GM uncovers the pre-production Camaro

From now on Camaros will be tested without camouflage, GM says, so bring out your cameras.

The production version of the highly anticipated Chevrolet Camaro won't be officially revealed for some time yet but, in a highly unusual move, GM won't hide the car from prying spy photographers during test drives anymore.

Magazines and car enthusiasts pay top dollar for "spy shots" of early pre-production cars, which are usually covered in black cloth and stripes of tape to try to hide their appearance, as the cars undergo testing on public roads.

In fact, several companies now specialize in selling these pictures, while car companies do their best - or at least claim to do their best - to keep their future products under wraps.

"It's really a cat-and-mouse game between spy photographers and car companies that benefits everybody," said John Neff, editor of Autoblog.com, a Website that posted several Camaro spy photos. (Autoblog.com, like CNNMoney.com, is a Time Warner property.)

Starting now, however, the Chevrolet Camaro isn't playing coy. Want to take a shot? Go for it, GM (GM, Fortune 500) says. When Camaro prototypes go out on public roads for testing they'll be totally naked.

"During this upcoming year, pre-production Camaros will appear both on U.S. and Australian roads as we continue with testing and development," Chevrolet general manager Ed Peper wrote in a post on GM's FastLane blog. "So keep those camera phones ready - if you happen to see one, we'd like to hear about it, so please post a comment and include your 'spy photo!'"

Engineering and development for GM's new rear-wheel-drive cars is taking place in Australia. That's because rear-wheel-drive cars are more common there, making GM's Australian engineers the company's rear-wheel-drive experts.

The FastLane post was accompanied by a "spy photo" GM says was taken by one of the company's engineers.

The main reason for removing the camouflage, according to Peper's post, was to facilitate tests for aerodynamics and cooling efficiency.

But even high-performance cars like the Corvette ZR1, for which aerodynamics and cooling would be especially important, are covered up during public testing. That's made some people skeptical that this is the real reason for the decision. Certainly the move would help juice publicity for the car.

In the case of the Camaro, there wasn't really much of a secret to protect, though. The company has said the production car would closely resemble concept versions that have been seen at car shows and in the movie "The Transformers."

Some executive wondered: "Why are we camouflaging something that's so close to the coupe and convertible that are already on the auto show circuit?" said Chevrolet spokesman Terry Rhadigan.

Even so, there has been a lot of interest in spy photos of the car. On the morning that GM's decision was announced, Autoblog.com posted images of a test Camaro on a parked transport truck. The images included detailed shots of the car's interior and the inside of an open door.

Seeing the potential for damage or injuries as photographers try to get close to the cars, GM may have decided that "at this point everybody is safer just taking off the camouflage," said Brenda Priddy, a professional automotive spy photographer.

Priddy, who has spent 15 years taking spy photos of cars, did not take the pictures posted on Autoblog.com. For her part, she said, she would never actually touch or reach into a car, which is a car company's private property, to get a shot.

A representative for the company that distributed the photos of the test Camaro's interior did not immediately respond to questions about how the photos were obtained.

The decision announced Thursday was made weeks ago, said GM's Rhadigan. It was not made in response to those specific photos, he said.

"This was not by any means a knee-jerk reaction to something we saw on the Internet," Rhadigan said.

Besides, said spy shooter Priddy, why should GM let people like her profit from all the interest in GM's car?
(source money.cnn.com)

Barack Obama in the leader seat

Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee have claimed victories in Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses

With all Democratic precincts reporting, Obama had the support of 38 percent of voters, compared to 30 percent for John Edwards and 29 percent for Hillary Clinton.

"The numbers tell us this was a debate between change and experience, and change won," said CNN political analyst Bill Schneider.

Iowa delivered fatal blows to the campaigns of Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware. Both have decided to abandon their White House runs.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who finished fourth, said his campaign plans to "take the fight to New Hampshire."

New Hampshire holds the nation's first primary Tuesday.

Clinton and Obama are in a statistical dead heat in New Hampshire, according to the latest CNN/WMUR poll.

