Hot products, but not that hot!

David Turney - Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Been quiet in the blogoshpere last month for Smart Automotive; we're busy working on some great new products & promotions that we'll announce soon.

Bit of excitement at the Smart Automotive offices today though, which I thought I'd share with you. We think our products are pretty hot and are the best thing for covering & protecting your customers' cars, but even we have to concede that there wasn't much we could do for this poor guy. Take a look at the picture....

Right out the window, in a carpark right at the base of our offices, a Ford Cougar decided to spontaneously combust. It went from a small lick to this in about 2 minutes (as you'd expect) with a thick column of black smoke billowing skyward and all the smells of burning car plastics going with it.

Even more spectacular were the fireworks of exploding electrics and the loud pops of sealed parts, glass popping and pipes exploding with the heat (some loud enough to shake the windows). This shot was taken right before the fire truck arrived on the scene and about 5 minutes into the Cougars demise, when the heat had turned the previously rolled up windows into rivers of glass. One fire fighter, getting in close with the hose, got a faceshield full of white firecracker when something under the dash exploded with a loud bang. Undeterred, they got the fire out real quick and what was once clearly someone's pride and joy (as any surviving Ford Cougar in Australia probably would be) was burned to a well-done crisp.

Later reports in the day revealed that the owner had pulled up right in that spot and become instantly aware of electrics burning. When they saw a lick of flame come up from under the bonnet, they and passenger swiftly egressed (hence the doors still swung open) and could only stand by and watch helplessly as their Cougar went up in flames.

So sure, it was exciting to watch at the time, but when I went down there later and saw that car still smoldering away, sitting on its rims and all filled with water and foam, I had only a small part of the sinking feeling the owner must've had.

Smart Automotive can cover and protect anyones pride & joy in most ways, but this was definitely one situation where even we couldn't.

(Thanks to Paul Ridoutt at Smart Web Marketing for the pic)

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