The moving billboard

The rather flashy vehicle above is the sum total contribution of REFR's UK licensee, Vision-Environmental Ltd. to the SPD promotional cause.

Vision-Environmental is another one-man shop, though at least this one has some notable credentials in the architecture field. The proprietor's name is Bob Hudson, and he has a solid brace of projects such as malls and office buildings to his credit.

For SPD, Hudson took a Lotus Elise, gave it a spray-paint job to make it into the world's first (and, to date, last) "moving billboard" for SPD. And if you had happened to be in the right place at the right time in late 2003, you just might have caught a glimpse of this vehicle being driven from Hudson's home office in Waterlooville to the inaugural 100% Detail Exhibition in London.

How the "head-turned" viewer was supposed to know that SPD referred to the tinting of the windows, and in particular the fact that the tinting could change, one can only speculate.

At any rate, the car made it to London without incident and was shown off as promised, and, despite the "hundreds of serious inquiries" received, that was the last time anyone saw the car, heard of Vision-Environmental, or connected Mr. Hudson with REFR and SPD.

But Mr. Hudson did write a nice letter back reporting on the exhibition, so I guess it wasn't a total loss.