Stealth Truck Convoy

On rare occasions I end up in the Detroit area.  On one such jaunt recently I spotted something interesting.

At first glance this just looks like a pickup truck with some odd plastic in places.  But in fact it was one of three identical trucks in a convoy.  Manufacturers plates (Texas, oddly), and all similarly decked out.

Note also the odd black and white 'dazzle paint' on the rear view mirror and below the doors.  So what gives?

Here's the deal.  New models of cars and trucks are apparently a big deal.  So much so that when they are out doing necessary road testing they don special camouflage so that you can't take detailed pictures of them.  They also travel in groups - two being more common - so that when drivers need to answer various calls of nature there is somebody always keeping an eye on the Stealth Vehicles.

Here's a bit more on the practice:  BRICK.

The loose, baggy camo that covers most of these vehicles is a bit more old school.  Here's something similar from a few years back.

Supposedly this long standing practice is not just to foil car paparazzi, but because some of these vehicles may be in an incomplete development stage and not be fully finished underneath.  Or are fitted out with special sensors for testing, and that kind of info is proprietary.