[Aika Car Aika Perspective Original]
Spy novelist John F. Kennedy Le Carré (John M.) In the preface to Le Carre's masterpiece, The Berlin Spy, there is a description: "The book was written in about five or six weeks, and it was very hastily written. At that time I was working at the British Embassy in Bonn Königswynt, writing with my morning hours and work apprenticeships. Even on the Rhine car ferry, I would lie down on the steering wheel and write for a while. Sometimes Prime Minister Adenauer's bulletproof Mercedes stop right next to me, and I have watched him take a steady step towards the office building many times..."
Compared to the other ups and downs of the novel, this unremarkable description is really not wonderful, but it is the novelist's few detailed descriptions of the car. However, in the car world, far more wonderful stories than spy novels are staged almost every day, "reconnaissance" and "anti-reconnaissance", the temptation of money and the power of "faith", don't rush to close the fork, I am not in the spoilers about the upcoming "Mission Impossible 7", but to talk about the story of "camouflage car" and "spy photos".
Why are there "camouflage cars"?
I believe that every car fan who pays attention to auto news will not be unfamiliar with the above two words, as a content that can easily win traffic and satisfy the curiosity of auto media reporters themselves, new car spy photos are undoubtedly the core of the global auto media competition to pursue and report. So, casually open the car website in any language, you can see such a scene: under the photos of the test car covered with dazzling stickers and camouflage clothes, the reporter's mouth is hanging, and the audience is relishing. For these pictures and reports, the attitude of car companies is also quite ambiguous, sometimes denying it, and sometimes appearing in the official reports of the company.
In the harsh winter, the temperature drops to minus 40 degrees Celsius in the frozen lake of Arjeplog, Sweden (top: BMW i7), and then to the sun-drenched Kalahari Desert (bottom: Range Rover) in South Africa, where the sun is scorching and the surface temperature is 60-70 degrees (bottom: Range Rover), the car test team is present all over the world.
This makes people wonder, what kind of existence is a camouflage car?
This also starts from the research and development process of the new car, a new car from the establishment of the project research and development, to the design, testing and verification, until the final production and listing, the long is 7-8 years, even if the inner volume is now 3-5 years. During this long period of time, test vehicles at different stages had to complete verification tests with a total mileage of up to millions of kilometers under various road conditions. In order to fully adapt to the world's consumers, many car companies' test teams have traveled to five continents, from the Nürburgring Nordschleigh in Germany, the Nardò Ring in Italy, to the frozen lake in Arjeplog, Sweden, where temperatures drop as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius in the harsh winter, to the kalahari desert in South Africa, where the sun is scorching and the surface temperature is 60-70 degrees. You can see the figure of the test team of the car company.
Unlike the ambiguous attitude of the manufacturers, the test engineers and test drivers of the car companies have always scoffed at the spy photographers, and it is quite restrained to make such a global gesture to the Lamborghini test driver.
In order to reach the test site, these test vehicles also have to go through a series of complex international transportation, customs declaration, entry process, once in one of the links by the car media or melon eating masses for a long time to touch a square, in advance leaked relevant information, if you simply send a circle of friends, or become a talking point on the audience wine table is fine, if the core information is mastered by competitors with ulterior motives, and then improve their own products accordingly, the consequences are simply unimaginable. Taking ten thousand steps back, to test the stability of the car in the verification stage, once the failure is broken and it is photographed on the road, it is not a glorious thing for the brand. Under various factors, camouflage vehicles came into being.
A Brief History of The Camouflage Car: The Art of "Covering The Eye"
When the first camouflage car was born is currently impossible to verify, but it is certain that the early car companies in the development of new cars, not only do not shy away from the public's vision, and even intentionally disclose relevant information, and the valuable prototype (prototype) to familiar car journalists to test drive, the most classic case in this regard is jaguar E-type, as early as 1957, E1A prototype often at 160km / h's high speed was tested on open roads near Coventry, UK. Since Jaguar was killing everyone in the endurance arena at the time, most people who were lucky enough to see it mistakenly thought that Jaguar was testing the Le Mans chariot for the new season.
Jaguar brand founder William Sir William Lyons (pictured below) Lyons went so far as to lend the world's only test car to Christopher Lee, the editor of The Motor magazine, in 1958. Jennings) (above), who even wrote a rather exhaustive test drive article about the car.
Even more outrageous is that Jaguar brand founder William . Sir William Lyons went so far as to lend the "one of one" test car to Christopher Lee, the editor of The Motor magazine, on his own initiative in 1958. Jennings), the latter even wrote a rather detailed test drive article on the car, and the cause of this incident turned out to be that when the two had a small talk, Jennings thought that on a small road that he often tested, Jaguar's new car could not run as aston Martin, I don't know whether it was due to true temperament or ulterior motives of "radical method", in short, the two inadvertently gossiped about concocting a car media masterpiece that had never been seen before.
