Secret design, strict security! Why did you first see these cars on the roads in ‘black and white’ stickers? Know the truth

When any new car hits the showroom floor, all we see is its shiny appearance. But for several years before that, the car had gone through a difficult journey in great secrecy, away from the eyes of the world. In today’s age of social media and cameras, automobile companies spend crores of rupees on ‘secret testing’ to prevent leaks of new car designs.

You must have seen some strange, crazy black and white stickers on some cars on the roads. Let’s find out the secrets of these ‘secret’ factories and this unique technique of hiding cars.

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1. Weird black-and-white stickers on cars Why are there?

This strange pattern is called ‘camouflage’ in automobile parlance. Companies want to hide the features and design of their new car from rival companies and auto-enthusiasts. But why use only black and white for this?

• Tricking the camera: These stickers are usually ‘zebra’ patterns or different geometric shapes. When a photographer tries to photograph this moving car, the camera’s auto-focus technology goes haywire. Due to this, the real edges, curves and body lines of the car are not visible in the photo.
• hide shape (Optical Illusion): These patterns create a kind of ‘optical illusion’ for the human eye. It was impossible to tell from a distance whether the car was long or short, what was its exact shape.
• Adding fake parts: Often companies don’t stop at just putting stickers, but put foam or plastic fake pads on the body to hide the car’s true shape, completely changing the car’s true look.

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2. ‘extreme weather‘ and secret trial

Hiding the design of the car was part of it, but companies also conducted ‘extreme weather testing’ in some of the world’s most remote and secretive locations to see if the car would survive in every environment.

• Extremely icy regions (-40 degrees Celsius): Companies have their own secret ice tracks in places like Sweden’s ‘Arvijdaur’ or Alaska. Here, the cars are driven on frozen lakes to test their anti-lock braking system (ABS), traction control and battery capacity. It is seen whether the engine or parts of the car freeze in such severe cold.
• Burning deserts (above 50 degrees Celsius): Summer testing of the cars takes place in America’s ‘Death Valley’ or Dubai’s desert. Here, it is tested whether the car’s engine overheats in extreme heat, whether the AC can keep the cabin cool, and whether plastic parts melt.

3. ‘Secret‘ Testing facilities

Big companies in the world eg. Mercedes, BMW, Tata, Mahindra have their own personal and high-security testing tracks. These places are surrounded by high walls, barbed wire and round-the-clock security. Staff working here and test drivers are strictly prohibited from using camera phones. Often these trains are launched on the track in the dark of night or early morning.

Every new car that appears on the road has come to us after billions of rupees of secrets, years of engineers’ hard work and a battle with the extremes of nature.