On the GOP side, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, whose campaign was languishing six months ago, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are now tied for first place in New Hampshire, according to the poll, which was released Wednesday.

McCain left Iowa before caucus night even began. He was already in New Hampshire by Thursday afternoon, trying to get a jump on his rivals.

For the winners of both party's caucuses in Iowa, it's an age revolt for Democrats versus a religious revolt for Republicans, Schneider said.

Among Democrats, Obama took 57 percent of the under-30 vote, according to CNN's analysis of entrance polls. Watch Obama celebrate his victory

Speaking to supporters, Obama called the night a "defining moment in history."

"You came together as Democrats, Republicans and independents to stand up and say that we are one nation, we are one people and our time for change has come." Watch an audio slideshow of the candidates' speeches »

Huckabee's victory can be attributed to his overwhelming support among evangelical voters and women, the polls indicate.

With 92 percent of Republican precincts reporting, Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas, had the support of 34 percent of voters, compared to 25 percent for Romney. Fred Thompson had 13 percent, McCain had 13 percent and Ron Paul had 10 percent. What do the results mean? »

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has turned the focus of his campaign to the February 5 "Super Tuesday" primaries, trailed with 4 percent.

"We've paid a lot of attention to states that some other candidates haven't paid a lot of attention to," Giuliani said, adding, "Time will tell what the best strategy is."

Huckabee was vastly outspent by Romney, who poured millions of dollars into a sophisticated get-out-the-vote operation.

"People really are more important than the purse, and what a great lesson for America to learn," Huckabee said in thanking his supporters.

For most of 2007, Huckabee languished in the single digits in the polls and had very little success raising money. But his momentum picked up in the final six weeks of the year when social conservatives -- an important voting bloc in Iowa -- began to move his way.

"We won the silver ... You win the silver in one event. It doesn't mean you're not going to come back and win the gold in the final event, and that we are going to do," Romney said.

Clinton, speaking with 96 percent of the vote in, portrayed herself as the candidate who could bring about the change the voters want.

"I am so ready for the rest of this campaign, and I am so ready to lead," she said.

Clinton had worked to convince Iowa caucus-goers she has the experience to enact change, while Edwards and Obama preached that she is too much of a Washington insider to bring change to the nation's capital.

Edwards, in a tight race for second, said Iowa's results show that "the status quo lost and change won."

"Now we move on ... to determine who is best suited to bring about the changes this country so desperately needs," he said.

McCain, who had largely abandoned Iowa to focus on the New Hampshire primary, said, "The lessons of tonight's election in Iowa are that one, you can't buy an election in Iowa; and two, that negative campaigns don't work."

With such a close race on both sides, voter turnout was key. The Iowa Democratic Party reported seeing record turnout. The party said there were at least 227,000 caucus attendees. The Iowa GOP projected that 120,000 people took part in the Republican caucuses.

The Iowa Democratic Party said 124,000 people participated in the 2004 caucuses, while the Republican Party of Iowa estimated that 87,000 people took part in the 2000 caucuses. (President Bush ran unchallenged for a second term in 2004.)

Caucus-goer Kathy Barger, inside a Democratic caucus site in Walnut, Iowa, said the room she was in was packed to the brim with a line out the door.

"I don't know how they are going to be able to fit everybody in the room, much less count the votes," she said. "There are bodies in every available space in the room."

The White House hopefuls campaigned down to the wire in Iowa, determined to reach as many people as possible before the 1,781 caucuses that started at 7 p.m.

Iowa Democrats, unlike Republicans, use a more complicated system to determine a candidate's viability. Republican caucus-goers are asked for their support for a candidate only one time during the event. Democrats are asked twice: an initial question of support, and a second if their first-choice candidate does not reach a 15 percent threshold to achieve viability.

Among Republican candidates, Thompson, a former senator from Tennessee, and Rep. Duncan Hunter of California needed strong showings in Iowa to keep their campaigns going, while Paul, a representative from Texas, is likely to ride his surge of popularity through February 5 -- "Super Tuesday," when 24 states hold their primaries -- no matter where he places in the early contests.
(Source cnn.com)