Backer Found For Fuel Guard

A tiny Brit-based enterprise is set to go global - thanks to Auto Express. In issue 792, we told how Kirk Eden had designed a system that reminded drivers what fuel to put in their car when filling up at the service station. Now, a large American corporation has come forward and signed a deal for his Diesel Guard invention.

Auto Express Car Reviews

19th February 2004

Eden, who is boss of Merseyside-based company UK Fuel Guard, came up with his idea when he was challenged by his uncle to develop a fail-safe system after he became one of the 300,000 people a year who accidentally put the wrong fuel in their tank.

Kirk used the same voice technology that is found in novelty greeting cards, so when a car's fuel filler flap is opened, a sound chip is triggered and a recorded warning plays. The inventor told us this week: "Look what your magazine did! I have been working all weekend on striking a deal with Geoffrey Stern, president of Voice Express in New York, and he is going to be my manufacturing partner and produce the Diesel Guard unit."

He continued: "We're planning to flood the global market and will be providing the product in a variety of languages for different markets. At the moment we are using professional voiceover artists, but in the future we may use the more recognisable voices of celebrities." Eden is set to cash in on the deal, netting a percentage of the profit from each unit manufactured and sold.