Prototype camo wrap: yea or nay?
 

I had a thought last evening: Since I've been changing the look of my car pretty much yearly for the past couple years, maybe I'll keep that up. Then I thought perhaps it would be fun, since my car is a test-bed for various aerodynamic devices, to wrap it in the same dazzle camouflage vinyl that manufacturers use and see how many people I can confuse in my travels. This look:

https://s3-prod.autonews.com/s3fs-pu...OBGMIDUJYV.jpg

https://i2.wp.com/gibsonmartelli.com...50%2C406&ssl=1

https://photos5.leftlanenews.com/pho...pied-7_700.jpg

...which I can recreate using this vinyl wrap, which is identical to the wrap that some manufacturers use for late-stage testing when a car is close to production.

To complete the look, I would remove all manufacturer badging, my school license plate frame, windshield banner, and all decals (sorry, Ecomodder, that includes your sticker too!), and replace my vanity "OPEC LOL" plates with standard random-number plates.

Now's your chance to weigh in! (I'll almost definitely do this, but I'm curious what people here think about it).

I'm not big fan of that specific look, but that style wrap would be something different from the masses. :thumbup:
So that's a yea from me.

Cheap vinyl will have to be redone annually. I've done three roofs and the vinyl itself starts to crack after a short while.

Unfortunately we seem to be unable to get branded wrap in small quantities here.

Even the best wrap only has a fairly short life, it's kind of expensive and time consuming for something that might last 5-7 years.

The application isn't as easy as YT makes it look, particularly getting tight edges right.

+1 on the longevity concerns, that’s basically what my bumper stickers are made of, and some already are failing after less than a year (have really only been bumper stickering since January, when I had a swing out west and picked up a ton of the things).

That said, I am all about being different. Matt Farah literally put bus seat fabric in his 911, and I totally support a crazy look on a car. I love the idea of prototype camo. It looks funky in real life, I have seen a few M-plate prototypes with that camo and it’s funky, but I like the idea of baiting folks into taking “spy shots” of your car.

I should put it on my 92 Geo when I get the aero mods done, and put a ghost of a BMW logo on it for kicks.

Tint the windows real dark, and get that Camo and it would be hilarious. Call the 3m guys and see if they have any proto camos. That **** will literally last forever.
Being in the south I would get crawfish print prototype camo. To let people know you're mysterious, but also like to party.
But also imagine the questions you would get from your car already looking weird, and then having weird camo that only 1% of the population gets too excited to see all over.
*average person walks up*
"You already hit up the Area 51 raid, too?"

I bet the vinyl lasts a lot longer if you get it in chrome :P

I'd rather see it in digital camo. I wonder if Minecraft got their texture ideas from the military digital camo that was new at the time.

Longevity, and doesn't vinyl also have the potential to damage the paint underneath? Other than that, I say give it a go! :)

Thanks for the input, everyone! I'm not worried about longevity; as often as I change things up on this car I probably wouldn't have it on more than a couple years anyway. I've had cheap chrome vinyl on the roof since last year and it's holding up just fine, so I'm not worried about using the cheap stuff for a camo wrap.

If I do this, I'll go all out to make it look like an actual prototype--wrapping portions of the lights (keeping reflectors/markers visible for legality, of course) and covering the useless quarter windows. Roof I'll keep chrome, and the bumpers I might just Plasti-dip flat black for laziness' sake. Or I'll just cover them in Gorilla tape like this Maxima prototype from a couple years ago:

https://s3-prod.autonews.com/s3fs-pu...ZISQFCTDIB.jpg

With the whole mirrorless look, I can imagine people being fooled into thinking it's actually some sort of OEM test car--which I think would be hilarious.

I plastidipped a rear black out panel on a mustang in 2013 and the guy who bought it still has the same stuff on there. Also I wrapped my wheel covers in 3m carbon wrap and after a year they look exactly the same. Although I lost one like in the movies lol

You'd get a few looks though
Especially with secret wrap covered aeromods
You may end up on the internets as the new ... 2021 whatever :D

Whatever’s necessary to standout AND attract the attention of law enforcement.
Got it.

(Don’t forget any downside).

I've owned the car more than 5 years, only been pulled over once (3 years ago in Kansas, where a driver's exterior mirror is required), and never gotten a ticket. I'll take my chances.:p

Be sure to post pics if you do the wrap! :)

With eye-popping exterior?

Well, I'm driving around now with no mirrors, shiny aluminum tape on the front and rear bumpers and spoiler, a chrome roof, a giant windshield banner, and fake sponsor decals down the front doors, so--yes?

I appreciate your concern, but really, I'll be fine.

Others react differently to an unusual look. And insurance premiums aren’t what I’d be willing to taunt. Thus the question about downside.

So, as you see it — as you’re halfway there — why not go all the way?

What reaction from others are you expecting? Thumbs up? (Serious Q)

Let us know what you find once applied.

.

Prototype camo is a very specific look, and I understand what your going for.

Personally, I go to dazzle camo.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_Art_Car

Would the police still see you and could you sue if they rear-ended you?

Every look invites reaction. When I was driving around in a bright red Viper with white racing stripes, that got certain reactions (speaking of police--that's the sort of car that really attracts their attention). If I was driving around in a jacked up pickup with mudders and a bull bar, that would get a different reaction. Cars wrapped in prototype camo aren't unknown, they're just not common, so I expect I'll inspire a lot of confusion. We'll see!

I quite like the 2010 Jeff Koons M3.

What reaction is this going for?

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6-1OIiem7...s/s1600/-4.jpg
Just A Car Guy: banners

Mine is that red convertible tops are tacky.

I agree, one of my standouts. I haven’t given BMW enough credit, for as stoic as Germans are, this is a really neat marketing ploy.

BMW has one of my favorite racing liveries of all-time (I’m not a big racing fan), the X-ray livery.

http://www.stanceworks.com/wp-conten...roughs-bmw.jpg

Paint is Dead - WrapWorks Gives the StanceWorks Group A Tribute E28 Build its Colors

Not many good photos of this livery for some reason.

https://flatsixes.com/wp-content/upl..._1-600x397.jpg
https://flatsixes.com/porsche-motors...y-of-all-time/
If you look closely at the Andy Warhol BMW it looks like it was painted with a brush and then fingerpainted.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...px-Warhol1.JPG
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_Ar...le:Warhol1.JPG

The low-rider painters would look at that and say "What a fraud."

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g2santJ6K...parliament.jpg
Just A Car Guy: Damn, that is one incredible paint job