Well the 2018 London Classic Car Show is now over for another year. I had an amazing three days at the ExCel. The Vauxhall Viceroy got a huge amount of attention on the Waterloo Classics Club stand. And the highlight of the event was being interviewed by Jonny Smith of the tv show 5th Gear. Jonny was there doing behind the scenes videos for show sponsor ERS. And my Viceroy was picked to be in one of the videos!

One of the hard things about knowing you are going to be interviewed at a classic car show, is keeping it a secret. The fact that Jonny was going to be running around the show with a film crew was under wraps in the build up to the event. It was a secret and I had to keep it that way.

So you can imagine how excited I was as I manned the club stand, keeping an eye open for film crew. I couldn’t say anything on my website, or on Twitter of Facebook… I had to hold it back. Eventually the crew arrived on Saturday afternoon and it caused a bit of fuss around the club stand. As one would expect when a tv celebrity and a film crew turns up.

The really cool thing about being featured in show sponsors ERS video is that it tied in with their theme about The Future of Classics. Jonny was particularly impressed by the fact my Vauxhall Viceroy was at the London Classic Car Show. It was there rubbing shoulders with some of the rarest and most expensive cars on the planet. And there was my equally rare, but inexpensive old saloon, on display for all to see. It was a great feeling!

The other cool fact was that Jonny really wanted to see the Vauxhall Viceroy, as his dad had owned a Vauxhall Carlton back in the day. Seeing the big saloon with the velour interior was a massive trip down memory lane for him, as the Carlton and Viceroy had very similar interiors. Everything from the sloping dash, the steering wheel horn buttons, the rear centre arm rest, all transported Jonny back to when he was a kid. Which is exactly what it is all about. Classics hold so many memories for us car fans. And they can take us back in time to those special moments.

Getting interviewed by Jonny Smith was the highlight of the event for me. It was a nice addition to my Vauxhall Viceroy’s story. A little bit of celebrity status at one of the UK’s largest and most popular classic car shows. It was a chance for the rare Viceroy to shine, well more than it’s paint did anyway. But it was nice to see all the attention it got.

Lots of people stopped by, commenting on how their Dad or Grandad had one back in the day. And those that stopped were amazed at how clean and original the interior was. The velour interior went down a treat. Even the tired, faded, oxidised and heavily scratched paint drew positive comments. It was an honest, original car that showed its age well. It was a survivor.

So after all the blood, sweat and tears and a fair bit of panic, my Vauxhall Viceroy made it to the London Classic Car Show. It was worth all the effort, late nights and moments of genuine “I’m not going to make the show deadline”. It might not have been a sales success back in the day, but my Viceroy is a special car. And I am very proud to be it’s custodian.

Thanks to ERS for arranging the interview

Watch the full video with Jonny Smith, Simon Elliot of Octane Magazine, the Vauxhall Viceroy and me

Watch the very first film with the rare Vauxhall Viceroy

Vauxhall Viceroy Two Year Anniversary