Ford Australia has released two shots of vehicles it wants you to know nothing about. Well, almost nothing about, or it wouldn't have put out the publicity shots in the first place…

The first pics are rough sketches of the upcoming new Territory, a major facelift of the ground breaking SUV that has done extremely well in the Australia sales race since its launch at the Sydney Motor Show almost seven years ago. The brainchild of the late oft-lamented president of Ford Australia, Geoff Polites, the Territory is shorter than a Falcon sedan, yet capable of carrying seven people in comfort.

Ford’s Territory revolutionised the Australian SUV, so it comes as no surprise that it has been listed as one of the Cars of the Decade by the motoring journalists at Drive, the motoring supplement in the “Sydney Morning Herald” and “The Age” newspapers. With sales of close to 100,000 to date it’s hard to argue with that decision.

The Ford Territory is an all-Australian effort, sharing nothing with overseas Ford models.

The standout feature of the new design is the huge radiator grille. Cynically it can be said that if this vehicle is ever taken into real off-road conditions that expensive looking grille is soon likely to be damaged. But almost no owners of SUVs intend to use their vehicle off-road, making the grille design acceptable in a world where form takes precedence over function.

In any case, the Ford Territory was designed from the start as an on-road people mover rather than as a true 4WD. It broke new ground in being offered with both 4WD and 2WD transmissions, the latter being installed in exactly the same body as the 4WD so that buyers got the macho look important in this class. This option of four or two driven wheels has since been copied my many others.

Almost since day one people have been crying out for a turbo-diesel engine in the Ford Territory. Such a powerplant has finally been designed and will be a major feature of this new model. It will be interesting to see if the upcoming big-torque, turbocharged EcoBoost Falcon engine is also offered in the new Territory.

Ford Australia is deliberately being vague about release date of the upcoming new Territory, simply saying things such as, “details will be communicated in 2011…”

The other Ford’s publicity shots show more detail than those of the Territory, but look at them quickly as the vehicle may disappear at ant moment. Because the whole thrust of these shots is to camouflage vehicles.

Camouflage that’s used to either to let them be road tested in prototype stage without being spotted by eagle-eyed car magazine photographers eager for a scoop; or even to make them hard for the enemy to spot in war zones.

Lycra ‘body suits’ have been designed for the upcoming Ford Ranger pickup, as well to for the aforementioned Ford Territory so they can be sneaked onto roads in the outback for powerplant, suspension and other testing.

Rather than simply being stretched over the vehicle, and thus not do a particularly good job of hiding the shape, these lycra sheaths can cover dummy shapes that distort the body’s design features.

However, the automotive paparazzi still have a chance of scoring a shot of the real thing, because at some time or another the test drivers will have to check on aerodynamics, particularly as they relate to wind noise. So they will be forced to run either without the lycra, or with it fully sealed to the vehicle’s body so the actual shape is show.

Fun, isn’t it!