# car in a plain brown wrapper! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 14, 2009, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-a-plain-brown-wrapper/502942 "2009-07-14T03:53:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-a-plain-brown-wrapper/502942/1 "2009-07-14T03:53:27Z")
I saw [this car](http://www.charwinccrs.com/weird_car.html) today. What is up with that wrapper? ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-a-plain-brown-wrapper/502942/2 "2009-07-14T03:58:07Z")
It looks like what you see in the “spy” photos in car magazines. My guess is that is a disguised future model that is undergoing some test driving. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-a-plain-brown-wrapper/502942/3 "2009-07-14T04:06:29Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > It looks like what you see in the “spy” photos in car magazines. My guess is that is a disguised future model that is undergoing some test driving. Would such a car have an out of state license plate? (Waaay out of state) ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-a-plain-brown-wrapper/502942/4 "2009-07-14T04:34:07Z")
This makes me lol because I can tell even with the “spy camouflage” that the car is going to be hideous. It looks like a minivan. Big, fat, rounded jellybean shape that has so inexplicably come to dominate contemporary automotive design. Ecchh! ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-a-plain-brown-wrapper/502942/5 "2009-07-14T04:38:41Z")
I can’t really make out where the plate is from, but yes it would likely be from where the car is being manufactured/designed. My neighbor when growing up worked on AC systems for GM. So he drove lots of cars licensed in Michigan through the Arizona summers. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-a-plain-brown-wrapper/502942/6 "2009-07-14T04:45:29Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > This makes me lol because I can tell even with the “spy camouflage” that the car is going to be hideous. It looks like a minivan. Big, fat, rounded jellybean shape that has so inexplicably come to dominate contemporary automotive design. Ecchh! Looks good to me. But then, I thought the Aztec looked pretty good, when it’s been panned as one of the worst designs around. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-a-plain-brown-wrapper/502942/7 "2009-07-14T05:56:11Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > It looks like what you see in the “spy” photos in car magazines. My guess is that is a disguised future model that is undergoing some test driving. This is exactly what it is. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-a-plain-brown-wrapper/502942/8 "2009-07-14T10:06:12Z")
It could be in the process of customization. ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-a-plain-brown-wrapper/502942/9 "2009-07-14T11:26:01Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Would such a car have an out of state license plate? (Waaay out of state) The plate is a Michigan “manufacturer’s plate” (note the small M in the center) that is reserved for cars owned directly by the auto manufacturers. So, yes; it’s a [mule](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development_mule). ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-a-plain-brown-wrapper/502942/10 "2009-07-14T12:24:08Z")
If you were from Michigan, you’d recognize it immediately… which begs the question: where did you take this shot? I concur most definitely that it’s a Michigan manufacturer’s plate. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-a-plain-brown-wrapper/502942/11 "2009-07-14T12:26:47Z")
There are a few guys who specialize in doing this kind of work for the car companies. One of them was interviewed in a car magazine last year, good article to read if you can find it. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-a-plain-brown-wrapper/502942/12 "2009-07-14T12:52:37Z")
I see that where I live a lot. Apparently they are doing high altitude testing around here. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-a-plain-brown-wrapper/502942/13 "2009-07-14T13:14:27Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Big, fat, rounded jellybean shape that has so inexplicably come to dominate contemporary automotive design. Ecchh! It’s not inexplicable. It’s a combination of wind tunnels and gas mileage. The physics of air resistance dictate a particular shape for maximum gas mileage, so that’s what manufacturers use. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-a-plain-brown-wrapper/502942/14 "2009-07-14T16:22:44Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > I can’t really make out where the plate is from, but yes it would likely be from where the car is being manufactured/designed. > > My neighbor when growing up worked on AC systems for GM. So he drove lots of cars licensed in Michigan through the Arizona summers. The GM test track here closed down last year, and it is being parcelled off for development so that’s the end of that, but we used to see such vehicles driving around with, as others have mentioned, Michigan Mfr plates. About five years ago, for a three week period I’d see something that looked kind of like an Avalanche covered in burlap three or four times a week, driving the same route home after work. I had no idea they were called mules. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-a-plain-brown-wrapper/502942/15 "2009-07-14T20:34:36Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > I can’t really make out where the plate is from, but yes it would likely be from where the car is being manufactured/designed. > > My neighbor when growing up worked on AC systems for GM. So he drove lots of cars licensed in Michigan through the Arizona summers. Ah! Then it probably was one of those since I think the plate was Michigan (it was midwest, I remember that much) and I am in Southern California. Cool - will have to show the hubby. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-a-plain-brown-wrapper/502942/16 "2009-07-14T20:38:49Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > If you were from Michigan, you’d recognize it immediately… which begs the question: where did you take this shot? I concur most definitely that it’s a Michigan manufacturer’s plate. 55 freeway northbound, Orange County, California. Judging by the background, I think in Irvine or Tustin. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-in-a-plain-brown-wrapper/502942/17 "2009-07-14T20:40:57Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Ah! Then it probably was one of those since I think the plate was Michigan (it was midwest, I remember that much) and I am in Southern California. Cool - will have to show the hubby. Yeah, it was pointed out above. It’s easily recognizable as a Michigan manufacturer plate, if you’re familiar with Michigan manufacturer plates, as **zut** and I are.