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Spot the difference
The art of retouching existed years before 'Photoshopping' became a noun, as the examples below show. Not all are retouched versions, sometimes different versions of the same session were used for different purposes. Not only were photos being retouched, some were entirely redrawn by hand, as is shown in the booklet 'La R4 de papa'. A separate page is devoted to manipulations of the French and English 1968 brochures.
For a start, shown below from left to right, some photos from a single shoot using one of the pre-series, from French and Italian advertisements of 1961, and a relatively unknown German 4-page brochure from the same year. Note the slight position changes of some of the people). All three license plates are different, too.
On the next row a drawing after the photo, used on the flipside of the newspaper thing and also in a Dutch advertisement. The girl on the left is remarkably different from the original photo. In the middle the same drawing in a 1963 advertisement: the tubular bumper is changed to a flat one, and the ribble on the bonnet is added. On the right, a photo which appeared in 'L'Auto Journal' 354, from 1964. Finally, the license plate is visible (it is the 5883 W 75, well known from Renault Magazine 44 and Ballade en Camargue).
In Denmark, a completely different photo was used, with local Danish models. Lastly, a drawing after the first poster, published in Norway as matchbox label. The dress and haircut of the girl in front were changed, and the roof is closed (but they forgot to add the roof ribble).
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From the red introduction brochure and the UK 'Space' brochure. In both the original French and UK red introduction brochures the drawings were still identical. For the 'Space' update, the original French picture on the left was redrawn to allow for right steering of the right hand UK version, but, surprisingly, one of the sheep has vanished, probably through the right rear door. The background building on the right looks much more like the Louareux farm than the original! |
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From the same red introduction brochure and the UK 'Space' brochure. Some considerable redrawing has taken place. |
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The picture from the French 1963 brochure on the right was imitated for a Dutch 1964 advertisement. Different lady, basket and bread, same cauliflower. |
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From the 1962 British 'Ici Renault' magazine (UL), the 1962 UK brochure (UR) and the 1963 UK brochure. The upper left photo is probably original. The upper right photo was mirrored to move the steering wheel to the right - if only they hadn't forgotten to add the fuel pipe entrance... Finally, the lower right picture from the 1963 brochure had its steering wheel retouched to the right. |
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Photos from the French 1964 (and 1962, 1963, 1965 and 1966 ones), redrawn for the 1964 Argentian brochure. Note that the rearview mirror in the French version is on the dashboard, whereas in Argentina it was mounted on the roof. |
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From 1962/63 and 1966, from two Danish brochures (note the bumper, wheelcaps and side indicator light). |
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Some clever manipulation was performed here: the Dutch photo on the right was mirrored for the 1965 'Renault Autopost' magazine. The fuelpipe and steering wheel were left unaltered, but an old rearview mirror was introduced. Further, the suitcases were also mirrored but moved a little bit to the side. |
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Remarkable: two versions of the same Parisienne advertisement, one in front of an Antiquaire, the other in front of an Antiquités shop.. BTW this house is located in Paris on the corner of Rue Bonaparte and Rue Jacob as can be seen in the Where Was It section. |
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Three 1966 Fourgonnette brochures from the Netherlands, Italy and France. Although basically the same brochure, three different photos were used. |
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The UK 1968 brochure shows a lot of differences with its French counterpart. On most photos the French car is blue, and the UK one red as shown on these two photos. The hatch contents are more or less similar, only the arrangement and the exact objects used are different. Check for instance the lawnmowers and the bottles - on first glance identical, but on closer look different! Note the (fake?) right hand steering for the UK car. In order to illustrate that not only different cars were used, some more manipulations are shown here. The same 1968 photos showing the lawnmower - and more from 1967 - were used for the booklet 'La R4 de papa'. On the lower row, photos from the Finnish and Swedish brochures, again re-arranged and with different lawnmower, bottle and flowers as in the other brochures.
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Two pictures from different years (1968 and 1970), emphasizing how the 4L was promoted as family car. Nearly the same ideal families in France (left) and Spain (right), although the Spanish dad sits a bit apart on the other side of the car... Also note the dented lower part of the Spanish grille.
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The covers of the Spanish Furgoneta brochures from 1966-1968 (which all had pretty much the same cover), 1969 and 1970 are remarkably similar. Note however the appearance of a second sun visor, and the disappearance of the text 'La furgoneta todo ventajas'.
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About 1970, both from the same UK Fourgon brochure. What happened to the shape of the rear wing? (I have never seen it 'live' in this shape, BTW) |
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1970 and 1971, Spain. The table is the same, but the painting and chair were changed. |
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1971, some remarkable differences between the Spanish brochure and the advertisement such as the mountains, the mataburros, the windscreen wipers and more. Viva la diferencia! |
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1971, from the Berline and Fourgonnette brochures. Either one of the cars must have been retouched into the photo, as the position of the bystanders is exactly the same. |
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1972, just two different photos but nice anyway to note that the same guy was pictured once in the very early morning (from behind and facing left) and once a bit later with more light (from up front and facing right). |
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A 1972 press photo in the harbour of Le Tréport, and an edited and coloured version from a German 1973 brochure, with added butoirs. |
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From 1973 to 1974 the Renault logo was changed. The 1973 brochures have already the new logo on the back page, but all photos still show the old one. These pictures are from the Fourgonnette brochures. |
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The Spanish 1973 and 1974 Portuguese brochures are nearly identical, but of course in the latter the logos were changed or rather bluntly removed. |
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Same (grille logo) |
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Same (side wing logo) |
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1972. Examples of coordinated advertisements are rare. Here is a nice one though, from France and Argentina, where one was certainly inspired by the other one. |
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1967/1974. These advertisements are clearly from very different years (the argentinian from 1967, the French 1974), but the inspiration was similar, perhaps from the photos shot on the Ponte Rialto in Venice in 1961. |
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Beards in trunks, pipes, literature and fancy boots were fashionable in France (1973) and Spain (1975). |
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1975 brochures, French and German versions (indicator light color) |
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1976 and 1977 brochures (right indicator light changed from round to rectangular) |
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The 1978 French and Italian GTL brochures. The difference in consumption is remarkable. |
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The 1978 and 1979 German brochures. Probably the green colour was abandoned in 1979 in favour of the yellow. |
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1980 French and UK brochures: apart from the mirroring, the open roof wasn't available in the UK. The retouched UK roof looks a bit awkward, not? |
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Anyone likes an apple? |
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The Spanish 1983 and 1984 Furgoneta brochures are virtually indistinguisable except for a single detail. |
this page last changed on Dec 28 2020
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