NEW YORK, June 26 /PRNewswire/ -- From Brangelina to Tomkat, celebrities are often followed by paparazzi looking for the money shot. But they aren't the only ones keeping one eye open -- cars have stalkers too. Called "auto spies," these cameramen try to catch never-before-seen cars for magazines like Road and Track and Car and Driver before they debut at international auto shows.
(See video from General Motors at:
http://media.medialink.com/WebNR.aspx?story=35286)
To prevent photos of new cars leaking to the press, automakers often use off-limits facilities around the world to do their preliminary testing. When the car is ready for its real world road test, manufacturers like General Motors, bring in a camouflage engineer. Using different design tricks, the engineer's goal is to disguise a pre-production car.
First, the car is covered with plastic mesh and then the headlamps are squared off to change the overall shape, giving it a temporary facelift. The goal is to make the public think the car is a different make and model than it actually is. So when it's time for the big debut, it's the first time anyone takes a picture.
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