Author: Antony Ingram
Are you ready for RADwood? The car show for the most stylish, most out-there, and simply the raddest 1980s and 1990s machines returns on August 23rd this year, and is back at its 2023 venue of Bicester Motion, with early-bird tickets going on sale for £15 a pop.
The variety at RADwood is quite unlike any other automotive show, where you’re as likely to see a Ferrari Testarossa as you are a Honda Motocompo moped – and more than likely, the two will be parked side by side. But you don’t need a big budget to take part – just the right kind of vehicle, and the right feel for that distinctive eighties to nineties period of pop culture.
To give you some inspiration, we’ve whittled down a list of ten cars which can each be found for under ten grand (and some a great deal less than that), each of which have RADwood energy bursting from every seam – and to help you home in on the right car, we’ve also thrown in a suggestion for the perfect specification to hunt for. What would you bring along?
Porsche 944
The Porsche 944 might be one of the ultimate RADwood cars: an aspirational sports car from one of the world’s most recognisable brands, offered throughout the ‘greed is good’ 1980s, and equipped with many of the key styling features of the period, from boxy arches to pop-up headlights. There are more imaginative choices in our list, but few understand the assignment better than the 944.
Getting one for under our £10k budget isn’t as easy as it used to be, but it’s still eminently possible, provided you’re not expecting a concours winner. 944s are tough as old boots and combined with evergreen appeal among enthusiasts, there are still plenty around, with a mix of early cars and later S2 models. All are great to drive, with a brawny four-cylinder engine and balanced handling, and they’re practical too, making them far more than just a weekend show car.
Ideal RADwood spec: 944, Guard’s Red, ‘cookie cutter’ alloys, Pasha trim
Honda CRX Del Sol
The Honda CRX Del Sol may not have the pitch-perfect driver’s car reputation of its hatchback predecessors, but it screams 1990s from every pore – and that’s before you even hear the howl of its fiery VTEC powerplant. The Del Sol name wasn’t used in the UK but it does perfectly describe the CRX’s sunny disposition; it’s as much a boulevardier as it is a sports car.
Let’s assess its RADwood credentials. First, trick 1990s tech: ‘Trans Top’ versions feature a hypnotic automated roof arrangement which picks up the rear deck and slides the targa top beneath it, before retracting again. Next, vibrant colours: hues like Milano Red, Captiva Blue Pearl, and Samba Green Pearl all match the CRX’s buttressed shape perfectly. And to cap it all, it’s great fun to drive, with sweetly-spinning engines, even better gearshifts, and incisive handling.
Ideal RADwood spec: CRX 1.6 VTi, Samba Green Pearl, Trans Top
Toyota MR2
Three generations of Toyota MR2 squeeze into the 80s and 90s RADwood period, but the original best fits the general vibe. It’s like a road-going A-wing fighter, with styling straight out of an anime or music video (you’ll find it in several of the former, and an MR2 features in the video for the very 1980s-style In For The Kill by La Roux) and an interior like a sci-fi set, all boxes, knobs, and dials.
Much like the Porsche 944 though the MR2’s qualities go far deeper than its styling. It’s one of the best-handling sports cars of the era, and its famed 4A-GE engine is both revvy and damn near bulletproof. While many have lost their lives to corrosion, a well-maintained MR2 is a tough little thing too, feeling just as solidly built as a contemporary Land Cruiser. In many ways, it’s easier to live with than Mazda’s seminal MX-5.
Ideal RADwood spec: ‘Mk1a’ MR2, 8B8 Light Metallic Blue, three-spoke wheels
Suzuki Vitara
The Suzuki Vitara is a child of the 1980s, having arrived in 1988, but its heart is surely in the 1990s, when the bodykitted ‘Wideboy’ and ‘Fatboy’ models became a cultural phenomenon all of their own. No housing estate was complete without a crisp stiletto-white Vitara with wide arches, 8-inch wide alloy wheels, a tailgate-mounted spare with a silhouette of copulating rhinos, and a set of bull bars that’d struggle to shrug off a pigeon impact.
Even a basic Vitara is a time capsule today though, helped by the availability of period-perfect hues like bright reds, purples and teals, styling that could only have originated in the 1980s, and of course the availability of a convertible option, which on a well looked-after car should still be taut over the rear deck rather than flapping around like a pound-shop tent. If you’re into actual off-roading, they’re even pretty capable there too – though maybe not in Fatboy form.
Ideal RADwood spec: Vitara convertible, teal and silver two-tone, Fatboy kit
Rover Tomcat
Forgive us for this observation, but not many British cars feel ‘Rad’. Jags are a bit too old-money, Minis too long-lasting to feel like the product of just one or two decades, and the less said about British Leyland’s output the better: unexceptional yes, ‘Rad’ very much no. There are a few Brits that qualify though, and one of those is the Rover 200 ‘Tomcat’ Coupé.
The 200 Coupé debuted in 1992 so it’s certainly era-appropriate, and has a more youthful feel and appearance than other 200 models which, great though the R8 generation Rover is, doesn’t quite gel with RADwood’s shell suits, Nike Air Max, and boomboxes. The Coupé though has more pizzazz, Turbo models have a real kick to them, and its bright paintwork hues, racy power bulge, and optional T-bar model are all a much better fit.
