. The neon stripes, “squiggle” graphics, and the geometric pattern all scream out from the 80s.
Next up is this very clean looking 1991 Dodge Shelby Daytona. I’ve always loved turbo Dodge’s from the 80s. My first car was a non-turbo Plymouth Turismo. I’m drawn to these when I see them, especially in such good condition. You’ve probably noticed that isn’t the transverse turbocharged 4-cylinder it should have.
This bad boy has been converted to RWD, and sports a modified 5.7L HEMI V8 from a later model Dodge Charger. On top is the 6.1L intake from the SRT8 models. Out back, a narrowed LX Charger rear cradle supports the rear end and independent rear suspension.
The interior is clean and perfect. Yes, that is a manual transmission shifter. This sports a 6-speed manual out of a late model Dodge Challenger. According to the owner, all of the gauges work correctly after some modifications.
I saved my favorite for last. I geeked out over this beautiful Bonneville SSE. I loved the color, the color matched wheels and the period-correct front end mask (or “bra” as we called them).
Inside it had the sport bucket seats, and all those glorious Pontiac buttons. 12 on the steering wheel, and 9 for the power seat controls. The Motorola Star Tac phone and the 1996 Thomas Guide map book really complete the time travel back to the 1990s.
Thanks for reading and I hope that you enjoyed all the photos. Again, if you have a chance to attend a RADwood event, I highly suggest you do. Such a wide variety of cars in one show is an amazing treat.
This is the show I have been most interested in attending since hearing of the first one. Hopefully one day soon. What a fantastic variety, I scrolled through everything 3x, finding even more of interest to me in the backgrounds of many of them such as the Lancia Delta S4 Group B car behind the white Consulier as well as the ’85 Mr2 in that Aqua Blue color. Also several Audi Quattros including at least one Sport (replica?).
That Cosworth does appear to be a replica but they were available in LHD so that’s not a disqualifier, btw.
I wonder if I can get my kids to geek out over the 80’s/90’s stuff like I do. I kind of doubt it BUT they the boys somehow seem very excited about minivans, only having distant memories of ours now. Perhaps that portends a resurgence of that format in about a decade or two.
Thanks for all of the pictures and writing it up The whole thing was rad!
I had so much ADD at the show. There were things that I totally missed and didn’t see until after I looked at my photos and saw things in the background. One that I’m really sad I missed was that orange Escort RS (behind the KITT replica).
I’ve never heard of RADwood before, but it looks like I could spend a very fun day at one of these events.
I’m glad you highlighted that Bonneville. I noticed it in your opening picture, and was hoping I’d get to see some more shots of it. Seeing pictures of the heavily button-laden interior is quite a treat. Are all those randomly-placed buttons better or worse than today’s perplexing infotainment screens? I have no idea, but they’re certainly in the same league.
The cars that really astonish me here are the Daihatsu Charades. Two stripped-down Charades in what looks to be immaculate condition?? There’s got to be a story behind these two cars. The gray one has a Japanese license plate, but is LHD… of course the plate could just be for show, but clearly this is owned by a serious Japanese car enthusiast.
Regarding the Testarossas, just last week I saw one on the road here in Virginia. What makes that even more surprising is that on the day I saw it, the State had just salt-brined the roads (in anticipation of snow flurries that never happened). I despise that salt brine, and won’t even drive my ’95 Thunderbird when there’s brine on the roads… so I can’t imagine bringing a 30-year old Ferrari out in that stuff. Unfortunately the Testarossa was headed in the opposite direction so I couldn’t get pictures.
Anyway thanks for the write-up and the excellent photography here.
Was that Testarossa sliver by any chance with Maryland plates, Eric?
There’s a guy that drives one that I often see in the Columbia area near where I work, who does not seem to care what the weather is when he ventures out in it.
He’s likely an exec at the company across the street from where I work, as I typically see this car when I walk over that way to get lunch sometimes.
While he doesn’t daily drive this car, I see it a lot…. winter, when it’s raining, it doesn’t matter. In fact, I took these pics on a pretty dreary day….
Aft 3/4 view…
The one I saw was red — so evidently there are two like-minded Testarossa owners out there.
There’s something almost surreal about your pictures here — an office building parking lot on a dreary winter day… with a classic Ferrari just parked casually in the lot.
An even better word instead of surreal is “refreshing”. 🙂 At the end of the day it’s still a car…and should be driven and enjoyed instead of locked away. Kudos to this guy (and the red one you saw). I can’t think of a better, more enjoyable way to get to the office park, assuming the roads are clear of traffic, of course. And at the end of the day the owner emerges and immediately understands what the whole point of going to work was.
