I SPY A STRANGE-LOOKING CAR
How does one hide a car in plain sight? There’s a clandestine component to automotive testing – the act of car cloaking with camouflage.
When an automaker builds a new model, the vehicle reaches the prototype stage, and is known as a “mule,” that must be tested on the track.
There is a small, stealthy group of auto photographers dedicated to grabbing photos of this test, so to combat their long lenses, many car companies keep a “camo expert” on staff.
There’s the threat of corporate espionage, or maybe the automaker wants to hide a new, proprietary feature that could separate them from their competition. Camouflaging is done to control perception (mules are quite ugly), and so a potential buyer doesn’t see the upcoming model, and decide to hold off on their purchase of this year’s car.
Plus, leaked images really suck the drama away from a manufacturer’s big reveal.
The car’s stylist and engineers work with the camo expert, and they make sure the camo doesn’t affect functionality, such as blocking air intakes or aerodynamics.
There are different types of camo, each more secure than the other, but both always mask the two most important design features – the grille and tail lights.
During the mule stage, Styrofoam, bubble wrap, and fake plastic body parts are glued onto the car, then painted a matte black, which makes it difficult for a camera to focus, and which also absorbs a camera’s infrared light.
Here, the car gets a utilitarian-looking outfit, making it look like a box is flying around the track. It takes about eight pieces to wrap a sedan using a ton of Velcro, and it must be able to be put on in 30 minutes.
Modifications are made to the mule, and then closer to the launch date, it’s back to the track, but this time in a more streamlined camouflage, including those black & white swirls you may have seen.
That obnoxious pattern is difficult for a camera to focus on; ovals become squares, concave shapes appear convex. It’s tricking the eye into seeing something that’s not there.
It appears like vinyl, but it’s actually a polyester material that’s half as light as vinyl, that won’t shrink in the heat or crack in the cold. It’s still quite heavy though – for instance, an SUV wrap will weigh about 95 pounds dry, and 150 pounds wet from rain.
Add in a little reflective material and “tada,” ideally nothing is revealed.
Despite their best effort though, sometimes the photographers win. Last summer, when Ford tested its 50th anniversary Mustang, it was less than an hour after its first lap that the spy shots had hit the Internet.