Chevrolet Volt Chief Engineer Andrew Farah. Click for more.
It turns out that Volt engineers, not designers, are “charged” with creating camouflage that weighs the need for styling secrecy with the requirement to validate the Volt and its systems on public roads.
“If it were up to me it would be a shoebox driving down the road,” said Lionel Perkins, GM camouflage engineer.
“The design team wants us to cover more of the vehicle and the engineering team needs to have enough of the vehicle’s weight and aero exposed exposed so that the tests in the development process are consistent with the product that will come to market,” Perkins noted.
Some of the tricks used are:
- Black and white patterns – The color scheme creates a shadow that hides vehicle design elements.
- 3D – Layered camouflage throws off onlookers, but has to be applied without interrupting airflow around the car.
- Swirls – In the old days of car camouflage, the design relied mainly on a grid pattern,
- but over the years engineers discovered that grids are difficult to realign if a piece is removed to make a change to the car. Swirl patterns are better at hiding changes.
- Bubble wrap – Camouflage can be made from many different materials including plastics, vinyl and foam. Good, old bubble wrap is a lightweight, easily attachable three-dimensional material used to confuse prying eyes.
The camouflage package on the next-generation Volt was started six months in advance of early development. The tricks are constantly updated to keep spy photographers – Jim Dunne, who graciously contributes to AutoInformed – and the curious guessing.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Pingback: My Friend Jim Dunne | AutoInformed