Les archives de Renault
Retouch
Photoshop was nowhere near in the 1920s, so when motor manufacturers wanted to retouch a photograph they had to do it by hand. This October 1928 publication of Renault’s 10 CV is a beautiful example of that skill.
You won’t find comprehensive photographic work in Renault’s publication of the 1920s, when it even appeared to be highly unusual. Renault used lots of drawings in its brochures at the time, which often did not depict the models very true to life. The majority of these brochures came in a size, which is close to our current A4; they were actually fold-out posters showing the qualities of the vehicles in detail. The 10 CV of October 1928-vintage carried the KZ3 model designation, which was the predecessor to the later Vivaquatre - the big four-cylinder model, with the Vivaquatre name not being used until the 1932 model year.
TORPEDO
Renault proposed a number of body variants of the 10 CV, such as a closed version that comes in several lengths (conduite intérieure) and with a number seating configurations (five or seven seaters). But there was also a convertible, a torpedo and of course the standard berline version. All these variants were pictured from their sides. Renault used black and white pictures for all of these. They were drawings that started life as a photograph but were heavily retouched. Similar picture editing was carried out on the detail shots, most of which showed the car’s interiors. The mechanical side of things was much more limited and kept to a strictly pragmatic description plus the necessary facts and figures.
PRIEUR ET DUBOIS
The leaflet’s pretty cover is a purely graphical depiction with coloured lines and the car’s front in another drawing. But the real ‘pièce de resistance’ can be found when opened up, where a colourful drawing shows the ‘Berline 5 places’ five-seater saloon from its side in yellow, beige and red. It beautifully reflects its era. Renault also published brochures of the smaller 6 CV (the last run of the NN) and the six-cylinder Vivasix at the same time. Together they form a small series of brochures. These were printed by Prieur et Dubois et Cie of Puteaux. A well-known printing company that was founded by the republican Louis Dubois, a man known for his long-term political engagement. Business partner Prieur became known for inventing the trichroom printing process.
