"Cost of Living With A Trophy" - Rush Magazine article.

[photo_ed]

A nice little piece from @Craig196 on the costs of keeping a Trophy.

Counting The Cost of Living With a Trophy Wife

Daily driving an appreciating, modern classic hot hatch seemed like such a good idea at the time. Some say there is a fine line between insanity and genius...12,000 miles later, Craig adds up all the bills and crunches the numbers. Images by Ben Midlane Some of you might recall a column of mine...

www.rushmagazine.co.uk

 

[James__H]

Very good! I think I went in with the exact same mentality, and have probably spent the same in the last 7 months

I just wish the weather was better already...

 

[marrow]

A nice little piece from @Craig196 on the costs of keeping a Trophy.

Counting The Cost of Living With a Trophy Wife

Daily driving an appreciating, modern classic hot hatch seemed like such a good idea at the time. Some say there is a fine line between insanity and genius...12,000 miles later, Craig adds up all the bills and crunches the numbers. Images by Ben Midlane Some of you might recall a column of mine...

www.rushmagazine.co.uk

It's a very good read, thanks for sharing Ed.

 

[NickReilly063]

What a great article Ed - I Love that Craig is being so honest and I’m sure most people who drive these as a daily driver can relate too - my question is - should they be used all year round now that they are an 19yr classic - parts are expensive and hard to find - values are rising and with money now expensive could they rise even more due to people looking for a great car but with less outlay.

However I take my hat off to the hardcore drivers who use these things as intended

 

[CS 1969]

I’m not a daily driver but I did take a personal loan out to buy mine due to low interest rates . Still need the Sachs done from the day I purchased it though

 

[Titan]

Top class article there Craig.

Loved the line "justification limbo that is quantum car mechanics"

I think as car enthusiasts,we've all gone over that particular threshold more than once...unfortunately!!

 

[photo_ed]

...my question is - should they be used all year round now that they are an 19yr classic

This is an interesting conundrum this isn't it Nick. I guess it's each to their own really isn't it, and fair play as you say to those brave enough to keep on dailying (is that a word?) these cars.

I love getting behind the wheel of mine, but as you know, only during the months of the year when I feel it's more clement. I want to be able to keep doing that for a good while yet without having the expense and inevitable heartache of potentially have to start rebuilding the car from the ground up, from a parts supply which is virtually non-existent. Thus, I personally wouldn't use mine as a daily, particularly during the Winter months. I've seen enough rotted out front Sachs damper spring platforms now to know that many won't make it through many more road salt strewn Winter's or indeed another round of refurb blasting and powder coating. If I was using a Trophy during Winter, I'd be swapping it onto Cup dampers during the months when there's salt on the roads, in my mind it's just not worth the risk and expense of ruining the Sachs - which are really the signature item on the cars. And this is before we begin to think about the potential corrosion on body shells - we all know the weak points.

Perhaps I'm being too precious, but my aim with my car is a balance of enjoyment and preservation, and it's the same for the 200 Cup now and goes without saying the old Mini, which would probably only last 2 Winters before needing a complete restoration and at probably £50k plus to do that, it would be incredibly foolish of me to run that gauntlet! In a way, I also enjoy the good cars more when I use them sparingly, it's more of an event, a special moment to be savoured. As you know Nick, the cars/vans I choose to daily are the height of mundanity, but in that way for me they're perfectly fit for purpose, use the basic cars for the basic stuff, and the fun cars for the fun stuff.

Just my two-penneth, and in no way judgemental of others who choose to use their cars differently, that's their call and as we've said; perfectly admirable in a way!

 

[Craig196]

Thank you very much for the kind words all, really pleased you enjoyed the article. It has been generating a lot of positive response and goodwill. Tbh, the plan (as I alluded to) in the article was to have a small estate car by now, however, like the majority of us no doubt, the cost of living crisis has interrupted the best-laid plans