So where to begin? Well, it all started late last year, I had recently upped sticks from rural Northants and migrated North to West Yorkshire and the bright lights of Wakefield. All was going well and I was settling in nicely, my daily driver, a Eunos Roadster was temperamental at best at times but on the whole I loved it to bits and talk of it being a keeper and my first long term car were beginning to circulate. Nothing was able to turn my head and as the new year came around plans to turn it into a homage of the touge warriors of Japan were starting to take place.
That is, until a certain Mr. J. Arkle of this very manor got in touch. His offer was to give me the opportunity to become a contributor for Total Vauxhall along with the chance to relight what I thought was a long dead dream of becoming an automotive journalist. My thoughts started to veer towards those with a Griffin badge and before I knew it, the Roadster was up For Sale and the hunt for a Vauxhall was on.
The original plan was to get an early Nova, everything was considered from bare shells right up to low mileage giffer spec examples. Hatchbacks, saloons and even the dreaded five-door were discussed but I just couldn't get that nagging feeling out of my head that with the baby Vauxhall becoming more desirable by the day the prices I was looking at could get me something far better for a similar outlay.
I started looking at other cars in the Vauxhall range, Cavaliers, Astras and Carltons were all brought up, but I had to face facts, however much I tried to enthuse about them, they just weren't for me. That's when the Viceroy came up. Innocently nestled amongst stuff I couldn't afford or didn't desire, the Viceroy stood out like a beacon on these very Classified boards It was exactly what I wanted, retro, cool, comfy, cheap and most essential it came with a Vauxhall badge. I upped my game in trying to get the Roadster sold, dropping the price by £200 and posting in wherever I could, but to no avail, no one seemed to be interested.
Everyday I checked back on the Viceroys ad and unbelievably everyday it remained For Sale, if I could just get an offer for the Roadster it would be mine. Then one day the inevitable happened, it was sold, the dream was over and I knew I was unlikely to find anything as perfectly suited for such a reasonable price. Back to the slog of early nineties bland and trying to flog that little Roadster. Within days sods law bit me hard, the Roadster had sold, for more than I'd been asking for in the weeks previous and I had cash in my hand.
After turning down numerous offers to sell me cars that were in most case unroadworthy and with a price tag that was at least twice what I would have been willing to pay I decided to try my luck, knowing full well that I would regret it if I didn't. I contacted the Viceroys new owner, Retro Rides resident American car perv, AlistairK, asking if there was any chance he would be willing to sell the car he'd bought just days previously. It turns out there was, he had bought the car on not much more of a whim after seeing it languishing in the Classifieds for so long and had neither the space nor the need for the car in question. A deal was struck with the agreement that Alistair could keep the car until after the Limes Cafe meet that weekend, I was deliriously happy.
Fast forward to last night and myself and Dave (mk14dr) found ourselves being chauffeured down the M1 in my Girlfriends Dads trusty Almera Tino to pick up my latest purchase. Arriving just after 6PM we found Akku to be in fine form and within minutes, cups of tea in hand we were being given the obligatory tour of his fine collection of American steeds. After nearly an hour of drooling over V8s and all manor of giant Detroit cars our attention finally turned to smallest car on the drive, the Viceroy. It was pretty elementary really, I was buying the car whatever we found and had already handed Alistair and envelope of cash as soon as we'd walked through the door, not the best way to do business, but who cares? The three of us were in agreement, although a little rough around the edges there was no doubt that she was an honest car and packed full of potential to become a cool and usable daily classic. The paperwork was signed, keys handed over and we waved our goodbyes.
After a quick splash and dash we were heading North on the M1 and as each mile passed by both myself and Dave were falling more in love with it. It ran smoothly, pulled well and cruised along comfortably while we basked in the 1970s luxury of the velour and vinyl. The 2.5 Straight-6 rumbled away nicely and even the slightly blowing manifold couldn't take my smile away, I was smitten. After our gentle cruise up the motorway we found ourselves back in the familiar surroundings of Wakefield, the car had behaved impeccably and given me one of the most comfortable journeys I'd had in a long time, I couldn't be happier.
So, what's the future for it then? Well, honestly, nothing that drastic. The car is by anyone's standards, incredibly rare, according to HowManyLeft only seven survive and as hit and miss as that site is, it still gives an indicator as to how scarce they are. With that in mind nothing I do to it will be irreversible. Modifications will probably not go beyond some lowering and some wheels that fill out those cavernous arches a little better while the main body of work will go towards getting the exterior into a slightly better state than it's in at the present.