Ideal RADwood spec: 220 Turbo Coupé, Polynesian Turquoise, T-bar roof
Volvo 850 T5-R
If you’re in the antiques business then the Volvo 850 is an efficient wardrobe/standard lamp/dressing table/full-height mirror-carrier. To car enthusiasts though the 850 means one thing: BTCC. The 850 estate wasn’t even that competitive in its 1994 debut season but the marketing impact was off the charts, and while the T5-R wasn’t a direct analogue for the racers, Volvo no doubt flogged a few of the fast saloons and estates off the back of its touring car campaign.
The 850 T5-R, or just the 850 R later on, is not one of the great driver’s cars of the 1990s. In fact, it’s probably not one of the great driver’s cars of the month it was launched in 1995. Reviews criticised its lack of go before the turbo spools up, its harsh ride, and handling that doesn’t really compensate. But just look at it – and if you can, just listen to it, as the 240-250bhp engine (depending on year) has five cylinders and a soundtrack to match.
Ideal RADwood spec: 850 T5-R Estate, Cream Yellow, fluffy toy labrador in the back
Ford Escort XR3i
Finding a decent fourth-generation Ford Escort XR3i for under £10,000 is getting quite difficult these days. For a motor that once made up a significant proportion of Escort sales, the XR3i’s attrition rate, through crashes, Max Power-related expiry, and old age has been severe. Those that are left are getting quite valuable as a result – the Hagerty UK Price Guide puts the value of a condition 3 (a ‘good’ car in particularly nice daily driver-level condition) at £9,200.
There were better 1980s hot hatches, but fewer could claim to be better looking. Ford had a knack for styling its hotter models and the XR’s red stripes, spotlights, alloys and spoiler on the handsomely boxy mk4 Escort body are absolutely spot-on. Autocar rated the Escort’s vice-free handling in its 1986 road test too, so there’s more to the XR3i than just smart styling.
Ideal RADwood spec: XR3i, Diamond White, lattice alloys
Volkswagen Scirocco
The Volkswagen Scirocco wins its place in this list by default, and not just because it’s still possible to find pretty decent examples within our budget. But the winner of the UK’s first Hagerty-supported RADwood event was Katie Bushell’s spectacular 1990 Scirocco GT II, with period-perfect modifications like a white Victor four-spoke steering wheel and white-painted Clio 16v turbine alloys, and it sets the tone for others to follow.
The Scirocco would be worthy even if it wasn’t a previous winner though. VW moved the mk2 Scirocco’s styling in-house following the Giugiaro-designed original, but the silhouette is still unmistakable, while a well set-up Scirocco is great to drive, as our US colleague Jason Cammisa, another Scirocco owner, would attest.
Ideal RADwood spec: Katie’s winning car – though Sciroccos look great in all their forms
Fiat Coupé
From one coupé to another, though the Fiat Coupé (sold originally, and slightly gratingly, as the Coupé Fiat, which is a bit too ‘Robin Reliant’ to us) is a very different proposition to the Scirocco. Similar in some ways, being based on a humble family car – in this case, loosely related to the Fiat Tipo, as the Scirocco is to the Golf – and styled in-house too. Though here, in-house styling meant the sharp mind of Chris Bangle, who’d later go on to revolutionise BMW.
There are plenty who’d agree Bangle’s work on the Fiat was preferable to that at BMW. We rather like some ‘Bangle BMWs’, but the Coupé’s great too – from the double-bubble headlights to the squared-off tail with its inset round lights, and the gorgeous chrome fuel filler cap, it stacks stunning details on top of an already striking shape. It’s also good to drive, powered by a range of naturally-aspirated and turbocharged four, and later five-cylinder engines. It’s one of the definitive 1990s coupés, and remains relatively affordable today.
Ideal RADwood spec: Coupé 20v Turbo, Portofino Blue, 16-inch four-spoke alloys
SEAT Ibiza GTI
What better car to represent the 1990s than one named after the island that defined clubbing culture? The Ibiza name had existed since 1984, but it felt perfect for the Spanish brand’s small hatchback in the 1990s, especially given SEAT’s big-on-value range was doing a roaring trade among younger buyers. And at the top of the tree was the GT 16v, later renamed simply Ibiza GTI, and later still Cupra.
While the Ibiza was related to the VW Polo, the Ibiza GTI was more like a spiritual successor to the original Golf GTI – particularly given the Mk3 GTI didn’t quite hit the mark in the same way. Early cars used a 130bhp 1.8-litre 16v four-cylinder and had entertaining handling, while later 2.0-litre models upped the power to 148bhp. A successful F2 rallying campaign – painted in the same vivid yellows and acid greens as the production cars – bolstered the car’s reputation. It’s one of the most vibrant, and probably most underappreciated, 1990s hot hatches.
Ideal RADwood spec: Ibiza GTI, Kiwi Green, white multi-spoke alloys
Love cars from the ’80s and ’90s?
There’s no better place to celebrate them than RADwood. From boxy icons to turbocharged dreams, it’s the ultimate throwback car show. If this article got your engine running, grab your tickets now and join the radness!
