Nice NYT piece about paparazzi who specialize in snapping photos of pre-production cars for sale to magazines, and the countermeasures employed by the auto-manufacturers to disguise their prototypes.
Carmakers take elaborate precautions to conceal their prototypes from spy photographers, going to lengths that would put a celebrity in dark shades and a baseball cap to shame. Some Ford vehicles intended for testing on public roads are sheathed in so much black leather and vinyl that they resemble a dominatrix on wheels. Other manufacturers cover their cars with stripes of dark tape, creating optical illusions that make the shape hard to discern in photos, or they dress them in ground-skimming “skirts” that conceal the drivetrain. The unwritten rule among spy photographers is that opening doors or removing camouflage is forbidden. Using digital editing software to enhance an image is another matter.
Still other manufacturers wrap their cars in prosaic disguises in an attempt to travel on public streets without tipping off the paparazzi. (Who would expect to see simulated wood-grain paneling plastered on the side of a preproduction BMW X5?) And always there is constant vigilance: at a General Motors test track just outside Detroit, signs posted along the road warn employees when they are entering a “photographically sensitive area,” where the vehicle they’re driving may be captured on film by someone perched on a nearby hill.
(Thanks, Steve!)