I have seen that car from time to time. I saw it last a few weeks ago in the parking lot near Macy’s in the Columbia Mall(sorry, I meant the Mall in Columbia….like that makes it more upscale)
It looks like it is surrounded by the Elantra which is the unofficial car of Columbia as they are everywhere.
Outstanding photos and commentary Brian. So glad you were able to enjoy this show. Your view selections and production work on the images is especially well done. It’s very nice to see your work at Paul’s site again. Amazing stuff. Thank you.
So many 80s and 90s icons here. I love wagons, and the Volvos and Tercel particularly appeal to me. The detailing and color scheme on the Ram Van is very tastefully done. You’re right, the 4WD Tercel wagon was somewhat a preview of modern CUVs. With a quality I particularly appreciate today, a very airy and spacious feeling cabin.
I enjoy your lead photo of the ‘common man of the late 80s, early 90s’. What makes me laugh out loud about that image is how much he looks like the singer of one of the cheesiest songs and videos of the 1980s… ‘Tired of Toin’; the Line’ by Rocky Burnette a summer hit from 1980. Bravo Brian!
The Adidas sneakers the guy is wearing in the top pick are very reminiscent of the style popular when I was in late grade school in the early 80s. In Canada, North Star brand velour runners were one of the most popular running shoe styles to be seen in, circa 1981.
Thanks Daniel for your compliments on the photos. I love sharing my work with those who appreciate them.
Great pictures. I forgot that the Toyota vans were called Wonderwagons in the late ’80s. When the van was first introduced in the US for 1984, Toyota called it the “Van Wagon”. However, Volkswagen raised a fuss because they felt that the name was too close to “Vanagon”, so Toyota changed the name to simply “Van”.
Great pics as usual, Brian… you definitely have an eye for what the camera sees. The aft shot of the resto-mod Dodge Daytona is an example of your ability to see light in that way. Kudos.
I’m surprised there are no Thunderbird Turbo-Coupes at this show (unless there were, and they weren’t photographed). The other day when there was a post about, “Where have all the Pintos gone?”, that thought came to me regarding Fox T-Brids and Fairmonts. Where have they all gone?
I’m with you on the Bonneville, my best friend had one of that generation, but I personally like the next generation of that car better, which started in ‘92 IIRC. The one time as an adult that I traveled to California and got to rent a car was in September of 1991, and got a brand new ‘92 Bonneville to drive while I was out there. I was impressed with its handling, and thoroughly enjoyed my 1500 miles with that car. I even washed that car while I had it I liked it so much.
I don’t recall seeing any TurboCoupes at the show, but I could have missed them as there was so much to see.
Some great variety. But just as I was getting used to the idea of the 80s being retro (instead of current events) you spring on me that the 90s is retro too. Sorry, but this is completely too much for me to handle. 🙂
That Bonneville you finish with is a great car. This one proves that the H body Bonnie is all about trim level. I knew someone who bought a plain low trim version of one of these and it gave off a pure “GM rental car” vibe. This one, however, makes me want it.
Agreed on the trim level of these, Jim… My best friend’s car that I mentioned above was of the SE trim level and it screamed rental to me.
Like the one I rented above, compared to an SSEi for example. Noticeably cheaper looking.
I was about to agree with you regarding the H-bodies, but I think your sentiment is something that could be applied to pretty much any GM car during the 80s and early 90s. I am drawn to the following (and would rock them as a fun show car) but really don’t like the regular cars they are based off of:
* 87-90 Lesabre T-Type
* 88-90 Z24 convertible
* 86-90 Pontiac 6000 STE
That Merkur has Sierra front end with ECE headlamps, bumper-mounted turn signal indicators and separate fog lamps.
The white 500SEC with gullwing doors and red convertible with wide rear wheels are probably done by SGS, one of the wildest tuners and customisers during the 1980s.
Sounds like fun! I could even go there in, AND show my daily-driver 1995 Dodge Intrepid. Put a mannequin of the late Edward Hermann in the driver’s seat. Load up a cassette tape (this car plays cassettes AND CDs in its factory radio)…Hermann’s voice would boom out, “This changes everything…”
I would have loved to see a first gen Intrepid at the show, especially an ES. I loved those cars when they came out.
The Daytona is so cool! I love the styling of those cars, hate the K car everything else. I can’t imagine the hoops the owner had to jump through for it to be registerable
I wish I lived in CA at times like this, there’s nothing like this around here. My Cougar would fit right in for once
Wow. Some pretty amazing stuff there. The V8 RWD Daytona is crazy because its on its original wheels and tire size, so no way to tell if the hood is closed.
I wouldn’t say the Tercel Wagon is the original CUV because what distinguishes a CUV from its passenger car platform mate is a higher cowl, which allows seats to be set higher too. The Tercel wagon has the same cowl, dash and seating as the rest of the Tercels, just the roof is taller. It’s analog to the Subaru 4WD wagons, some of which had raised roofs too, but the same cowl/dash/seating as the regular 2WD sedans/wagons.
