NEW YORK, July 28 /EMWNews/ -- From Brangelina to Tomkat,

celebrities are often followed by paparazzi looking for the money shot. But

they aren't the only ones keeping one eye open -- cars have stalkers too.

Called "auto spies", these cameramen try to catch never-before-seen cars

for magazines like Road and Track and Car and Driver before they debut at

international auto shows.






    (See video from Buick (NYSE: GM) at:

http://mediaseed.tv/Story.aspx?story=35286)

    To prevent photos of new cars leaking to the press, automakers often

use off-limits facilities around the world to do their preliminary testing.

When the car is ready for its real world road test, manufacturers like

General Motors, bring in a camouflage engineer. Using different design

tricks, the engineer's goal is to disguise a pre-production car.



    First, the car is covered with plastic mesh and then the headlamps are

squared off to change the overall shape, giving it a temporary facelift.

The goal is to make the public think the car is a different make and model

than it actually is. So when it's time for the big debut, it's the first

time anyone takes a picture.



    Registered journalists can access video, audio, text, graphics and

photos for free and unrestricted use at http://www.mediaseed.tv.



    07NY08-0136