My Take on Mule Cars
So, mule cars. Yeah, seen my fair share of those things rumbling around over the years. You know, the weird-looking ones, cobbled together with bits from different models, covered in that crazy black-and-white swirl wrap or just plain black garbage bags taped on. Doesn’t take a genius to figure out they’re testing something new underneath all that mess.
I remember back when I was working a job out near one of those big proving grounds. Wasn’t directly involved with the testing teams, thank goodness. Seemed like a high-stress gig. But you’d see these mule cars coming and going all the time. Sometimes you’d see the same ugly beast for weeks, just doing laps or parked in weird spots.
It was always a bit of a game trying to guess what they were hiding. Was it a new engine? A different suspension setup? Maybe just testing how a competitor’s part fit into their chassis? Who knows. They were tight-lipped about it, obviously. Security guys hovering around if you got too close.
- First time I saw one up close, it looked like a pickup truck body crudely welded onto a sedan frame. Seriously rough.
- Another time, one had extra exhaust pipes sticking out the side. Sounded awful.
- The drivers always looked bored out of their minds. Just driving in circles or sitting there.
Had a funny run-in once. Was grabbing lunch at this little diner near the facility, and one of the test drivers came in. Still had bits of that swirly camo tape stuck to his jacket. He ordered coffee and just stared out the window. Didn’t say a word to anyone. The whole place kinda knew who he was and what he did, but nobody asked. It was like this unspoken rule. Don’t poke the bear, you know?
Honestly, seeing those mules always reminded me how much happens behind the scenes before a shiny new car hits the showroom. It’s not magic. It’s guys driving ugly, cobbled-together machines in secret, breaking things, fixing them, then breaking them again.
It’s a messy process. Lots of trial and error. They probably trash dozens of these mules just to figure out one little thing. Seems kinda wasteful when you think about it, but I guess that’s how they do it. It’s a whole different world from just driving the finished product off the lot.
