Quick answer: Overdrive Avenue is a paid “2 in 1” retro-wave font pack from Ckybe’s Corner: a wide 80s sans with an outline style, plus a scratchy script called Hotliner. There’s no official free version. Michroma is the closest free match for the sans, and Rock Salt covers the script. Both download below.
On this page
Get Overdrive Avenue, or a free font that looks like it
Type a title and it shows in each font, one under another. The first card links to Ckybe’s shop for the original. The other three are free for commercial use and download from here.
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Overdrive Avenue Get it from Ckybe's Corner
- Format
- WEBP
- Licence
- Personal use only. The author does not allow other sites to share the file.
- Made by
- Ckybe's Corner
- Download from
- creativemarket.com
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Michroma Download font Open in Studio
- Format
- TTF
- Licence
- Free for commercial use
- Made by
- Vernon Adams
- Source
- fonts.google.com
NIGHT DRIVE 1986 -
Audiowide Download font Open in Studio
- Format
- TTF
- Licence
- Free for commercial use
- Made by
- Astigmatic
- Source
- fonts.google.com
NIGHT DRIVE 1986 -
Rock Salt Download font Open in Studio
- Format
- TTF
- Licence
- Free for commercial use
- Made by
- Sideshow
- Source
- fonts.google.com
NIGHT DRIVE 1986
Two fonts in one box
Ckybe’s Corner released the pack in 2022 and sells it as a pair. The sans is wide, flat and italic, made for chrome logos and laser-grid posters, and it has a hollow outline version for layering. That Outline style is a colour (OpenType-SVG) font, so it only shows its colours in Photoshop or Illustrator 2018 or newer. Hotliner is the other half, in three styles: a fast, textured script that looks like someone signed the VHS cover with a marker.
Most of the chrome look in the shop’s previews isn’t the font itself. It comes from gradients, glows and reflections added in an editor, and you can add the same effects to any free font.
- Michroma has the same extra-wide, flat capitals. Add an italic slant and a purple-to-pink gradient and you’re close.
- Audiowide is rounder and more arcade-like. It suits game titles and synthwave thumbnails.
- Rock Salt stands in for Hotliner. It’s the same kind of quick, rough handwriting for a tagline under the title.
How to fake the chrome effect
- Set your title in Michroma, in capitals, with a little extra letter spacing.
- Fill it with a gradient from deep blue at the top, through white, to hot pink at the bottom.
- Add a thin light outline and a soft pink outer glow.
- Put a short line in Rock Salt across the bottom corner, tilted slightly.
Our font generator is a quick way to test the words first. For other Canva-favourite fonts, see the Ahsing font and the Dingos Stamp font, or browse our free 80s fonts.
Buying the real pack
A desktop licence costs $16. The pack is sold by Ckybe’s Corner on Creative Market, and it’s also part of Envato Elements’ subscription library. Either one gives you a licence for commercial work, which none of the “free download” copies floating around can give you.
Overdrive Avenue questions
Is Overdrive Avenue free?
No. It’s a commercial font pack from Ckybe’s Corner. Michroma, Audiowide and Rock Salt are free alternatives for commercial use.
What is the script font in Overdrive Avenue?
It’s called Hotliner, and it comes in the same pack as the sans. Rock Salt is a free font with a similar scratchy feel.
Is Overdrive Avenue the same as Overdrive Sunset?
No. Overdrive Sunset is a fan font by Chequered Ink based on the logo of the game Sunset Overdrive. It looks nothing like the 80s chrome sans.
Before you go
The 80s look is mostly the effect, not the letters. Start with Michroma, add the gradient and glow, and buy the real pack when a client wants it exact.