Very often we come across so-called spy photos of cars in the press. We see unknown cars, by unknown manufactuter, and covered in some kind of unknown material. If you happen to encounter this “miracle” on the road be sure you have seen a piece of future itself. It is not less than a new car which is being tested. Such cars will be unveiled to the audience only in a while.

But actually all you can see is a car which is maximally hidden from the eyes of people and covered in camouflage. And the thing is that the car which will later be a serial version might differ significantly from what you have seen. It is quite natural, because the design of a car is a commercial secret, and it is never unveiled before the the release of the car itself. To show the car long before starting to sell it is to kill the effect of something new.

Nevertheless men are curious, and they always desire to know everything beforehand. That’s why spy photographers appeared. These people are some kind of car paparazis and Jameses Bonds. They on purpose visit car testing areas where new cars are likely to appear and take shots of these cars. But often these shots are taken by chance by people in the streets who later sell them to car magazines.

When car magazines get these pictures they try to guess how the car may actually look. They use software to create the sketches of the possible design of the cars. It often proves to be possible, for example when the camouflage consists of insulating tape only.  But sometimes they have to be creative and use imagination. Sometimes concepts of the manufacturer can help. But it is often not that easy.

Indeed the car paparazis travel in search of cars not less than the average ones. If the driver of a new car notices that he is being shot he immediately speeds up, and if a paparazi is caught on the territory of a testing area, he is in trouble!

In general tesed cars can be divided into 3 major groups. The first one is performance tested cars (when the platform of an engine is being tested). In this case the car may have the appearance of another model. Sometimes manufacturers even doesn’t put external parts on the vehicle,  only make a tin box. So you see in is no use taking shots of such cars.

A little bit more captivating is hunting far a car with a real body, which will soon be in a serial production. In this case you can try to guess the appearance, but not always, because it can be hidden under camouflage very thoroughly. Every manufacturer find the way to hide the appearance in their own way. But the most creative are Mercedes-Benz experts. They cover cars in plastic, so that it is simply impossible to see anything under it.

One day it comes to the point when the manufacturer has to test the aerodynamics of the car. And they have to uncover the body. By such photos car magazines make the most probable sketches. And the companies often allow spy photographers to make a couple of shots not long before the official premiere to raise interest among the audience.

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