Inside a Google Street View car: A celebrity on wheels

McCallen, who has driven some 100,000 miles in three years as a Google Street View operator, on the road in Manhattan on March 14, 2025. — Photos: GRAHAM DICKIE/The New York Times

NEW YORK: The online job posting was cryptic. A driver was needed, that much Joe McCallen knew. The mission? That was secret.

When he stepped inside the tricked out Honda HR-V – outfitted with a 9-foot turret on the roof, a customiSed screen covering the centre console and a back seat filled with computers – McCallen realised he was helping Google map every corner of the world.