These Are The Best 80s And 90s Cars From Radwood And Motor Vice

Bradley Brownell

September 21, 2023 at 10:30 AM·4 min read

There was only enough room in my last post for a dozen or so of the coolest 1980s and 1990s cars that I saw this weekend. Between Saturday’s Radwood Detroit and Sunday’s Motor Vice Midwest 5, there were hundreds of amazing cars from the era of vibrant colors and loud music. Click through to see a few dozen more great ones!

Super Truck

The GMC Syclone is one of the coolest vehicles of the era. It was just so excessively absurd for a company like GMC to build a fast truck, and not only that, but to build one that was quicker than damn near anything else on the market.

It’s a Wild Orchid Ford Probe GT on Enkei RPF1s. What more could you possibly ask for?

M M M

Probably the best thing about the 1980s and 1990s was the incredible selection of homologation specials that were released in period. The E30 M3 is one of the coolest looking, but perhaps also most disappointing to drive.

Quattro IV Is Maser For 4

The 1994 to 1998 Maserati Quattroporte IV is one of the lesser known models, and traded the QIII’s largesse for a more lithe chassis derived from the Biturbo. This is maybe one of Marcello Gandini’s best designs, but looks wrong with this big of a wheel choice. No larger than 16s, please.

Period Dodge-ing

This L-body Charger was nearly mint condition, with just a bit of sun fading. The original factory bra and a back hatch full of 80s accouterments made it a stand out in its field.

Truck Stuff

There were at least three cherry red9th-gen Ford F150 SVT Lightnings, which are just super cool trucks. I don’t even like trucks, and even I am smitten with the fast Ef One Fitty. The Toyota is cool, too. Maybe I do like trucks?

Dark Cherry Impala

The Big Three were on a tear in the 1990s, building some wild performance variants of cars nobody asked for a performance variant of. Why not put a Corvette motor in the cop car?

This ‘Rocco is Rockin’

Hey, you got your Audi TT in my VW Scirocco!

Mitsu Who?

Someone imported a 1997 Nissan Elgrand. It’s got great three-piece off-road wheels and a bunch of period correct accessories. I probably wouldn’t go to the trouble of importing one, but I dig it.

Honda Egg Is Best Egg

This is one of the cleanest EG Civic hatchbacks I’ve ever seen, and it had a great B16 swap under the hood. Top it off with Kosei K1 wheels, and it’s just a nice understated machine.

Rollin’ In Style

Imagine that weird video that’s been rolling around social media lately with the woman tapping on metal pieces and saying Bentley. But instead of Bentley she says Rolls Royce. That’s this car.

Wires

This. Oh man, this.

Basket Weaves

So slick. These wheels could probably work on any two-door vehicle from the 1980s.

GT ‘Scort

I love the offset grille.

They Do Move In Herds

Can a tribute to 1990s Lotus be complete without a pair of Esprit in the factory badge colors?

Lightning Strikes Twice

Family Truckster

Cossie ‘Scort

On the Prowl

Skyline Dreamin’

A friend of mine drove this car from Akron to Cleveland. I’ve ridden in it. It’s very fast.

Corvette Dakar

Okay, if you’re going to lift a C4 Corvette, you owe it to yourself to install faux woodgrain. That’s just a fact.

AstOn Her Majesty’s Secret Service

Crunchy

A circa-2007 VW Vortex post called, it wants its car back.

Toyotesla

Model 3 wheels look good on a lot of cars, but on this RAV-4 they just made it look like a big hot wheels diecast.

More Bikes

There were a small handful of motorcycles at Radwood, and none that I recall at MotorVice. I always beat that drum when I was involved with Radwood, but it’s hard to get more two-wheelers to attend. Wonder why that is...

Write My Name In Neon Lights

This Neon won an award at Radwood because it was so perfectly perfect. With just 3,000 miles on the car, it’s easy to see why. I talked to the owner a bit. It was an original no-options base model. It didn’t even have air conditioning. We used to be a proper country.

Does This One Go 185?

I’ve Never Seen A Z1 In The Flesh

I have, but I also have Lorde’s Royals stuck in my head, so roll with it.