Camouflage and Disguise of Cars
How Car Makers Hide New Models from Prototype Paparazzi Spyshots
Launching a new car is all about glitz and glamour but if Prototype Paparazzi get the chance they will sell spyshots of the car even when it's disguised by camouflage.
When launching a new car, manufacturers must test the vehicle both on road and on track to get the set-up exactly the way they want it. So camouflaging cars against snooping paparazzi is all important.
But this is not always as straight-forward as it seems, as they want to keep the vehicle a secret until its official public unveiling.
Camouflaging Cars against Prototype Paparazzi
This is mainly the fault of the car Paparazzi as they are always on the look out for a good shot – these specialist photographers are called prototype hunters, or simply photo spies.
The car manufacturers fight against early pictures of their vehicles by camouflage and disguise tactics.
A spokesman from Vauxhall said: “There is usually a special team responsible for camouflaging prototypes – their job entails figuring out which of the cars characteristic lines should be kept hidden the longest from Prototype Paparazzi. The model is then disguised by masking tape and plastic parts, which are stuck on to hide unique design lines.”
The replacement car for the Vauxhall Vectra, the new Insignia has been going through this process. The car is due to be given its public unveil in July at the 2008 British Motorshow in London UK, but spy shots have already come out.
When trying to foil the Paparazzi the design team will build a wooden model as a cast to form the plastic camouflage parts. This is needed for around 200 test cars that have to be disguised in the run-up to production.
For years, the practice was to use a black and white chessboard pattern, but this has now been replaced by “Fishies”, which are rounded, fish-shaped diamonds designed to confuse camera lenses and spying eyes.
And there is more bad news for the Prototype Paparazzi as the car-makers are pulling out all the stops.
Flimmies a Better Prototype Disguise
The top brands claim that the disguising job will soon be even better as they have discovered a technique called ‘Flimmies’. This is a new type of camouflage where the pattern creates a flickering effect.
No matter how well a model is disguised, a common give away are the Headlamps and rear lights as most enthusiasts will be able to tell what a is car by only seeing a glimpse of these.
Getting round this is a problem for car manufacturers as vehicle licensing authorities stipulate that a car’s – even a prototype’s – headlights, brake lights and all other exterior functions must meet legal regulations.
One of the most important characteristics of a new car is its exterior design and the makers want to keep it a secret until the marque is ready to show it off at its public unveil.
Hide and Seek
So, the game of hide and seek between the car manufacturers and the Prototype Paparazzi is set to continue...