In the 1960s, with the acceleration of the process of globalization and the advancement of media means, more and more car companies realized that the new cars being tested were related to the future strategy and planning of enterprises, and they must not be easily shown. So the straight steel engineers began to find a way to hide their eyes, and the initial solution was to directly design and stamp another set of body sheet metal to install on the prototype car. Although this can prevent outsiders from discovering any valid information to the greatest extent, this is a disaster for the R&D team of the car company, which not only increases the workload, but also greatly increases the R&D cost.
At the same time that the Japanese media rushed to report on the original Skyline GTR (PGC10) unveiled at the 1968 Tokyo Motor Show, a two-door version of the God of War had quietly completed most of the new car testing work at Nissan's testing ground.
But soon, the Japanese, who had always focused on economy, found a better solution. In 1968, Nissan, which had just completed its acquisition of the Prince brand, unveiled the original Skyline GTR, code-named PGC10, at the Tokyo Motor Show, which was originally unveiled as a four-door luxury sedan equipped with a high-performance inline six-cylinder engine. At the same time as the Japanese media have reported on it, the original God of War, whose two-door version of the model, which was hailed by later JDM fans as "Hakosuka", has completed most of the tests at the Nissan Granddrive test circuit and is close to mass production.
Clever Nissan engineers made a "car suit" that could move with the car out of canvas and planks, and even though some of the "car entertainment" at the time took photos of the two-door GTR test car, the tight camouflage confused everyone who saw the photo.
It turned out that clever Nissan engineers made a "car coat" that could move with the car out of canvas and wooden planks, and even though some "car entertainment" at the time took a photo of the test car, the tight camouflage made everyone who saw the photo confused, and thought that it was a "mobile bench" that Nissan used to test the new engine, and did not care at all. As a result, the Ancestor of the God of War in 1971, as soon as he appeared, he startled four seats, and a legend began.
A brief history of camouflage cars
Fast forward to the 1980s, for camouflage cars, car companies have accumulated enough experience, fake body, camouflage cloth cover has become a routine operation of the new car test team, but problems have also followed. Although these means can deceive photographers, but for some test items instead become a "burden", such as driving a test car with a fake body for high-ring experiments, because the wind resistance coefficient of the fake body, the gap between the sheet metal and the mass production car standard are far away, so the obtained NVH, speed and other data have almost no reference value.
The camouflage method of creating a separate fake body for the prototype has always been the usual operation of heavy models, and the picture above is the Jaguar XK8 camouflage car photographed by photographers in Sweden in the mid-1990s, because the car is inextricably linked to the Aston Martin DB7, because the perfectly interchangeable sheet metal achieves excellent camouflage effect. The photo itself is also very beautiful, and the two test drivers look at the snow in the distance, which is quite a kind of "winter traveler" like loneliness.
In this regard, some manufacturers have formulated simple and rough countermeasures, driving unconformed test cars, once parked, they are covered with black plastic covers, which puts forward higher requirements for spy photographers, not only fast hands and eyes, but also to practice the same "unicorn arm" as a sports reporter. In this regard, the famous new car spy photography master Jim Dunne has the most say, according to his right-hand man, his son Michel Dunne recalls: "One day in 1981, when we were driving our daily "sweeping the streets" near the General Milford testing ground, the roar of the V8 engine suddenly came from a distance, and my father instantly grabbed a telephoto camera from the back seat and slammed into a champagne-colored sports car. Michel's "champagne-colored sports car" is actually the Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 (C4), which is still in the early stages of development and is regarded by GM as a highly classified Chevrolet, due to the high definition of the photo and Jim Dunne's accurate description of the turbocharged V8 engine sound, this rather heavyweight spy photo naturally became the cover of the June 1981 issue of Car And Driver magazine.
This photo is probably of professional camouflage car photographer Jim One of dunne's most proud pieces of his career was not only an early shot of the unpublished Corvette ZR-1, but also accurately judged the V8 turbocharged engine of the car through the sound of the engine.
In the 1990s, engineers made a big move: for the test car in the early stage of development, the body sheet metal of the current model was cut and welded to the new chassis, which is the so-called mule car You may be able to see that this is a test car, but even if you have a big brain hole, you can't guess the specific model. This method of disguise continues to this day. For example, in the early days of the development of the Ferrari generation of Enzo, the media exposed a "strange" F355 spy photo - a super "stitching monster" with the front and tail of the F355 and the body of the F348.
For example, in the early days of the development of Ferrari's generation of Enzo, the media exposed a "strange" F355 spy photo - a super "stitching monster" with the front and tail of the F355 and the body of the F348.
