Yesterday's show in Southern California was Radwood's second. It was exponentially larger than the first. There were more cars, more people, more of everything. It was at an expansive German beer garden, so there were plenty of picnic tables for people to enjoy beers and brats throughout the day. There was a DJ playing 80s music and there was even a BMX bike demonstration. It's not yet commercialized, as the only corporate presence consisted of Bring A Trailer and a car restoration company that brought a couple of very 80s modified Benzes.
So let's start from the beginning. This was going to be a day trip, so I woke up at 4:30am, picked up rchen, and headed to the airport. Rchen dressed up for the show and brought old cell phones and other props. Going through airport security with him was "exciting", shall we say.
Because we didn't have a rental car, slirt was kind enough to pick us up at LAX in his beautiful and peppy cabriolet. The weather was in the mid-70s so it was perfect as we crisscrossed the concrete jungle.
Once there, we saw quite a few amazing cars. But as we nerdishly went over all the 80s and 90s cars that were missing-- Merkurs, Dustbuster minivans, etc.-- I realized that just hanging with obsessively knowledgable car freaks on a sunny Southern California day in a relaxed atmosphere full of kitsch was what made Radwood so nostalgically perfect.
A lot of people I have connected with over the years online were there, and they got to meet each other. People in the "industry", like the new Wheeler Dealer team, Matt Farah aka The Smoking Tire (with all four of his cars, including the Million Mile Lexus), and the Hooniverse duo of Jeff Glucker and Blake Z. Rong, were all in attendance. The show had everything. The owner of three MotoCompos were even letting random people ride them.
If Radwood comes to your state or even time zone, make sure you go.
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