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Held: Andreas Kubis and XX XX from the camouflage team place the start number “01” on a Corsa prototype, which receives an individual foliation for the Validation Drives.
Yellow and red foils give the prototypes an individual touch – and provide a differentiation option.
In a game with hidden cards as much as possible should be kept secret. If you replace “maps” with “journeys” you are at the heart of the work of Andreas Kubis’ camouflage team. It is responsible for the camouflage of Opel prototypes. Current permanent guest: the new Opel Corsa.
With the sixth generation of the small car, the camouflage experts have had their hands full during the past few weeks. No less than 140 copies have been foiled. “The pre-production vehicles are used for a wide variety of test purposes,” says Kubis, who started his career at Opel in 1995 and since 2012 has been working as a specialist in technical camouflage.
In the specifications of the colleagues there were vehicles forTest rides in the Swedish Arjeplogor for the Validation Drives in the Palatinate and in Lorraine, For the exclusive tests, in which around 100 European journalists were allowed to examine the driving characteristics of the five-door, the team had to come up with something special for the two different engines.
With meticulousness and precision: XX XX and XX XX (from left) from the camouflage team bring the exceptionally colored film on a pre-production model of the Corsa.
Smooth-drawn: Just like the black-and-white 3D film, the self-adhesive, one-colored plastic should not form any bubbles.
“The design of the new Corsa generally has a lot of edges, corners and indentations.”
“In order to be able to differentiate the vehicles externally, we have given the prototype an additional red or yellow foil,” explains Kubis. The camouflage team needed around three hours to attach the colored plastic strips. On the exterior mirrors, above and below the front doors, on the roof, running over the fenders at the rear over the rear and on the rims.
Additional red and yellow numbers – “01” and “02” – on the driver and front passenger doors lent the newcomer and the test drives exactly the same sporty character that the winding country roads in the Franco-German border area brought with them. Finally stuck in the two red-clad Erlkönigen a 1.2 turbo engine with 100 hp and six-speed manual, in the yellow -coated specimens a 1.2-liter turbo gasoline engine with 130 hp and eight-speed automatic.
Chief guardian of design: Andreas Kubis, who started an apprenticeship as an industrial mechanic at Opel in 1995, has been managing the camouflage team in Rüsselsheim since 2012.
Optical differentiation: The yellow and red foils make it clear which motorization is in the prototypes.
“It will take a few weeks for the vehicle to be completely exposed to the public.”
“The design of the new Corsa generally has a lot of edges, corners and indentations. That’s why we worked without 3D components this time, “Kubis continues. “Nevertheless, we built a lot – that’s just part of camouflage.”
The black-and-white film was specially developed by Kubis. She has already protected the Insignia from prying eyes. About 85 of the 60 × 40 centimeter bows, the team tailored each Corsa prototype to the body, rather he was allowed on the road.
There, the camouflaged Corsa specimens will also be found in the coming weeks. “Until the car is ready for production, our engineers still have some tests to do with the Erlkönigen. It will therefore take a few more weeks for the vehicle to be completely exposed to the public, “says Kubis.
The recentlypublished pictures of the Corsa-eAlthough already give a taste of what is under the camouflage dress. Until the official world premiere at the IAA, the development engineers will continue the game with the hidden rides, however.
The wind whispers in dry leaves: A specially foiled Erlkönig of the sixth generation of the Corsa, which will be available in the fall of 2019 as gasoline and diesel and will be available in early 2020 under the name Corsa-e for the first time as an electric variant.
May 2019
Photos: Opel