Before Rolls-Royce Cullinan was formed, engineers actually "buckled" a Phantom on the chassis of this large SUV, and in order to ensure the stability of high-speed driving, the trunk was also equipped with a "auto parts city style" big tail. This even gives people reason to wonder if Akio Toyoda moved the evil idea of building a century of GRMN because he saw this spy photo.
Before Rolls-Royce Cullinan was formed, engineers actually "buckled" a Phantom on the chassis of this large SUV, and in order to ensure the stability of high-speed driving, the trunk was also equipped with a "auto parts city style" big tail.
However, for a test vehicle with a high degree of completion, engineers still have no good way. If you are lucky enough to find a 1990s auto magazine from a used book stall or have the leisure to engage in "Internet archaeology", you will find that the standard image of the camouflage test car at that time was: the whole car was covered with thick vinyl, like a thousand-year-old corpse that had just been unearthed.
Classic 1990s camouflage car style: the whole car is tightly wrapped in black tape, resembling a thousand-year-old corpse that has just been unearthed. (Pictured is a Jaguar X-Type spy photo)
As for the camouflage stickers we are familiar with, they will not appear until after the millennium, car companies began to paste black stickers on important design features on the test car, at first it was just a simple zebra stripe, but this simply could not deceive the photographer and car reporter's golden eye, after years of wit and courage, these auto experts have long learned to judge the model level through wheelbase, judge the location of the ABC column through the window line, and even reflectors, headlights and other details can become important evidence of "solving the case".
However, the road is a foot high, in order to guard against more and more professional camouflage car photographers, the roadless car company research and development team has been madly studying the physiological structure of the visual part of the human brain, so now, the dazzling camouflage stickers are gradually taking shape, in fact, their camouflage principle seems mysterious and is not complicated to explain. Let's start with the picture below. All the thick diagonal lines on this graph are parallel to each other, but to many observers, they are distorted and intersecting arcs, a phenomenon known in the medical field as the Zolla illusion. Neurophysiological theory suggests that the reason for this illusion is that when two contours are close to each other, their projections on the retina are also close to each other, which causes nerve cells on the retina to inhibit each other, which in turn triggers the illusion of geometric shape and orientation. Similar illusions include the Wundt illusion, the Einstein illusion, and so on.
Using these bionic principles, some professional camouflage sticker companies have developed a variety of camouflage stickers that not only create illusions in people's eyes, which make it difficult to distinguish the contours of the vehicle itself, but also "fool" the advanced autofocus system of digital cameras. For example, graphik concepts in the United States, car camouflage stickers are one of the company's core businesses.
It is precisely by using these bionic principles that some professional camouflage sticker companies have developed a variety of camouflage stickers that not only make people's eyes delusional and thus difficult to distinguish the contours of the vehicle itself, but also "fool" the advanced autofocus systems of digital cameras. Providing camouflage for car companies is one of graphik Concepts' core businesses, according to the head of the division, Dan S. Thompson. Suszko explains: "These stickers are made of lightweight vinyl and can be perfectly attached to the surface of the car. In addition, because many cameras rely on the subject color of the subject for identification and focus, these different spots or optional patterns of different sizes are blurred with photos that are easy to take by the camera. ”
"As for cameras with infrared focus, they must be more black on the body to absorb infrared rays, and the swirl-like camouflage is the most powerful, even the high-performance autofocus system cannot do anything about it." Dan added.
Brenda· Priddy is a veteran spy photographer in the industry, from the BMW M3, the original Audi R8 to the Mercedes-Benz SLS, the woman found and captured countless spy photos. Her attitude towards the wide variety of camouflage stripes was rather dismissive.
However, many professional camouflage car photographers have shown a dismissive or even sadistic attitude towards camouflage stickers. Brenda· Priddy is a veteran spy photographer in the industry, from the BMW M3, the original Audi R8 to the Mercedes-Benz SLS, the woman found and captured countless spy photos. Her attitude towards the wide variety of camouflage stripes was rather dismissive. "Frankly, I found these camouflage to be very photogenic, and the camouflage on the car not only did not interfere with my camera's ability to focus, but even made the photos look more interesting. The disguise seems to change every year, and before each job, I can't wait to see what they're up to this year. Apparently, women's unique aesthetic sensitivities have led this skilled photographer to use the disguise of the car company as a fashion show.
"Spy Sea Anecdotes" about camouflage car photographers
Reconnaissance and Counter-Reconnaissance: "Spy Sea Anecdotes" about Camouflage Vehicle Photographers
Although this profession, which is hated by many car manufacturers and called "car spy" sounds very cool, it is a real chore. The aforementioned spy photographer Grandmaster Jim Dunne was first a reporter for the Detroit branch of the well-known American magazine Pop Sci, and by chance, he photographed a prototype of the second-generation Chevrolet Corvair at the Milford test site in Michigan, and the photo was published half a year before the new car was released. Dunne embarked on the path of a professional photographer.
