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Apple's 'Project Titan' Car Research May Be Headquartered at Leased Sunnyvale Campus

Friday March 13, 2015 7:51 am PDT by Mitchel Broussard
Apple's "Project Titan", its secretive and much-rumored electric car project, may involve a campus leased by Apple last year that is located in Sunnyvale, California, just a few minutes from the company's main 1 Infinite Loop campus in Cupertino, reports AppleInsider.

According to "two people with knowledge of the project", the company has been receiving shipments that may be related to the project's development at the Sunnyvale address, though it remains unclear if that location is indeed the headquarters of the car project.
According to one AppleInsider source familiar with "Titan," many of Apple's new auto-related hires, including recruits from Tesla, have been working out of the Sunnyvale campus. This person claims that some of the projects underway there have been kept "very secret" within the company.

It is said that the "Titan" development building itself is codenamed "SG5."
Apple's presence at the campus is not a secret, but AppleInsider believes Apple is linked to another company quietly operating at the site, likely as a front for Apple's more secretive efforts. That company, SixtyEight Research, claims to be a market research firm, but there is little public evidence of any actual operations in that field. Instead, the building where SixtyEight Research is listed as a tenant has seen city permits issued for construction of an "auto work area" and a "repair garage".

project titan
Photo of SixtyEight Research's offices (Source: AppleInsider)
SixtyEight's affiliation with Apple could not be confirmed, but Apple does have a long history of using shell corporations and deceptive methods to hide its secret projects. Aside from a barren website, there is scant other information about SixtyEight — lending more credence to its use as a front.

It wouldn't be a stretch to surmise that SixtyEight could play a role in allowing Apple to purchase and import automotive equipment and tools without drawing any suspicion. Apple, after all, is the biggest company in the world, and has been known to force engineers to use false names in the past when visiting suppliers to avoid unwelcome attention.
A visit to SixtyEight's offices by AppleInsider was met with frosted opaque glass and security cameras, with a note pointing those looking for the company offices to a three-story building in the complex leased to Apple.

Much of the evidence is circumstantial, but there definitely appear to be some curious circumstances at Apple's Sunnyvale campus. Apple's car project is reportedly still in the early stages, but the company is said to have committed to building a team of up to 1000 employees with a goal of launching a car around 2020 if the project proves promising.

Related Roundup: Apple Car
Tag: appleinsider.com
[ 70 comments ]


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iBlazed
56 months ago
Not so much a secret anymore. Apple needs to up their front business game. If they were drug dealers they would have been busted long ago.
Rating: 12 Votes
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Reason077
56 months ago
Can anyone put me in touch with someone from the sales team at SixtyEight Research?

I've been trying to contact them, as I am in need of market research services in the Cupertino/Sunnyvale area.

Thanks!
Rating: 6 Votes
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Popeye206
56 months ago

Wow. I wonder how leaks will be controlled for a car.


Well... they won't be leaving it in a bar! :D
Rating: 5 Votes
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ashdelacroix
56 months ago

Can anyone put me in touch with someone from the sales team at SixtyEight Research?

I've been trying to contact them, as I am in need of market research services in the Cupertino/Sunnyvale area.

Thanks!


Sure. Here you go: tcook@apple.com
Rating: 4 Votes
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SpiderDude
56 months ago
Different Body?

They can't even control leaks in the infancy stage of the project and the car doesn't even exist yet! So most likely it will be very difficult. How do you test it in real world conditions?


I'd say get a bodywork from another car company that fits other the skeleton and roll with it.
Just the usual tape over the headlights and freaky patterns wouldn't do much good in this case.
And give a really greasy look to the apple engineer driving it so that anyone who notices it just thinks that it is a botched tuning attempt. ahah
Rating: 3 Votes
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2457282
56 months ago

If it's right, SixtyEigth Research should refer to something. I was thinking Ive's birth year, but according to Wikipedia he is born in 67.

Focus your 'research' there guys. :)

An other guess 1768: First Voyage of Discovery of James Cook.


I will hazzard a guess that if you put the project name and the company name together you get something. Titan 68.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-68_Titan (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-68_Titan)

look like they are thinking beyond cars :eek:
Rating: 3 Votes
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Daalseth
56 months ago
Ah HA!

The whole car thing is a front. I know what they are really doing.

It is said that the "Titan" development building itself is codenamed "SG5."


They're building a StarGate!
:eek:
Rating: 3 Votes
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redsoftware
56 months ago
SixtyEight

A quick bit of research, I came across this interesting connection.

Based on the background image on http://www.sixtyeightresearch.com, we see a black and white photo of a mountainous landscape..

Ansel Adams is a famous photographer who generally snaps black and white photographs of landscape, particularly mountains. He is more famously known for snapping several famous photos of Yosemite. Further, a lot of those famous Yosemite photos were taken in 1968. http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/262578

Even further, here's the image SixtyEight used.. and it was taken by Ansel Adams:
https://www.artsy.net/artwork/ansel-adams-the-tetons-and-snake-river-grand-teton-national-park-wyoming

Also, Ansel Adams was a figure in the Apple "Think Different" campaign (mid way down the page):
https://thisisnotadvertising.wordpress.com/2011/09/05/apple-think-different/

Here's a quote from the above link: "NeXT’s offices were decorated (expensively) with poster-sized prints from Ansel Adams"

Steve Jobs seemed to be a big fan of Adams:
http://www.bornrich.com/steve-jobs.html

From the article above, AND referencing the photo SixtyEight used: "Steve Jobs Woodhouse mansion was full of black and white photography of Ansel Adams."

Additional links:
http://www.anseladams.com
https://www.artsy.net/artwork/ansel-adams-el-capitan-sunrise-winter-yosemite-national-park-ca-1
http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/262578

Too ironic to not be affiliated with Apple.
Rating: 3 Votes
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Cmd-Z
56 months ago

Watch for the Samsung Car -> S-Car

Followed by their utility/delivery vehicle, the S-Cargo ... slow as a snail.

Rating: 3 Votes
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MH01
56 months ago

So wait, Jony Ive used to wear an Omega before the Apple Watch and in 2020 he will have to ditch his Aston Martin in favour of the Apple Car? First World Problems.


I bet he still has an Omega and a number of watches that make a $17K edition look like a cheap toy ;)
Rating: 2 Votes

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