Hiding in Plain Sight: The Art of Camouflaging the 2015 Mustang

[DBCooper]

Very cool. One thing I noticed, they didn't try very hard in some circumstances, like when they put a piece of black tape over the steering wheel you could still easily see the pony, same thing with the pony in the grille. They could have easily removed it. I think partially they want the spy shots to go around and give a little something away to signify that it is the 2015 Mustang. Adds to the anticipation and game of cat and mouse.

I don't think they were trying to hide the fact that it was a Mustang. It was pretty obvious what it was.

Wasn't the Pony emblem redesigned for the '15? That's probably the reason they were hiding it.

Sponsored

 

[DBCooper]

This looks like the same track day from the spy shots. So, I have to bring it up again... No conspiracy, just curiosity. Surely there's someone on here that knows the answer.

If they were so concerned about disguising the car, why would they spray paint the front of it black, defeating the camo design, which is specifically designed to make it difficult for cameras to pick up detail? At 1:48 you can actually see the guy with the spray can in his hand getting ready to paint the car. Makes no sense.

Also, why spray paint a big "15" on the hood? Someone just being dumb?

 

[TampaBear67]

For all that talk of not worrying about the camaro,there's a yellow one at 1:13

I noticed that too. Of course they're going to compare it to Camaro's but they set their benchmark higher than that, instead aiming at or above the BMW M 3/4 and Porsche 911's.

 

[TampaBear67]

If they were so concerned about disguising the car, why would they spray paint the front of it black, defeating the camo design, which is specifically designed to make it difficult for cameras to pick up detail? At 1:48 you can actually see the guy with the spray can in his hand getting ready to paint the car. Makes no sense.

Actually if you look at it sitting in that doorway with the Vinyl Removed it's actually easier to see it's a Mustang than the Flat Black they sprayed over the front end.

 

[Tascam]

We were all waiting to see video of it around the track and it turns out Ford had it all along

This looks like the same track day from the spy shots. So, I have to bring it up again... No conspiracy, just curiosity. Surely there's someone on here that knows the answer.

If they were so concerned about disguising the car, why would they spray paint the front of it black, defeating the camo design, which is specifically designed to make it difficult for cameras to pick up detail? At 1:48 you can actually see the guy with the spray can in his hand getting ready to paint the car. Makes no sense.

Also, why spray paint a big "15" on the hood? Someone just being dumb?

My guess is the 15 is not 2015 but just an identifier for the prototype. The video showed other cars with covers marked with different numbers.

I don't know why they would spray paint it but it actually looks more stealth to me in all black. It was probably meant as an added layer of camo to hide the lines of the headlights and hood and at a glance it looks like it still has the black tarp on it, maybe intentionally so.

 

[DBCooper]

Actually if you look at it sitting in that doorway with the Vinyl Removed it's actually easier to see it's a Mustang than the Flat Black they sprayed over the front end.

Painted or not, there's no secret what car this was. The point of the camo (both vinyl and b&w design) it to keep details of the design hidden. The b&w design makes it difficult for cameras to see the detail.

My guess is the 15 is not 2015 but just an identifier for the prototype. The video showed other cars with covers marked with different numbers.
.

The numbers are only on the covers so they know which car is underneath. There are no other numbers on the cars when they have the vinyl camo on. No other photos with numbers on the cars. Just this one.

I can speculate too, (but people call it "conspiracy theory" and evidently, that's not allowed here...)

 

[S550guy]

Fun fact of the day:

-That screen capture above? I know the guy on the left, and the right.


Now that that fact is out of the way, the car looks good on track! Can't wait to see these things running around on the street, sans camo!

 

[Wild Stang]

Fun fact of the day:

-That screen capture above? I know the guy on the left, and the right.


Now that that fact is out of the way, the car looks good on track! Can't wait to see these things running around on the street, sans camo!

Then get some insider info! C'mon man!

 

[Tony Alonso]

Fun fact of the day:

-That screen capture above? I know the guy on the left, and the right.


Now that that fact is out of the way, the car looks good on track! Can't wait to see these things running around on the street, sans camo!

