Automakers go ‘camo’ to thwart spy shots

In the auto-razzi game of cat-and-mouse, Nick Twork has been both hunter and hunted.

While still a teenager, waiting to get his driver’s license, Twork began bicycling out to the General Motors Proving Grounds, in Milford, Mich., snapping pictures of future vehicles that strayed a little too close to the perimeter wall. These days, however, Twork is literally working the other side of the fence, as the head of public relations for GM’s top-line Cadillac division.

“I’ve been pretty vocal about things that can lead to a spy shot,” he says, such as driving off company property in the prototype of a future vehicle — especially if it isn’t carefully concealed. This is war, after all, and you better not go out without your camouflage.

“Spy shots” have always been a popular diversion for automotive enthusiasts, a mainstay of the industry’s publications, They are now often seen in more general circulation outlets also, especially with the growth of the Internet where more than 5,000 auto-oriented publications compete for attention.

That’s good news for the pros, such as Arizona-based Brenda Priddy, who have turned spy shots into lucrative careers. Priddy started out almost by accident, one local paper labeling her, “the mother with the babies in the back seat who beat out the pros.” But now, with the advent of cheap digital cameras and the nearly ubiquitous camera phone, it’s almost impossible for a manufacturer to avoid exposure.

So they’ve come up with creative ways to baffle the spies and confuse the eye. In some cases, makers like General Motors will mount an old body on a new platform undergoing testing — so-called “mules.” But that’s of limited practicality, so the industry is becoming ever more creative with ways to disguise future products, using variations of the camouflage that has long been commonplace in the military.

These disguises have evolved over the years. Two decades ago, manufacturers began applying strips of black tape, hoping simply to confuse the eye. That evolved into bras and bibs meant to conceal front and rear details.

Now, in its earliest stages, a prototype is likely to be covered roof-to-wheel in material printed in zebra or moiré patterns — some designs proving particularly effective when photographed. Hard plastic panels may be sewn together with soft nylon, not only to conceal, but also to create false and misleading shapes. Rectangular taillights may be rounded off, a sedan may suddenly seem as square as a station wagon. Manufacturers have even been known to bolt on another maker’s badge, just to add to the confusion.

But there are trade-offs.

“We engineers hate this camouflage stuff,” complains GM engineer Tim Herrick, who has had to put up with testing heavily disguised products that the automaker wanted to keep hidden as long as possible.

All that cladding compromises aerodynamics, especially air flowing to the engine and brakes, and it makes it near-impossible to work on wind noise issues. So, in a slow motion striptease, manufacturers steadily peel pieces of camouflage off as a vehicle gets closer to production.

Companies have also brought in specialists to try to make their camouflage more effective — both to baffle viewers and to make it easier to test vehicles while under cover.

“It’s a highly engineered product,” says Herrick.

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