Dimpled Lexus lands local men at U.S. Open

BEAVERDAM - The dimpled golf ball was introduced around 1908. The dimpled Lexus will be introduced next week at the U.S. Open.

Open sponsor Lexus has paired up with three local men to create a Lexus LS 460 L with a dimpled surface, like a golf ball.

It all started with mailboxes. Brad Smith began making and selling mailboxes that look like a giant golf ball in October. At the PGA Golf Show in Orlando, Fla., in January, representatives of Lexus asked if he could put the same surface on a car.

Smith said he might be able to do it and contacted his friend Rick Davis, who worked with him at Accubuilt in Lima for 10 years. Davis' son, Matt, had worked with a company that had some experience with a plastic that might work. The composite polymer was designed for making movie props, but Smith and the Davises found it worked perfectly.

"There was a company that I dealt with," Matt Davis said. "We had done some different kind of plastic and molds and different mold release agents. I called the contacts I had out there."

The Davises own D&D Full Speed Fabrication, doing custom work for specialty cars.

"I've done some pretty extreme stuff," Rick Davis said, "but this is the most extreme thing I've done."

On March 11, Lexus delivered the car and, after a lot of trial and error and a lot of work, they completed the effort. Lexus picks up the car today to deliver it to Farmington, N.Y., in time for the Open, which begins Monday.

While Lexus refers to the "firm" that is doing the project, Rick Davis laughs at the term, pointing to the two-car garage outside his home, where all the work was done.

Dimples improve the flight and stability of a golf ball. Do they improve the performance of a Lexus?

"We never got to find out," Rick Davis said. They only drove it a few miles.

The success story of the dimpled Lexus is a testament to the three men's innovative nature and ability to sieze an opportunity, but it's not the end of the story.

Smith said lessons learned in the project have led to a new business idea involving "specialty vehicles." He won't say much more until the pieces are in place, but said he's already hiring people.

"We're looking for an investor and we're looking for a building right now," Smith said.