The first CUV would have to be the Toyota Rav4, although the first one that really created the formula for all the modern CUVs was the Lexus 300RX (Toyota Harrier). It still looks fairly contemporary.
All Japanese wagons had a 4WD option the Tercel and Subaru arent unique for having that feature and none feature the up on stilts look like the CUVs have, so yep the RAV4 is the first CUV its merely a Toyota Corona mechanically but jacked up on a tiny wheelbase as a fashion accessory that gained a lot of traction in the market place.
Hey, a lot of the boys were there, Tyson, Sofyan, and Tyler too!
Tyson placed the Pontiac first in his order of presentation:
https://drivetofive.com/2018/12/03/radwood-1980s-1990s-car-show-in-los-angeles-at-the-petersen-museum/
Enjoyed the review and pics. Love the 300ZX – I had the 85 Turbo, great car. Zs are no longer seen very much around SoCal, all beaten into the ground, I guess.
The Cosworth is definitely a clone as it has the double rear window treatment and not the single piece window of the 3-door Sierra that was used for the Cosworth. A decent low-mileage Sierra Cosworth will now sell for anything up to £50k. It was lovely to see the little 205 GTI. I’ve always wanted one as they’re light (well, tinny and flimsy!), fast and small. Persuading my wife that I need one will be a different matter…
Thanks, Brian. I love each and everyone of these. So much awesomeness.
You mentioned the Bonneville SSE but ignored the Oldsmobile Touring Sedan next to the ZR1?
Loved the pics, wish that I was there.
There was so much there I know I missed some. That Olds Touring Sedan I missed, I didn’t see it until after I reviewed my photos at home. AND, that Touring is a FB friend from the Malaise Motors group!
Look at all these young people, too! They’re at shows like this instead of poring over Tri-Fives and first-gen Camaros.
Fantastic photographs of a really, really impressive-looking show! That Acura brought out a concept car to a classic car show impresses me but my favourite would have to be that Thunderbird Super Coupe.
Well a lot of these young folks probably were born in the 1980’s or 1990’s and saw a lot of these around. Or the family had these cars(bonnevilles).
The exotic cars would have been seen on TV shows of the era and in reruns(Miami Vice etc)
To these folks a Tri-five or first generation Camaro does nothing for them.
Heck I was born in 1977 and started getting into cars around 1987-1988 when I was 10 years old. To me a 55-57 Chevy was just an old car back then. Some 30 years later, the 55-57 Tr-Five is just an even older car. It did not do anything for me back in the 1980’s and still does not do anything for me in 2018.
What a great show! Thanks for the well done coverage of it. It is hard to pick a favorite as so many are favorites. It is hard not to love a Ferrari 308. The Toyota desert runner looks awesome. I guess my favorite “regular” car is the stock Mustang 5.0 LX. They’re always modded and it looks so clean left stock. The T-Bird SC is a close second though, and probably my pick if I drove them both. I love cars from this era, but not fond of splishy splashy ziggy graphics. I’m surprised the Testarossa looks so good in a subdued color. I agree that the Bonneville is very cool. I am glad these GM vehicles are becoming cool again, or maybe for the first time. How does that Daytona fit all that modern drivetrain in there? If it was the first incarnation with the quad lights it would be my favorite restomod of all time. So, indeed hard to pick a favorite, but thanks for giving me the chance to try.
If I attended I would have brought my almost 1980’s Rad-ride- a 1979 Caprice Landau 2 Dr.
That would have been amazing to see there!!!
I love this. I wish it was in Maryland. No offense to the folks that like traditional car shows but I am sick of going to them and seeing 20 first gen Camaro SS. You cannot fault a younger generation thinking that every Camaro sold in the 1960’s was an SS
I like that Bonneville. In person all those switches were very impressive. The following generation of Bonneville SSE and SSEi had all those switches and also had a LED display that showed a diagram of the car and offered messages.
How far away is Philly from where you are? RADwood will be in Philly in October of next year.
I live in maryland and have family on Philly. I was just there in November. I will have to check it out.
Thanks
Thanks for the post Brian! Lots of highlights there, but the Vector has to top everything perhaps including the Bugatti. Was that brought by Jerry Weigert? I bet he has some interesting stories to tell…
What a neat car show, thanks for the great post Brian! We’d never have enough nice 80’s and 90’s cars around here to do a show like this. you have a lot of really cool finds, like a Vector and that Daytona. I in particular like that Custom Cruiser wagon. With an LS engine, that would make a fantastic road machine. I always loved my old Custom Cruiser wagon as a highway car, except for the dreadful engine. An LS would give great performance and better fuel economy. Did you get any other pics of that car or the engine bay?