Right now the plan is to just enjoy it though, the car is a pleasure to drive and with it being what I would consider to be my first real classic I just want to get out in it as much as I can this summer and hopefully jolt the memory of one or two people that may have totally forgotten about these fantastic cars.
Courtesy: Dave Bools
That is, until a certain Mr. J. Arkle of this very manor got in touch. His offer was to give me the opportunity to become a contributor for Total Vauxhall along with the chance to relight what I thought was a long dead dream of becoming an automotive journalist. My thoughts started to veer towards those with a Griffin badge and before I knew it, the Roadster was up For Sale and the hunt for a Vauxhall was on.
The original plan was to get an early Nova, everything was considered from bare shells right up to low mileage giffer spec examples. Hatchbacks, saloons and even the dreaded five-door were discussed but I just couldn't get that nagging feeling out of my head that with the baby Vauxhall becoming more desirable by the day the prices I was looking at could get me something far better for a similar outlay.
I started looking at other cars in the Vauxhall range, Cavaliers, Astras and Carltons were all brought up, but I had to face facts, however much I tried to enthuse about them, they just weren't for me. That's when the Viceroy came up. Innocently nestled amongst stuff I couldn't afford or didn't desire, the Viceroy stood out like a beacon on these very Classified boards It was exactly what I wanted, retro, cool, comfy, cheap and most essential it came with a Vauxhall badge. I upped my game in trying to get the Roadster sold, dropping the price by £200 and posting in wherever I could, but to no avail, no one seemed to be interested.
Everyday I checked back on the Viceroys ad and unbelievably everyday it remained For Sale, if I could just get an offer for the Roadster it would be mine. Then one day the inevitable happened, it was sold, the dream was over and I knew I was unlikely to find anything as perfectly suited for such a reasonable price. Back to the slog of early nineties bland and trying to flog that little Roadster. Within days sods law bit me hard, the Roadster had sold, for more than I'd been asking for in the weeks previous and I had cash in my hand.
After turning down numerous offers to sell me cars that were in most case unroadworthy and with a price tag that was at least twice what I would have been willing to pay I decided to try my luck, knowing full well that I would regret it if I didn't. I contacted the Viceroys new owner, Retro Rides resident American car perv, AlistairK, asking if there was any chance he would be willing to sell the car he'd bought just days previously. It turns out there was, he had bought the car on not much more of a whim after seeing it languishing in the Classifieds for so long and had neither the space nor the need for the car in question. A deal was struck with the agreement that Alistair could keep the car until after the Limes Cafe meet that weekend, I was deliriously happy.
Fast forward to last night and myself and Dave (mk14dr) found ourselves being chauffeured down the M1 in my Girlfriends Dads trusty Almera Tino to pick up my latest purchase. Arriving just after 6PM we found Akku to be in fine form and within minutes, cups of tea in hand we were being given the obligatory tour of his fine collection of American steeds. After nearly an hour of drooling over V8s and all manor of giant Detroit cars our attention finally turned to smallest car on the drive, the Viceroy. It was pretty elementary really, I was buying the car whatever we found and had already handed Alistair and envelope of cash as soon as we'd walked through the door, not the best way to do business, but who cares? The three of us were in agreement, although a little rough around the edges there was no doubt that she was an honest car and packed full of potential to become a cool and usable daily classic. The paperwork was signed, keys handed over and we waved our goodbyes.
After a quick splash and dash we were heading North on the M1 and as each mile passed by both myself and Dave were falling more in love with it. It ran smoothly, pulled well and cruised along comfortably while we basked in the 1970s luxury of the velour and vinyl. The 2.5 Straight-6 rumbled away nicely and even the slightly blowing manifold couldn't take my smile away, I was smitten. After our gentle cruise up the motorway we found ourselves back in the familiar surroundings of Wakefield, the car had behaved impeccably and given me one of the most comfortable journeys I'd had in a long time, I couldn't be happier.
So, what's the future for it then? Well, honestly, nothing that drastic. The car is by anyone's standards, incredibly rare, according to HowManyLeft only seven survive and as hit and miss as that site is, it still gives an indicator as to how scarce they are. With that in mind nothing I do to it will be irreversible. Modifications will probably not go beyond some lowering and some wheels that fill out those cavernous arches a little better while the main body of work will go towards getting the exterior into a slightly better state than it's in at the present.
Right now the plan is to just enjoy it though, the car is a pleasure to drive and with it being what I would consider to be my first real classic I just want to get out in it as much as I can this summer and hopefully jolt the memory of one or two people that may have totally forgotten about these fantastic cars.
Courtesy: Dave Bools