There Were Two '80s And '90s Car Shows In The Midwest This Weekend And I Went To Both Of Them

Photo: Bradley Brownell/Jalopnik

There is nothing more appropriately 1980s than nostalgia for the 1950s, and as a millennial living in 2023, there’s possibly nothing more appropriately modern than nostalgia for the ’80s and ’90s. I think being part of the last generation that grew up in pre-internet times we have a collective longing for those simpler times. Likewise I’m sure having watched in real time the rapid advancement of communications technology over our lifetimes has accelerated nostalgia.

This weekend has convince me, we have fully taken on the roll that Boomers once held in car culture. We’re the old guard yearning for the simplicity and analog connection (whether with cars or people) of our youth, or even from a time we didn’t live through. I was born in 1987, so I don’t remember the ’80s, and not for the normal reason people don’t remember the ’80s. Should I feel a connection to the ’80s at all? At Radwood and Motor Vice, I do.

(Disclaimer: I co-founded Radwood in 2017. The company sold in 2021, and I no longer have any financial stake in the wellbeing of the show. I attended of my own desire, driving my Neon from Cleveland, OH to Detroit for the day.)