Development mule
Erlkönig is a common name for the prototype of a car. While manufacturers try to keep the exact appearance of these vehicles secret, they are of photo journalists, so-called Erlkönig - hunter, readjusted, and then sell the photos taken at magazines or the tabloids.
Naming
The name goes back to the famous ballad " Erlkönig " by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, with the verse " Who rides so late through night and wind? It is the father with his child begins " and was rewritten by journalists early 50s. For the first time in connection with prototypes of the term was used by the two motor journalists Heinz -Ulrich Wieselmann, editor of car magazine auto motor und sport, and Werner Oswald, from early 1950 until late 1957, the second man in the newsroom. From issue 15 ( July 19, 1952) appeared for a time in each issue more or less clear picture of an automotive prototypes.
"This ridiculous by today's standards harmless little pictures were considered to be unprecedented provocation in the automotive industry. That is why we previously for weeks, perhaps months, considering whether and in what form we could allow the imprint of these amateur photos. Editor in Chief Wieselmann finally came up with the idea to sweeten by amiable accompanying the affected industrial firms the bitter pill a little. In this sense, he rhymed a beautiful Sunday for the first few images in the style of Erlkönig Poems each a small eight -line poem. The he put me on Monday morning on the table with a mandate to prepare for the follow from this for the next issues and to provide them with a constant heading. After a short deliberation, I said: " We are writing but simply > Erlkönig ' about it ," [ ... ] From then on I referred to in auto motor und sport consistently each prototype, regardless of origin, as a prototype, and so the word was known, and soon a household expression. "
Erlkönig number one was the prototype of the then -anticipated Mercedes -Benz 180 The caption read as follows:
Erlkönig 1 result
Who goes there as quickly by rain and wind?
Is it a street cruiser from over there, the lagged only to the extent
The silent observer would not surprise
If that drastic new model, even the photographer to quickly
Reasons of secrecy
The product life cycle of a vehicle is usually several years. After this time successors are brought to the market by the automobile manufacturers that are equipped with newer technology. In the context of the Elf King, however, the design ( exterior and interior ) of the new model plays a crucial role. The sales figures of the previous model typically fall at the end of the product life cycle, as buyers wait for the new models. These sales would be reduced again if released from the undisguised successor in the media before the end of the product life cycle of the previous model images.
To counter the early airing of secrets, the vehicles are often visually changed during the tests, and this usually happens in several stages. So frequent are the first prototypes with new technology in adapted bodies of their predecessors, or other models of the manufacturer. Prototypes of this stage are often referred to as " Muletto ", in allusion to the mix of new technology and foreign or old shell. Stand firm, the new design, the camouflage of the body, head towards the full fairing and then decreases with approach of the presentation more and more from. These covers and panels are attached to distinctive contours that are to obscure the actual appearance.
The interior is also often covered by plastic parts to disguise the appearance of the dashboard and the shelves.
The automobile companies handle dealing with their Erlkönigen different. The range extends from the driving and parking permission of the prototypes on public roads in the earliest stage of testing (for example, Fiat ) to the banning of prototypes in public to the presentation of the model ( such as in VW).
In other industries, especially in vinyl records and CDs, test products with veiled producers are referred to as a white label.
Test areas
To test the new devices and vehicles under extreme weather conditions to find the most cold tests in Arjeplog and the heat and dust tests in the Mojave desert place (especially in Death Valley) Arizona.