In the RADwood event, which aims to capture "the essence of a bold era", nostalgia is combined with tape recorders and car phones.

RADwood's shows are not just cars of that era. Encourage correct dressing. At the RADwood show in Southern California in November, break dancers performed. Credit... Carlos Jaramillo for The New York Times

Everything is great. The music is fresh, the movies are cool, and the hair is big. car? Rad, then and now. Perhaps this is especially true now.

In the 1980s and 1990s, cars were boxy, remote, futuristic, and often a bit trendy. Then came the new millennium and the Internet era. The past two decades have quickly become obsolete. In the end, all these "back to the future" angles gave way to cars with more timeless, slanted contours. The coolest cars of the 80s and 90s — DeLoreans and Countachs, Audi’s Quattro and Nissan’s 300ZX — disappeared like Marty McFly pictures.

But over time, nostalgia followed, and Gen X and millennials continued to move forward in their lives and careers, and became more capable of spending money on hobbies such as collecting cars. As a result, the forgotten cars that grew up with them gained new respect and pushed up prices.

A group called RADwood took advantage of this and held auto shows throughout the year and across the country, and performed some cosplay costumes. As stated on its website, the purpose is to capture "the essence of a bold era." It said that these shows are "a celebration of the lifestyles of the 80s and 90s, combining the correct dress of the times with the charm of the car."

Art Cervantes, founder and CEO of RADwood, stated that he has set out to celebrate all the cars of this era. "It started with an announcement on the'Driving While Awesome' podcast (whose host is three of the five founding members of RADwood) in the spring of 2017," he said via email. The name and concept is a play of Goodwood's revival, which is an annual festival outside of London that highlights a different era, the mid-1940s to 1966, and a different part of the automotive world: British racing.

The RADwood team's initial plan was simple: "Take your 80s and 90s car to the park in San Francisco Bay and dress up the parts," Mr. Cervantes said. (Think of pickling jeans, rolled up at the ankles; neon makeup; and thick hair.)

"Unexpectedly," he said, "150 cars and 500 people showed up."

The first RADwood in 2017 touched a nerve. However, Mr. Cervantes did not know at the time that they had helped lead "a major generational shift in automotive culture," he said.

Mr. Cervantes said that RADwood has expanded to many metropolitan areas in the United States and held a performance in the United Kingdom with an average attendance of about 3,500 people. The group plans to hold 10 performances in the United States next year and hold small events at other major car festivals.

Its biggest event was held in Austin, Texas in February 2020 before the pandemic: more than 700 cars and 7,000 people. The pandemic has weakened this momentum, and this year's activities have been reduced. The company has also limited its growth plans, including expanding its auto and souvenir auction sites, and intends to focus more on these sites by the end of the year.

With all this attention, in some circles, "RADwood" is a slogan that symbolizes the best rides of this era.

Colin Pan is performing at RADwood near Seattle in September. "When I was studying car design in school, the main auto show was either a big budget product launch event or a high-end classic car with a high entry level," he said. He added that any show that focuses on the RADwood era is a "small gathering of certain groups or brands."

But at the September fair and elsewhere, “most people who own these cars are people my age, between 20 and 40,” Mr. Pan, a 32-year-old industrial designer living in Gig Harbor, Washington. Say.

"Many people buy cars out of nostalgia," he said. "But cars of this era have only just begun to be regarded as classics, but they are still modern enough to be understood and developed."

Mr. Pan owns several rad cars, including his current prize, a 1992 Toyota Starlet GT Turbo, which is sold to the Japanese market. He bought it for $3,000 in 2020. He said that Starlet was Mr. Pan’s pandemic blockade, and he made it suitable for the game.

The car that stands out at RADwood is not the new Coke that everyone likes. Cody Redfern's 1986 Subaru XT Turbo Coupe is affectionately called the "Wonder Wedge." It has more angles than the high school geometry test.

"When I saw this car for the first time, it made me feel nostalgic," said Redfern, a 33-year-old auto parts store assistant and movie fan from Everett, Washington.

"To be honest, I like everything about cars in the 80s and 90s," he said, "especially the JDM community" for the Japanese domestic market. He said that his first exposure was in the 2001 "Fast and Furious" movie, which prompted him to pick up the wrench.

Mr. Redfern likes the weird combination of cars in the rad era; he is a member of the community of young car enthusiasts who are passionate about the weird and unique features of these cars.

"You can see everyday driving cars to exotic and super sports cars," he said. At RADwood, he said, "Everyone there is showing the car we grew up with with love."

Kyle Saito's favorite generation of cars fits RADwood's mission. Saito, 36, who lives in Seattle, said he owns "a 1980 Datsun 720 pickup truck project car and a 1995 Isuzu Trooper." He also owns a custom Nissan Patrol SUV for right-hand drive in 1991.

He started working in car manufacturing in a high school car shop-he has been a car enthusiast ever since.

"The 1980s gave birth to the era of high-horsepower turbocharged fuel-injected racing cars," said Mr. Saito, who has worked in the automotive field for 10 years. Now, he is an engineer on Amazon's drone delivery project and is working on a start-up company that makes gun accessories.

He added that Radwood "not only helps preserve the vehicles of those times, but also helps preserve, education, and the sense of the times."

Although many cars from the 80s and 90s can buy a song, Mr. Saito's gear lever, four-wheel drive Nissan Patrol returned him to $21,000 two years ago-in good condition. As these cars became collectibles rather than simply "used", prices began to climb. He has put in a lot of work to bring it up to modern standards. He cleaned and repaired its body, increased performance and suspension upgrades, and even equipped the interior for the night.

"RADwood cars," he said, "not only make me feel nostalgic, but also make me feel proud and respected because they have participated in such important decades of car development and styling."

Casey Rhodes, an aerospace technician from Portland, Oregon, planned to participate in an exhibition in the Seattle area, but failed. He said he supports the whole atmosphere of RADwood.

"I have always liked cars made in the 80s and 90s," said Mr. Rhodes, known as thekrustykaddy on Instagram. "The 80s attracted me only because of their appearance and sound, not to mention the large bodies of those years."

The RADwood era brought enduring classics such as Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and Nike's Air Jordans. "For automobiles, this is also a classic decade," said the 26-year-old Mr. Rod, who has been nostalgic for different ages.

"My first two cars," he said, "it happened to be a Chevrolet C10 Silverado from 1986, and a few years later it was a Lexus SC from 1996." These vehicles are 10 years apart, a world of difference.

But soon Volkswagen bugs will bite this family. His father will share his story about the Volkswagen Golf Mk1 in the 80s. His brother bought a 1983 Rabbit GTI. Therefore, in March 2019, Mr. Rhodes bought a 1981 Volkswagen Rabbit pickup that was almost non-operational at a price of US$2,700-from a field where it was abandoned.

"After the purchase, I was very excited, I drove to the local party," he said. However, he forgot to check the oil, coolant and other related items.

It turned out that the oil level was low and the coolant in the oil tank was not present. In addition, there are only two lug nuts on each wheel. On his way home, the exhaust system soon fell off.