Prototype Vehicle Secrecy & Camouflage

[malcolm]

Just got sent this information emailed by an associate in London on the deal behind the "blacking out" & "camouflaging" of prototype cars during development. Its interesting to note that some of those blacked out cars we sometimes see in car magazines may not be a "new model" thats just about to come out but could indeed be one of around 200 different prototype vehicles that are required in the development of each new production model.

Camouflage and Disguise of Cars

How Car Makers Hide New Models from Prototype Paparazzi Spyshots

Mar 19, 2008 Simon McBride

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.

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...

So some of those blacked out cars could be the finished product about to be released & some could be 200 "steps away" from being fully developed which i imagine would be years.

I always thought it was a bit silly to go to such extreme lengths to hide a new model after completing it - its not as though you can change it then - bit late for that

Now I see how important it is !!

Its actually more important on all of the prototypes during a new cars development - as I am sure that a lot of very important "engineering direction" & "breakthrough technology" is "discovered" "thought through" & "stumbled upon" during this time that you dont want your competitors knowing about.

It also nicely outlines that car manufacturers with say 5 models in development will have literally hundreds of prototype vehicles on the go over a 2 or 3 year period - with all of the prototype vehicles for the series twos & limited edition upgrade tweaks being pulled from the production line

Interesting stuff !! ... I knew they went through a lot of prototype cars during development but I would have never guessed 200 !!!

... cheers malcolm

[GTScotT]

200 prototypes is quite the number, I wonder what becomes of all these known prototypes...

The heartbreaking thing about new car development is bringing them to THIS country... ADR states a vehicle built overseas must be brought in for ADR testing. Once passed and cleared the test model must be destroyed in full by means of crushing.

I got to sit in the Red GTR brought in by Gibson motorsport a few weeks before it got the crush apparently they were trying to work out a deal where it could become a track only vehicle yet apparently it was not worth the effort. FYI commonwhores do not need to be crushed once tested Piss ant red necks get to have theirs I guess, the price of being superior is that our first born must die lol.

Lol anyway interesting read, cheers.

[malcolm]

200 prototypes is quite the number, I wonder what becomes of all these known prototypes... Once passed and cleared the test model must be destroyed in full by means of crushing.

... Hi & thank you for your reply ... ...

... 200 is heaps ! ... as far as what happens to all the prototypes ? ... I know with my car that it was returned (almost) to OEM spec which made it legal to ship to Australia as a grey import ... most see out their days as test cars & continue to be used ... as long as the chassis or floor pan is identical they will even be used in "cross over" models like the Tida from the Pulsar ... you can see in mass production how important it is to have a lot of generic parts that will not only fit between cars within a model range but also between cars of a different category ... I had a the Skyline a GTi-R & my Super S Micra all at the same time ... things like the rear view mirror petrol flap release lever are identical as well as the power mirror adjuster switch on the Skyline & Micra ... not too mention the countless other components within the electrics & fasteners ...

... yes ADR regulations are tough but I guess there needs to be a very strict set of parameters that applies to everyone otherwise itd be a field day of interpretation with everyone making up their own set of rules ...

... theres a great true story in the 1980's regarding a whole bunch of the Nissan Australia 200B Rally Cars that werent allowed to stay in Australia due to ADR regulations & Nissan Japan refused to ship them back to Japan where they had been developed ... so after Rally Australia finished one year somewhere in a pine forest near Port Macquarie or Coffs Harbour the entire collection of cars was put on a barge & taken miles out to sea & pushed off - dumped into the ocean !! ... crazy ... !!! ... i know - WTF ... ...

... such a shame ... what a waste ... oh well theyre probably being used as accommodation by fish lobsters & sea slugs ...

... cheers malcolm ...