My pal Korben (who runs the most awesome French blog on the web, seriously) recently got his hands on a few close-up shots of a Google Street View vehicle, and when he sent me his link to the shots, I knew some of you guys would be interested in seeing them.

Unfortunately, the 360° objective was protected by a cover, but as you can see in the previous pic, the camera mount is foldable.

Here, you can see a few rough bands on the car’s top, allowing the Google employee to stand on the car and fold and unfold the camera.  Also notice that the car’s ceiling is caved in.

In addition to this, the top of the car features 2 GPS receptors that probably allow the car to geo-localize itself.

As for the inside of the car, there is a Dell flat-panel monitor sitting on the passanger’s seat.  Notice the sticker that indicates the maximum height of the car when the camera mount is or is not folded.

On the floor of the car, right in front of one of the back seats, there is a huge power strip connecting all of the power cords.  All cables to outside equipment are passed through the window, which is slightly opened, through a flexible pipe that goes through some kind of plastic adaptor that fits into the opening.

As my friend says, I don’t think anyone has taken shots of a Street View car this close before. Definitely a neat discovery!

Thanks Korben!