If you’re after some quick cash for a new venture then crowdfunding seems to be the way to go at the moment. Setup a project on a site like Kickstarter or Indiegogo, promise people a slice of the profits or some special bonuses and watch the money roll in. Well, that’s the theory anyway, but it’s worked for all sorts of projects from art installations to videogames.
So what’s this got to do with cars? Until recently I’d never heard of it being used in automotive circles but that’s exactly what the developers of Crystal Guard are doing to promote their new car treatment product. Crystal Guard isn’t a new brand and has been a big hit in Japan for a number of years but now there’s a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to bring their latest product, Crystal Guard Zero, to the rest of the world.
Crystal Guard Zero
What is Crystal Guard? Billed as ‘crystal glass’, it’s a spray that creates a protective barrier on paint and glass. Nothing new there, you can already have that on your car by using wax or synthetic sealants, but Crystal Guard are keen to stress how resilient their product is and just how much extra gloss it’ll give your paint. The claim is that it really is crystal glass in a spray form. Burn the liquid at over 5,500c and it forms into real crystal.
It’s hydrophobic so water will just sheet off the surface, rather than form beads, and it’s claimed to be harder than teflon-based polymer sealants so should protect your paint from swirl marks. It’ll also make your car look shinier by filling in minor scratches and swirls and will make it easier to clean too.
Does it match up to the claims? With any luck I’ll be getting get my hands on some soon and I’ll give it a try. In the meantime why not take a look at the campaign on Indigogo and see what you think. It’s worth it just for the quirky video presented by car-cleaning maid ‘Chris Talguard’ (cue roll on snare drum).