OK, we don’t know what this is expect for a fact that it’s a vehicle with an “On Test” badge on it.
While sitting in office and looking out in window out of boredom resulting from the lack of any interesting stories to post, a white truck appeared out of nowhere and entered the fuel bunk on the opposite side of the road. Assuming it was a Mahindra Maxximo, I turned away, sipping on hot coffee that tasted better today, thanks to the effect of pouring rain.
I turned towards the window and looked again. The rain had picked up and by chance, I glanced at the petrol bunk one more time.
Straight away, a story for IAB had emerged. There was a sense of excitement suddenly. A scoop had come searching for us.
I rushed down with a friend, got into the car and began pursuit of a white load carrier. As we drew closer to the truck, we realized it was massive for a compact truck. The dimensions are bigger than the Maxximo. It was not styled anything like a Mahindra, Piaggio or a Tata. I knew this had to be a from another brand.
After taking a few close-ups of this pickup, I return back to office to punch down this story. I feel like some kind of a superhero. After analyzing the pictures, I suddenly feel like Sherlock Holmes.
Do you know what this vehicle is? This looks very much like a pick-up from a bygone generation. The styling is outdated. The vehicle’s registration number was TN 20 XXXX. The Mahindra W201 SUV we spotted testing back in May also had a similar plate but my hunch is this isn’t a Mahindra.
click through to see the spyshots
I saw a similar test mule yesterday near the Hyundai factory, but I cannot confirm the make or model.
Some of you might be wondering why we have not been posting regularly in the last one week. While Diwali came and went, visitors, friends and relatives filled my home, preventing me from doing anything other than gossiping, bursting crackers and eating junk food. I’ve just come out of the festive mood and to make it easier on myself, I did something no other blogger could think of doing – test mule (prototype) hunting!
While it might sound crazy, I can’t wait to do it one more time. Using help from my sister, I traveled to the Sriperumbudur stretch, which is about 40 km from I live. This stretch has plenty of automotive suppliers. But the important point is Ford and Hyundai produce their cars from plants which are separated by a short distance.
While I was driving towards a suitable spot, I spotted a Tata Ace-like small-sized truck albeit a bulkier cabin and larger loading area but speeding in the opposite direction. I had just one look at it and I got a feeling it was either from Ford or Hyundai. Despite having three cameras on board, I could not manage any images, but the vehicle looked like what you see above. It sported a red number plate with white letters. I don’t know if it is a Hyundai, Ford or a product from some other brand clocking test miles on the road. But it certainly looked like the truck shown above (Hyundai H100).
click through to read more
It has been seven long months since the 2011 Mercedes CLS was last caught testing. It was in the form of a test mule then,. Now though, some progress has been made and we are pleased to share a few pictures of the prototype version of the 2011 Mercedes Benz CLS undergoing road-tests.
The car as you can see is quite heavily camouflaged, with some kind of armour like material, so the overall shape is hard to arrive at. However, these are the first images showing the cars interiors. The seat-adjustment buttons are located on the door and are seat shaped (as in Volvo). The navigation system looks quite standard as in all new Mercs.
The new CLS four-door coupe will come out in 2010 as a 2011 model with only one intention, to teach Porsche, Aston Martin and Audi what a four-door coupe really is.
click through to see all Mercedes CLS Spy Images
The next generation 2011 Porsche 911, the 998, was caught road-testing on German public roads. At first glance, it looks very much like the current generation 997 model range but Porsche purists who claim that this is sure to be the next generation 911 also say that this car is likely to re-write the 911 design code. The new 998 version of the car, secretly called ‘project 991′, hints that this will feature a few radical departures from the 911′s classical lineage.
