Comments on: Question of the Day: Do You Care About Spy Shots?

By: dulcamara

dulcamara — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:02:54 +0000

Bottom line:

By: cretinx

cretinx — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:33:21 +0000

no.

By: campocaceres

campocaceres — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:23:52 +0000

not really. they’re a nice distraction if there is nothing else worth reading, but for that exciting sneak preview of your every day boring “crossover” wrapped up in mysterious black clothing– hey, that’s what autoblog is for!

By: Subifreak

Subifreak — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:29:25 +0000

I don’t mind spy shots personally…..gives me a rough idea of a model that I might be interested in whether it be a current model mid cycle ‘refresh’ or a glimpse to what the redesigned model will look like (AKA do I buy the current one or wait for the all new model).

By: jayparry

jayparry — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:34:32 +0000

Not at all, and Im big into car styling. The spy shots tell you less than nothing and are usually accompanied by a ’story’ that is full of speculation: ‘this car will have 90+ horsepower and will likely have 4 wheels.’

Tho what is even worse IMHO is ‘photochopping’. When you pass off a photoshopped pic as a real photo without indicating it you are journalistically lying.

By: John Horner

John Horner — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:08:10 +0000

I have never understood the fascination with spy shots and speculation about what the next XYZ might look like. For me they are the automotive equivalent of paparazzi stalker photos in those horrible celebrity magazines. Who really cares?

By: ZoomZoom

ZoomZoom — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:22:07 +0000

Mostly spy shots are boring to me. I spent way too much time on those Honda-Prius pics, and I’ll never get that time back as long as I live…

By: SAAB95JD

SAAB95JD — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 03:53:48 +0000

I love it… it is great fun trying to figure out what is going on beneath the disguise!

By: DearS

DearS — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 03:07:13 +0000

Yeah. I like the NSX info and GTR and just knowing something is in the works.

By: joe_thousandaire

joe_thousandaire — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 03:03:47 +0000

No, I couldn’t care less and have never understood the whole spy shot thing. If you have a clean, clear shot of an as-yet-unseen ready for production model, then its something worth seeing. Usually though its a grainy image of what may or may not be the final production version of a car that may or may not be built, covered in what appears to be trash bags, duct tape, and spray paint. Awesome, now show me some pictures of big foot.

By: serpico

serpico — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 02:49:54 +0000

Spy shots of cars that are coming are great. I don’t care about concepts because it’s a waste of time since manufacturers could care less to bring it to market.

By: rtz

rtz — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 01:22:38 +0000

It’s a lot like certain video’s from Japan. If it’s all blurred out, I don’t want to see it(what’s the point?).

If the car is wrapped in a giant car bra, I’ll pass.

I only like to see non wrapped spy shots.

By: dhanson865

dhanson865 — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 01:21:21 +0000

no, I don’t care about spy shots of anything less significant than a car that could single handedly rescue one of the 2.8 from bankruptcy.

In other words don’t bother unless it’s better than a once in a decade kind of vehicle.

By: TwoTwenty

TwoTwenty — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 01:14:29 +0000

I like the shots of the psychedelic BMW camouflage, especially when they used it on the 7er. It reminded me of John Lennon’s Rolls-Royce.

By: levi

levi — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:47:21 +0000

They’re like an Elvis sighting. They can create a small buzz, but you know not to trust them. Or care.

Ohmanohman.

By: cjdumm

cjdumm — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:21:48 +0000

Spy shots? Concept cars?

…yawn…huh?…zzzzzzzz

Hmm: next year’s ordinary, everyday cars wrapped in car-sized vinyl hernia trusses? Reasonable minds may differ, but I couldn’t care less about whether next year’s Focus has Porsche-esque hips, or Mustang-y eyebrows, or a Nitro chin, or whatever.

I’m sometimes more curious about the future shapes of true supercars, however. I’m also a little more interested in hard specs and stats about upcoming cars, but these tend to be complete fiction anyway.

By: phil

phil — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:05:40 +0000

complete waste of time; you can’t see enough detail to make any conclusions so why bother. same goes for the photoshopped creations that represent what somebody thinks a new generation will look like. just idle blather. i don’t pay any attention until good car show photos accurately depict where the manufacturer is going.

By: chuckgoolsbee

chuckgoolsbee — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:36:20 +0000

But I’m being serious — do you really care about spy shots? And if so, why? Or why not?

No. Not at all. I could care less about “Spy Shots”.

I see them for what they are: part of the PR machine used to stir up interest on upcoming models. How come you never see “spy shots” of minivans or rental-fleet quality sedans? Because there is no need to stir up the audience beforehand. Spy shots to the auto industry are a form of FUD. To scare the competition, or to prevent buyers of the competition’s product to pause and wonder if they should wait. I refuse to participate in this practice, so I don’t even bother looking at “spy shots.”

I also find the little “cult of personality” that surrounds some of the photographers really bizarre.

Finally, please don’t even think about turning TTAC into Yet Another Spy Shot Site. =P

–chuck

By: Kman

Kman — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:15:07 +0000

My first reaction was “no, I don’t care”, but then I got honest with myself, and realized that I do care, esp. as I plan my future vehicle(s).

I remember loving my ‘04 TSX, and as the lease-end approached, I was searching high and low, near and far for any inkling of what the next TSX would look like.

Initial spy shots of said 2nd-gen TSX were a bit worrying, even considering the messy camouflage used by automakers. I wasn’t holding my breath, and started evaluating other backup alternatives.

Needless to say, when the new TSX did show up, not only did the spy shots do their job to let me know not to wait around for it, but, I think — for the first time — the messed up, vinyl-wrapped prototypes may have looked better than the eventual production car.

[Segue] Good *god* the new TSX is ugly. It didn’t just get beaten with the ugly stick, it had that stick shoved right up its A…cura.

By: Facebook User

Facebook User — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:24:11 +0000

Spy shots of cars? Not really. As mentioned by others, certain spy shots would interest me, but not cars.

By: Ingvar

Ingvar — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:18:18 +0000

I Have always liked them, being brought up on spy photos from the notorious Hans G Lehman. It is actually quite interesting to see a design years ahead of its launch. Gets you some time to get used to the design. Also, the wtf-factor has to be taken into consideration. Like “WTF were they thinking of?” Like recent spy photos of the up-comming Porsche Panamera. It doesn’t look good even as a prototype. I have a bad feeling about this…

By: carguy

carguy — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:16:22 +0000

Only if they are real spy shots and not some second rate Photoshop hack or rendering.

By: BlueBrat

BlueBrat — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:09:40 +0000

Only for exotics or special models.

But I can definitely live happily never seeing another Mustang Limited Edition variation or Veyron paint-scheme-o’the-day photo leak.

By: Alex Dykes

Alex Dykes — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:08:43 +0000

I find them interesting but I think that most people (borderline motorherads included) don’t really pay attention. Not sure why I do, but there is something addictive about knowing what is happening next…

By: Robert Schwartz

Robert Schwartz — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:52:49 +0000

I second Jaje’s motion.