New Trophy Owner

Hi all,

after having had a horrendous experience with a rust ridden Duetto (see my previous rants), I have now decided that my Automatic S580 Starline Hymer is just not suitable for two wrinklies (I am 80, my wife, nearly that), so I am now the proud possessor of an N reg Automatic Petrol Trophy, updated to the sky by its first Japanese owners. It has a 27" fold down TV above the cab, electric windows!! and is fully skinned in brilliant white plastic. It drive like a dream and I can't wait to get my hands on it.

Is it a repatriated Japanese export? I've looked at several and they have all been really nicely kept. The only downside is that petrol + auto can be a bit thirsty, but you're less likely to run into problems with the various Low Emissions Zones that are popping up all over the place.

Hi, yes it is. Another advantage of its Japanese youth, is that they do not use salt on their roads. It has a rear view camera and did have a radar detector, now removed.

Hi all,

one of the many 'improvements' added to my Trophy by its original Japanese owner is a complete very white 'plastic' all over coating. I assume this is for climate protection. Does anyone here have knowledge/experience of such a coating.

We are off to the Costa de la Luz next month for 4 months, for our very first trip

Is it a coating (i.e. sprayed on) or a wrap? Vinyl wrapping is now pretty common here too. Some people might try to argue otherwise, but in reality it's only a temporary refinish, as the surface is quite a lot easier to damage than paint. If it's a wrap then it should be quite easy - if a bit labour-intensive - to remove when it reaches the end of its useful life.

BTW - something I would recommend with a Trophy: have the underneath of the rear "pod" inspected and rust treated. It's a vulnerable area on that model, and although it may not have been exposed to road salt in Japan, the poor rustproofing that A/S used from the factory will probably have washed/abraded away by now, so it's likely that it would be attacked quickly by UK/European road salt now that it's back over here...

Roopert wrote:Is it a coating (i.e. sprayed on) or a wrap? Vinyl wrapping is now pretty common here too. Some people might try to argue otherwise, but in reality it's only a temporary refinish, as the surface is quite a lot easier to damage than paint. If it's a wrap then it should be quite easy - if a bit labour-intensive - to remove when it reaches the end of its useful life.

I am fairly sure that its a wrap

Robert

Roopert wrote:BTW - something I would recommend with a Trophy: have the underneath of the rear "pod" inspected and rust treated. It's a vulnerable area on that model, and although it may not have been exposed to road salt in Japan, the poor rustproofing that A/S used from the factory will probably have washed/abraded away by now, so it's likely that it would be attacked quickly by UK/European road salt now that it's back over here...

 That's a great piece of advice, I will have it inspected before our trip to the Costa de la Luz.

Robert

Robert
you were recently asking about the diagonal struts in the Trophy, and what they were for, I have a little write up on the "Design and Development of the Trophy" If you would to read it P.M. me with your email address and I will send it to you
mike 
vwt4
(Trophy owner)