Jim· Dunne is recognized as the originator of professional photographers in camouflage cars. He was originally a reporter for the Detroit branch of the well-known American magazine Pop Sci, and by chance, Dunne photographed a prototype of the second-generation Chevrolet Corvair at the Milford test site in Michigan, and has since embarked on the path of professional photographer.
To get more valuable photos, he stopped for hours in the middle of winter in the snowy depths of Bemiji, Minnesota, or endured the sweltering heat in the Arizona desert. However, the effort pays off, with the exception of the C4 Corvette ZR-1, the 1997 Jaguar XK, the near-unpretentious Mercedes-Benz-SLR-McLaren and the Cadillac ATS. After officially retiring in 2011, he wrote his decades of legendary experience into a very "Versailles"-sounding autobiography, Secret Cars Exposed by the Industry's Most Notorious Photographer.
After officially retiring in 2011, Jim Dunne wrote his decades of legend into a very "Versailles-sounding autobiography, Secret Cars Exposed by the Industry's Most Notorious Photographer."
But from a utilitarian point of view, camouflage car photographers have a lot of income. According to the authoritative media Forbes, with the current market, the royalties issued by the auto media for an original new car spy photo are as high as 300-10,000 US dollars (about 1912-63723 yuan), and the price level mainly depends on the amount of information and the importance of the model. In reality, however, it's a job that requires love. Although photography technology can be compensated by the 10,000-hour rule and the hard working environment can be compensated by generous remuneration, as a camouflage car photographer, you not only need to understand the dynamics of various car companies around the world, be familiar with the classification of car models, and even have enough keen insight - just like Jim · Dunne judged from the engine sound that the Corvette ZR-1 (C4) would be equipped with the new V8 turbocharged engine.
In addition to the Corvette ZR-1, the near-unmasking Mercedes-Benz-SLR-McLaren (bottom) and cadillac ATS (top) are all Jim Crowley's spy photos. Dunne's proud work.
I am afraid that the only people who can do all of this at the same time are the hardcore car fans who have gasoline flowing in their blood. In this regard, Brenda M. Priddy's experience in the industry is the best proof. "When I sent pictures of the uninitiated fourth-generation Mustang to the magazine, I only hoped they would send me a fan commemorative T-shirt, and they sent me a check, plus a dozen T-shirts."
Even so, the advent of the smartphone era has allowed the industry to begin its inner roll, as early as Jim · When Dunne retired, he wrote in his book: "As long as there is an iPhone, everyone is a photographer of a camouflage car." ”
However, what really makes the industry decline is not smartphones, but the car companies themselves.
At the premiere of the movie "Spider-Man: Homecoming" released in 2017, a new generation of Audi A8 covered in camouflage and not yet released at that time appeared with tom Holland, the male protagonist wearing Spider-Man's tights.
Camouflage cars today: the best camouflage is the best disguise
Not since when, more and more car companies are not only no longer afraid of the exposure of disguised car photographers and spy photos, but even take the initiative and disk, and begin to expose spy photos on their own, and use them as part of the marketing strategy of new cars. For example, at the premiere of the movie "Spider-Man: Homecoming" released in 2017, a new generation of Audi A8 covered in camouflage and not yet released at that time was with the male protagonist Tom Holland in a Spider-Man tights. Holland) appeared together and made a big splash. The new SUV Grecale, which Maserati has just released, has carried out several waves of warm-up before the debut, and the official released a series of spy photos "blockbusters" with exquisite lighting and unique perspectives. In addition to traditional luxury brands, many Chinese car companies are also well versed in this way, in addition to regularly releasing spy photos to report the research and development results to the public, many car companies simply invite the media to personally participate in the test in the research and development stage of new cars. As a result, the autumn water is always colorful, and the flow and attention fly together. Car companies and the media have reached a win-win situation in this way, which is not harmonious.
In fact, there are many similar examples, but how many dry goods are in these so-called "official spy photos", and how many are only the results of the public relations department of the car company in order to attract attention and complete the KPI, I am afraid that only the car company itself and the discerning car fans know.
The new SUV Grecale, which Maserati has just released, has carried out several waves of warm-up before the debut, and the official released a series of spy photos "blockbusters" with exquisite lighting and unique perspectives.
Editor's summary: From the early years of the avoidance of spy photos, to today's initiative to attack, will be calculated, in my opinion, whether it is a variety of tricks, dazzling camouflage stickers, or the "mule car" that transfers flowers and trees, in fact, what they really want to hide is not the new car itself, but the interests behind the car company, perhaps to prevent competitors, or to avoid breaking product planning, or perhaps just a means of marketing, in short, camouflage is the basic game principle, and the purpose of camouflage is the times.
Camouflage cars today