Andrew Tidy made quite the first impression at RADwood 2024. When he rolled through the gates of Chatham Historic Dockyard his BMW E21 3-Series sounded like no other.
Even as he idled over the speed humps you could hear the unmistakable burble of American muscle. Then, as he was pointed towards the Show N Shine area he let it rip with a drag-strip ready roar.
Parked up between the 19th Century Sloop HMS Gannet and the Cold War era HMS Ocelot submarine, Tidy removed the bonnet of his 1983 BMW to reveal the 500bhp small-block Chevrolet V8 that powers his immaculate “355”.
“I just wanted to build a drag car that could fit in my garage and I’ve always liked old school Beamers and the E21 was the only one that would go in my garage,” he explained. “I wanted an MOT failure or something like that. A guy came up and said, “I got just what you want”. It was sitting beside the skip waiting to be crushed. 50 pounds, I paid for it.
“And that’s the way the story started. It was built on the drive. When it rained, it was pushed into the garage, and when the sun come out, and it was pulled out, and I’d work on it. I haven’t got a workbench, my vice is on the floor, no power tools. Four years later here I am.”
At first glance it looks like a very clean E21, but in fact the rear has been tubbed to fit wide drag tyres, there’s a TH350 transmission and a cut-down Ford nine-inch axle. On concrete it has run the quarter-mile in around 12 seconds, but Tidy reckons at Santa Pod it should cover the distance in “mid-to-low 11s”.
Despite the car’s astonishing speed Tidy says it’s “Lovely to drive on the road.”
“I use it quite a lot, it’s MOTd and taxed and I even took my daughter to her school prom in it.”
The quality of the build and the fact that everything was done by hand won over judges Paul Cowland, Joe Ward, Ciro Ciampi. Tidy by name, tidy by nature.
Engine-swapped RADmobiles proved to be popular with the panel, with Mark Lane’s 2JZ Ford Granada taking Best 80s Saloon and Hussain Sarwar’s Z8-powered BMW 8-Series picking up the Best 90s Sports award.
Best 80s Hatch was awarded to Sam Hassall’s Porsche 928 with the equivalent 90s prize going to Sam Brickley for his full Max Power-spec Peugeot 106 GTi. Best 90s Saloon or Estate went to the wild white Nissan Stageo RS4S of Luke Blackshire and the Best 80s Sports gong was given to the immaculate BMW M3 of Ariel Jaskiewicz.
“The quality of the cars on show is exceptional,” remarked chief judge Paul Cowland. “I can’t wait for next year!”
