Monday, December 31, 2012

When Spyshots go wrong


Usually when engineers see someone taking spyshots of the car they are testing, they will either ignore it, or attempt to speed away from the photographers, however on the odd occasion they will snap and attack a photographer.

This is one of those times. The car in the video is a Volvo XC40 prototype. The photographer Brian Williams gave an account of what happened.

"I was filming the Volvo XC40 testing in the Rockies when the engineer lost it. He decided that I had filmed enough and wanted to break my camcorder. My wife was in the car so it made things a little interesting. 

After the video ends he approached my wife at which point I said "If you go near her I'll knock you out" and at that point he came to his senses. I told him that you can't just attack people for videoing in public and told him that I knew he was here on a visa. 

He started apologizing and explained that he gets chewed out every time the car gets video'd/photographed, but his bosses don't understand that you can't hide a car that looks like a zebra. 

I told him I wouldn't show the video to local police, and I never saw him again. I ended up having a bruise on my arm for about two weeks."

Quite a poor response from the Volvo engineer, the unwritten rule of spyshots appears to be that photographers don't touch cars or try to get inside them and in return manufacturers allow the spyshots to be taken. 

It is fair to say that the Swedish Volvo engineer won't make the same mistake twice and probably feels like an idiot now.
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