Have you been on the track with it?

 

[S550guy]

From what I've heard, it's much more confidence-inspiring on track, more composed, but still just as fast/faster than the latest S197.

That's all I will say for now.

 

[Tony Alonso]

From what I've heard, it's much more confidence-inspiring on track, more composed, but still just as fast/faster than the latest S197.

That's all I will say for now.

I'll take it

 

[minicobra]

From what I've heard, it's much more confidence-inspiring on track, more composed, but still just as fast/faster than the latest S197.

That's all I will say for now.

They were benchmarking this to the 911 and M3, do you have any info as to which 911, older or newer generation? If it is the new generation, that would be really impressive.
Obviously not the new M3, but I was watching video of that car over on motoring file and man that thing looks really composed, virtually no body role, nose diving, etc. It's going to be a heck of a car, but I think the GT Mustang will probably match it's performance for $20K less.

 

[DBCooper]

Fun fact of the day:

-That screen capture above? I know the guy on the left, and the right.
!

So, ask them why they painted the car...

 

[let me ride]

This was a really interesting listen/read. You get to hear Brenda Priddy and co, and they talk about how the spy photogs camped out for those leaked track photos.

Here's the audio: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=263538154&m=264033465

Ford's Master Of Disguise Keeps Latest Models Undercover

For months, the 50th anniversary 2015 Ford Mustang was cloaked in secrecy. But an upcoming car can't stay in the garage forever. It has to undergo rigorous testing, and that means taking it out in traffic to monitor its handling on roads across the U.S. To keep the redesign out of the public eye before December, Ford completely covered the car with camouflage.

"Underneath that material is a whole science and art, all-in-one," says Mustang chief engineer Dave Pericak. "They're creating a new exterior over the exterior." Al Wilkinson is the man behind the disguise: Ford's "camouflage coordinator." "We try to use lightweight vinyl and different types of foam which don't absorb water," Wilkinson says. He says his design of the fake exterior didn't affect the weight or aerodynamics of the car. "The materials we use have to be flexible and also be able to hold up to all different weather climates," he says. The result was a nondescript, black, boxy vehicle that looks a little like the Batmobile. As soon as it hit the road, the car paparazzi were waiting.

"Heavily camouflaged, but I have photos of the Mustang," says photographer Brenda Priddy. She caught it outside a shopping mall in Colorado. You can't tell what the design underneath looks like, but even photos of masked cars are sought after by auto magazines and blogs. "Everybody loves to see the next Corvette, the next Mustang, the next Ferrari. They like to see what's going on," Priddy says.

Each auto company has a distinct style of camouflage. BMW and Mini mount psychedelic black and yellow patterns on exteriors to distort the contours and lines. "If it was perfectly fitting and zippered just perfectly, that was pretty much characteristic of a Toyota," she says. "We've seen lots of Nissans — and in the past a couple Subarus — that look like they're wrapped in garbage bags with black electrical tape or duct tape wrapped around it. So that's pretty distinctive as well."

Priddy says one of the best spots to snap spy photos is at a gas station. "We usually wait until they get the nozzle in the gas pump, and then they're stuck there for a few minutes," she says. "We just kind of blend in, and we belong where they belong." Priddy takes her pictures out in public places, but not everyone plays by those rules.

During the Mustang's high-speed tests, one photographer snuck past security onto Ford's private track. "He went to the track the night before and slept in the weeds," says engineer Pericak. "Then in the morning, he was ready to go and he had his telephoto lens. As we rolled the car off our transportation truck and we took the camouflage off, his camera started snapping photos." Images of the Mustang's front-end were leaked, but that didn't compromise the car's much-anticipated unveiling.

"It's a big game of cat and mouse, and at the end of the day, as long as we don't get caught by the cat, we're good," Pericak says. The car paparazzi will always have lenses pointed toward the latest redesign. But with the help of camouflage coordinators, the car industry's newest design secrets can stay safely hidden until the next big reveal.

 

[S550guy]

Awesome. Now I know what name to yell when I see people trying to get pictures as I'm driving about!!!

Sponsored