Guaranteed Thief-Proof: Clever Rust Camouflage Protects Car From Thieves (13 photos)

There are countless ways to protect a car from theft, but the owner of this Volkswagen Transporter van decided on a rather unusual approach—using a custom wrap so unsightly that no thief would ever want to touch it.







This unconventional anti-theft measure is a vinyl wrap with hyper-realistic rust graphics, making the vehicle look like a total piece of scrap metal.





The artistic vinyl wrap was designed and applied by the team at Glasgow-based Clydes Wraps.



While it looks beat-up on the outside, underneath it is actually a new, safe, and comfortable van.



To pull off the illusion, the owner provided the artists with exact measurements of the entire van.





This allowed the designers to map out realistic rust patterns right where they would naturally form over time.





The team paid attention to every single detail, no matter how small.





However, the realistic look did cause some trouble with the police, and the owner had to spend quite a bit of time explaining that it was just a vinyl wrap.



The convincing artwork could easily fool anyone—most importantly, keeping potential thieves at bay.