Release: British Motorists Now Have Engine Makeover in a Can
WOODBRIDGE, England, March 17 --
When mechanical engineer Dave Burnett returned to the UK from working in the States, he found his elderly father's beloved Nissan Bluebird smoking away and its cylinders in a sorry state.
Long hunts around British motoring stores for a unique American metal restoring product called Engine Restore Inc., which Dave had used in the States, proved fruitless as he was told it was not on sale in the UK.
So Dave ordered 12 cans, restored his father's car engine back to performance health and then ordered another 12 cans for impressed friends and acquaintances. This went on until 2003 when Dave approached the product's American owner about selling the oil in the UK. The result is that Dave (52) is now the sole distributor in the UK through his company Ametech of Ametech Engine Restorer with 73 niche eBay web sites and sales of 800 cans a month with 7 per cent of that repeat business.
``It was very slow to start with,'' said Dave. ``I was told the additive market had experienced a bad press in the UK in the past with miracle cures and people were very sceptical. They looked at me as if I was a snake oil salesman! Now the bulk of our business is through word of mouth recommendation and my phone is constantly ringing with people saying their friends have tried it .''
Ametech Engine Restorer is composed of minute beads of a copper, silver and lead alloy (smaller than a fine grain of sand.) The oil works its way though the engine and replates the worn areas on the cylinders.
"If you want to be technical you could say CSl is at the upper end of nanotechnology," said Dave.
A GBP10 250ml can is needed for a 1000cc small car and a GBP40 litre can for something like a 3.5 Range Rover or a 4.2 Jaguar. Within 500 miles of the oil being added to a petrol car, or 1000 miles for a diesel vehicle, the difference in performance is self evident.
The product owner Omar Sultan is a classic rags-to-riches American success story. He worked on the NASA space programme in the 1970s when a super lubricant was being researched. He later bought the terrestrial rights and finally brought the product to market. Since 1985 Engine Restore Inc., has sold 120 million cans in the States and in France the market is worth 6 million euros a year.
"UK motorists were late in the line," said Dave. "Most motorists know the feeling when their engine starts smoking and they are faced with an MOT failure and hundreds of pounds in repair bills to put the engine right."
Last year Dave bought a red Volvo 740 at auction. He described it as a `basket case' but wanted to use it as a test for the oil restorer. Within 500 miles of having the oil added his son, Alex, was racing the Volvo at Bentwaters in Suffolk (see photo details below).
Other fans include London taxi drivers who bought the oil just to try it out and report that they have added 4mpg to their performance. The environmental impact of the oil is also important as London motorists face planned penalties for driving smoke polluting vehicles in the capital.
Another field where the oil is proving its worth is the fishing industry. Dave has just returned from Guernsey where it was used on fishing boats avoiding expensive repairs and 2 or 3 weeks of lost work.
Another fan is national motoring writer Quentin Willson who uses it in his own cars and recommends it through his column.
The technology, explains Dave, has been around since the days of the steam engine but then the engine had to be taken to pieces before you could tackle the job of polishing and plating. The oil performs the same task internally . Until its invention the traditional additive methods were Teflon particles, viscosity improvers and chlorines
Dave has worked in 28 countries as an engineer and is impressed with the range of motoring products Americans can buy and now features a total of them through Ametech.
"But Engine Restorer Oil is our star. And it's great the British motorist is now discovering it, using it and giving us such positive comeback."
