I Spy, Automotive Paparazzi on the Rise

With Photographers at Their Heels, Automakers Get Creative
to Keep New Cars Under Wraps

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.

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.


Produced for General Motors