Early last month, 80s and 90s car culture was celebrated at Chatham Historic Dockyard with the return of RADwood UK for 2024.
The setting, with warships, the submarine HM Ocelot and industrial warehouses, provided a unique backdrop for this annual event. Despite the gloomy weather, the cars provided a lot of color.
Throughout the morning, Rad-era cars from all origins arrived, filling the air with the familiar smells and sounds of one of the most cherished eras in automotive history – especially from a performance perspective.
Of course, a show celebrating cars from the ’80s and ’90s wouldn’t be complete without a Lamborghini Countach.
Or maybe the Diablo was your bedroom poster growing up? These supercar icons sparked nostalgia for many RADwood UK visitors.
Among the German classics on display was this Alpina B3 3.0 Cabrio, a rare right-hand drive model produced for Sytner Nottingham. Only four were made, and only two are known to have survived. The owner of this copy also owns the other one! One of the car’s most innovative features is the Switchtronic five-speed automatic transmission, which allows you to shift gears using buttons on the steering wheel.
Not far from the Alpina, I came face to face with a Rocket Bunny Pandem-equipped E31 BMW. Not that I could miss it! It took its owner, Sarwar Hussain, three years to take it from a rust bucket to the wild machine it is today.
The number of special BMWs spread across the location was impressive. But if there was one car from the German car manufacturer that stole the show for me, it was this Koenig Specials E24 635CSi. The Ferrari Testarossa-inspired bodywork is one of only two ever made and is hard to miss. This thing screams 80s!
I’ll round off my report with the most valuable car at RADwood UK 2024 and another 1980s automotive icon, a Ferrari F40. However, it is not an F40. This is one of 19 F40 LMs built – and what’s more, it’s street legal.
Samuel Cherry
Instagram: Samgkers
IAMTHESPEEDHUNTER related stories about Speedhunters
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