A New Look for an Old Trolley

Vindictive Vinyl’s (www.vindictivevinyl.com) approach to vehicle wraps is a bit of a break from the norm. Co-owners Joe Downey and Dan Florek don’t keep a large-format digital printer in their Twin Lakes, Wisconsin facility.

“We partner with a lot of sign shops in our area,” says Florek. “Sometimes, we’ll subcontract a wrap to them. Other times, we’ll do the job ourselves but they will print it for us.”

Whatever the arrangement, Vindictive Vinyl is more than willing to accommodate clients with on-site installation services. “Customers love the fact that we’ll come to them to wrap their vehicles,” he says.

That proved crucial in one recent project. Lake Lawn Resorts tapped Vindictive Vinyl to help redo a trolley car as a rolling ad for the destination. “They planned to use the trolley to transport guests around and wanted exposure for the resort, something that would really stand out,” Florek says.

Vindictive was one of several local Wisconsin companies involved. Ray’s Auto Body Shop, Jackson, restored the body and Blue Ribbon Painting and Staining, Genoa City, redid the interior. The trolley was stored at The Welding Shop, Delavan, which helped with metal fabrication.

“None of us could work on the trolley at the same time,” says Florek. “We had to coordinate our schedules, and make sure the necessary work was completed before we could do the wrap.”

Vindictive Vinyl’s involvement started with a visit to measure the trolley to create templates for the wrap. The resort’s in-house designer provided the art and design: an image of a dramatic sunset taken at the resort and text announcing its location.

The car measures 34 feet long and 98 inches high with a bank of windows running the length of each side. The front and back are roughly 10 x 8 feet.

Vindictive’s team planned the wrap as a series of 10 vertical strips for each side. Each was printed 52 inches wide allowing for a 1-inch overlap between panels. The wrap was printed on Avery MPI 1005 Super Cast Easy Apply RS cast vinyl system by Printwell, Glenview, Illinois.

Once the body was primed, Vindictive Vinyl’s crew took over the garage to wrap everything but the trolley roof. Challenges included wrapping around grills and trimming around all 28 windows. Several trim pieces and lights also had to be removed then re-installed.

“We’ve done a lot of wraps, but this was the first time we had to work so closely with other companies,” says Florek. ”Everyone did their part and now the trolley looks great.”

It was a big year for vehicle wraps; read our full coverage here or look through the photo gallery.