New Car Transport

[Bill Robertson]

I'm a car nut. I have been since I knew what cars are.
I saw something today I've never seen before. Going up I44 there was a car transport with 2 cars and 2 SUVs on it. They were completely covered in white plastic but with slits so the doors could open and ovals cut out front and back so a driver could somewhat see out. The plastic was so thin and clingy that it was obvious there were no insignias of any kind on the trunk/hatch lids like usual. I pulled up next to the trailer to look at the logos on the wheel center caps. Nope. Center caps weren't there. Obviously no one is supposed to know what these are. This is normal on manufacturers testing grounds and areas where they road test cars. But I've never seen them trailered any distance before.

[Bits_Of_Real_Panther]

Pics or it didn't happen lol ��

I saw the cruise self driving brand was shut down recently in California, maybe some other startup doing tests?

I've heard apple self driving car rumors in the past

[Bill Robertson]

Pics or it didn't happen lol ��

I saw the cruise self driving brand was shut down recently in California, maybe some other startup doing tests?

I've heard apple self driving car rumors in the past

These cars weren't driving. They were being hauled on a transporter.
I'm not going to try taking pictures of a semi when we're both going 70 and I'm in my Miata.

[Pete]

^

Usually test vehicles have most the windows completely uncovered and the covering has heavy camouflage like this:

[BoulderSooner]

when i lived in Colorado often i would see cars covered like your second picture on (or on the way to) the Mount Evans Scenic Byway .. (highest paved road in North America)

[Pete]

Also, lots of new cars arrive with white protective film to protect the paint during transport:

[Pete]

Did they look like this? If so, this is another way of protecting cars in transport. Looks like the driver's door has zippers so humans can get them on and off the carrier.

If you look closely, there are no center caps on the wheels. I suspect they take them off and put them inside the car so they don't get stolen.

[Bill Robertson]

Also, lots of new cars arrive with white protective film to protect the paint during transport:

I've seen the protective covering a lot. But these were covered even more than the upper car in the pic. There was no paint exposed. And the missing insignias and center caps is odd.

[Bill Robertson]

Did they look like this? If so, this is another way of protecting cars in transport. Looks like the driver's door has zippers so humans can get them on and off the carrier.

If you look closely, there are no center caps on the wheels. I suspect they take them off and put them inside the car so they don't get stolen.

They were more like this. In all my years I'd never seen new cars so completely covered. But I guess they do.

[Pete]

They were more like this. In all my years I'd never seen new cars so completely covered. But I guess they do.

It's probably because cars (and paint jobs) are so crazy expensive these days.


When I moved to California, I towed my Mustang convertible behind a Uhaul and by the time I got it off the trailer in L.A. only two days later, it was thrashed. Looked 100x worse than it ever had before due to the Uhaul throwing so much stuff behind it.

[Bill Robertson]

It's probably because cars (and paint jobs) are so crazy expensive these days.


When I moved to California, I towed my Mustang convertible behind a Uhaul and by the time I got it off the trailer in L.A. only two days later, it was thrashed. Looked 100x worse than it ever had before due to the Uhaul throwing so much stuff behind it.

Ouch. Sorry to hear that about any car. I would be completely upset.

[Pete]

^

It's due to the way aerodynamics flow over a vehicle.

Air goes up and over and then downward which means anything on a trailer or cars on a transport are going to get sprayed with debris.