Guide and practice

The Google car and camera generations

Camera generation, antennas, mirrors and the colour of the car that shot the coverage.

clues: 1,177
countries: 92
decks: 12

1 of 10

In which country do you see this Street View pickup truck with a tent or blue-and-white paint, on a vast, treeless grass steppe?

Keys 1–4 to answer, Enter to continue.

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What to look at

Everything in Street View was filmed by a Google vehicle, and that vehicle changes with the country and the period. You can often see it in the image itself if you look down, and the photo quality gives away the camera generation. When it shows up, it is one of the most reliable clues.

Camera generationSharpness, colours and how the sky and the sun look tell generations 1, 2, 3 and 4 apart. Some generations only exist in certain countries.
The carIts colour, the camera mount, the antenna and whatever sticks out of the bonnet or the mirrors.
Special vehiclesTrekker (on foot, with a backpack), boats or low cameras (low-cam), used only in some places.
Other team vehiclesIn some countries a second car can be seen travelling with the Google car.

Start with these

Six clues from the starter deck, with the explanation of why they give the country away.

unique car — Uganda — **🇺🇬 Uganda**Uganda has its own unique Google car: a white, boxy vehicle with square side mirrors, seen only around Kampala (and rarely in some national parks).

white pickup truck coverage car — Namibia — **🇳🇦 Namibia**Namibia is the newest African country with pickup-truck coverage. The landscape is flat and dry like Botswana, roads usually have yellow outer lines, and driving is on the left.

black Street View car with a roof rack — Curaçao — **🇨🇼 Curaçao**This black Street View car with a roof rack, carrying white stickers on the front-left and back-right of the rack, is unique to Curaçao.

street view car — Kyrgyzstan — **🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan**Kyrgyzstan's Street View car is silver with four visible bars in the mirror reflection, and all coverage is Generation 3. It was shot in winter, so trees are often bare, the landscape looks drab, and snow appears in many places.

street view car — American Samoa — **🇦🇸 American Samoa**A slightly rusted black truck bed on the Street View car is the giveaway for American Samoa; independent Samoa (WS) uses a different vehicle.

street view car — Mongolia — **🇲🇳 Mongolia**Gen 4 Mongolia coverage was driven with two unique pickup trucks: a white-and-blue painted one found mostly in the capital, and one carrying a tent on the roof rack.

Where it helps: 92 countries

Countries with clues from this family in MetaSpotter. The stronger the colour, the more clues.

World map of the 92 countries with camera car clues in MetaSpotter — Fewer cluesMore clues

Europe27

🇦🇱 Albania
🇦🇩 Andorra
🇧🇬 Bulgaria
🇭🇷 Croatia
🇨🇿 Czechia
🇫🇴 Faroe Islands
🇫🇮 Finland
🇫🇷 France
🇩🇪 Germany
🇬🇷 Greece
🇮🇸 Iceland
🇮🇪 Ireland
🇮🇲 Isle of Man
🇮🇹 Italy
🇲🇹 Malta
🇲🇪 Montenegro
🇳🇱 Netherlands
🇲🇰 North Macedonia
🇳🇴 Norway
🇵🇹 Portugal
🇷🇺 Russia
🇷🇸 Serbia
🇪🇸 Spain
🇸🇪 Sweden
🇨🇭 Switzerland
🇺🇦 Ukraine
🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Asia24

🇧🇩 Bangladesh
🇧🇹 Bhutan
🇰🇭 Cambodia
🇬🇪 Georgia
🇮🇳 India
🇮🇩 Indonesia
🇮🇱 Israel
🇯🇵 Japan
🇯🇴 Jordan
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan
🇱🇦 Laos
🇲🇴 Macau
🇲🇳 Mongolia
🇳🇵 Nepal
🇴🇲 Oman
🇵🇸 Palestine
🇵🇭 Philippines
🇶🇦 Qatar
🇰🇷 South Korea
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
🇹🇼 Taiwan
🇹🇷 Turkey
🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates

Africa14

🇧🇼 Botswana
🇪🇬 Egypt
🇸🇿 Eswatini
🇬🇭 Ghana
🇰🇪 Kenya
🇱🇸 Lesotho
🇲🇬 Madagascar
🇳🇦 Namibia
🇳🇬 Nigeria
🇷🇼 Rwanda
🇸🇹 São Tomé and Príncipe
🇸🇳 Senegal
🇿🇦 South Africa
🇺🇬 Uganda

North America11

🇧🇲 Bermuda
🇨🇦 Canada
🇨🇼 Curaçao
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
🇬🇱 Greenland
🇬🇹 Guatemala
🇲🇽 Mexico
🇵🇦 Panama
🇵🇷 Puerto Rico
🇺🇸 United States
🇻🇮 United States Virgin Islands

South America9

🇦🇷 Argentina
🇧🇴 Bolivia
🇧🇷 Brazil
🇨🇱 Chile
🇨🇴 Colombia
🇪🇨 Ecuador
🇵🇾 Paraguay
🇵🇪 Peru
🇺🇾 Uruguay

Oceania5

🇦🇸 American Samoa
🇦🇺 Australia
🇬🇺 Guam
🇳🇿 New Zealand
🇲🇵 Northern Mariana Islands

When the clue is not enough

Here the same clue shows up in several countries, so on its own it does not decide: combine it with another one. In MetaSpotter these countries are never offered as wrong answers.

Bolivia · Chile · Perucamera car
Albania · Montenegrocoverage rift
Argentina · Chilehorse trekker
Botswana · Lesotho · Eswatini · South AfricaGoogle car
Guatemala · Laosstreet view car
Nigeria · São Tomé and Príncipelow-quality coverage
Argentina · Peru · UruguayGoogle car
Bangladesh · Indialow-quality coverage

How to learn them and keep them

They are learned like any meta: a few every day, reviewed right before you forget them. Start with World · Google cars (beginner) (23 cards, about 1 days at 20 new a day) and move on to World · Car metas. MetaSpotter keeps one progress per clue: what you learn in one deck counts in every deck that holds it.

Study World · Google cars (beginner)

Decks in this family

  
      World · Google cars (basics)
      Level 19 cards
    
      World · Google cars (beginner)
      Level 223 cards
    
      Camera generations
      Level 26 cards
    
      World · Car metas
      Level 4107 cards
    
      World · Coverage
      Level 462 cards
    
      World · Island car metas
      Level 420 cards
    
      World · Trekkers
      Level 419 cards
    
    🇷🇺
    
      Russia · Gen 3 car
      Level 416 cards
    
    🇷🇺
    
      Russia · Coverage (gen 4)
      Level 432 cards
    
    🇲🇳
    
      Mongolia · Gen 4 car
      Level 418 cards
    
    🇷🇺
    
      Russia · Car metas
      Level 421 cards
    
    🇬🇪
    
      Georgia · Car metas
      Level 47 cards