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Childrens’ fahion shop “Vicky” from the Flemish town of Oudenaarde, recently placed this advert in the Flemish press.

More interesting, though, is the classic car in the background; the legendary Porsche 356.

The Porsche 356 is a luxury sports car which was first produced by Austrian company Porsche Konstruktionen GesmbH (1948-1949), and then by German company Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche GmbH (1950-1965). It was Porsche's first production automobile. Earlier cars designed by the Austrian company includes Cisitalia Grand Prix race car, and the Volkswagen Beetle as well as Auto Union Grand Prix cars were designed by the German company.

You may recognize the car since it has appeared in quite a few movies and tv-shows: PanAm, The French Connection, Mission Impossible, The hitchhiker, The Man from UNCLE, The Gumball Rally, The Vampire Diaries, Il Capo dei Capi, Wheeler Dealers, Kojak, Bullitt, The Bionic Woman, Hawai Five O, Tatort, Ein Fall für Zwei, CHiPs and the video of Janet Jackson’s song “You want this”.

The 356 was a lightweight and nimble-handling rear-engine rear-wheel-drive 2-door sports car available in hardtop coupé and open configurations. Engineering innovations continued during the years of manufacture, contributing to its motorsports success and popularity. Production started in 1948 at Gmünd, Austria, where approximately 50 cars were built. In 1950 the factory relocated to Zuffenhausen, Germany, and general production of the 356 continued until April 1965, well after the replacement model 911 made its autumn 1963 debut.

Prior to World War II Porsche designed and built three Type 64 cars for a 1939 Berlin to Rome race that was cancelled. In 1948 the mid-engine, tubular chassis 356 prototype called "No. 1" was completed. This led to some debate as to the "first" Porsche automobile, but the 356 is considered by Porsche to be its first production model.

The 356 was created by Ferdinand "Ferry" Porsche (son of Dr. Ing. Ferdinand Porsche, founder of the German company), who founded the Austrian company with his sister, Louise. Like its cousin, the Volkswagen Beetle (which Ferdinand Porsche Senior had designed), the 356 was a four-cylinder, air-cooled, rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive car with unitized pan and body construction. The chassis was a completely new design as was the 356's body which was designed by Porsche employee Erwin Komenda, while certain mechanical components including the engine case and some suspension components were based on and initially sourced from Volkswagen. Ferry Porsche described the thinking behind the development of the 356 in an interview with the editor of Panorama, the PCA magazine, in September 1972. "….I had always driven very speedy cars. I had an Alfa Romeo, also a BMW and others. ….By the end of the war I had a Volkswagen Cabriolet with a supercharged engine and that was the basic idea. I saw that if you had enough power in a small car it is nicer to drive than if you have a big car which is also overpowered. And it is more fun. On this basic idea we started the first Porsche prototype. To make the car lighter, to have an engine with more horsepower…that was the first two seater that we built in Carinthia (Gmünd)".

The first 356 was road certified in Austria on June 8, 1948, and was entered in a race in Innsbruck where it won its class. Porsche re-engineered and refined the car with a focus on performance. Fewer and fewer parts were shared between Volkswagen and Porsche as the '50's progressed. The early 356 automobile bodies produced at Gmünd were handcrafted in aluminum, but when production moved to Zuffenhausen, Germany in 1950, models produced there were steel-bodied. Looking back, the aluminum bodied cars from that very small company are what we now would refer to as prototypes. Porsche contracted with Reutter to build the steel bodies and eventually bought the Reutter company in 1963. The Reutter company retained the seat manufacturing part of the business and changed its name to Recaro.

Little noticed at its inception, mostly by a small number of auto racing enthusiasts, the first 356s sold primarily in Austria and Germany. It took Porsche two years, starting with the first prototype in 1948, to manufacture the first 50 automobiles. By the early 1950s the 356 had gained some renown among enthusiasts on both sides of the Atlantic for its aerodynamics, handling, and excellent build quality. The class win at Le Mans in 1951 was clearly a factor. It was always common for owners to race the car as well as drive them on the streets. They introduced the four-cam racing "Carrera" engine, a totally new design and unique to Porsche sports cars, in late 1954. Increasing success with its racing and road cars brought Porsche orders for over 10,000 units in 1964, and by the time 356 production ended in 1965 approximately 76,000 had been produced.

The 356 was built in four distinct series, the original ("pre-A"), followed by the 356 A, 356 B, and then finally the 356 C. To distinguish among the major revisions of the model, 356's are generally classified into a few major groups. 356 coupés and "cabriolets" (soft-top) built through 1955 are readily identifiable by their split (1948 to 1952) or bent (centre-creased, 1953 to 1955) windscreens. In late 1955 the 356 A appeared, with a curved windshield. The A was the first road going Porsche to offer the Carrera 4 cam engine as an option. In late 1959 the T5 356 B appeared; followed by the redesigned T6 series 356 B in 1962. The final version was the 356 C, little changed from the late T6 B cars but with disc brakes to replace the drums.

Porsche built 7627 of the model 356 (1948–55), 21045 of the model 356 A (1955–59), 30963 of the model 356 B (1959–63)                and 16678 of the model 356 C. In total 76,313. About half of these have survived.

Prior to completion of 356 production, Porsche had developed a higher-revving 616/36 version of the 356's four-cylinder pushrod engine for installation in a new 912 model that commenced production in April 1965. Although the 912 used numerous 356 components, it would not be accurate to say that Porsche intended the 912 to replace the 356.

When the decision was made to replace the 356, the 901 (later 911) was the road car designed to carry the Porsche name forward. Rather the 912 was developed as the "standard version" of the 911 at the 17,500DM price of a 356 1600 SC, while the complex but faster and heavier six-cylinder 911 would be priced more than fifty percent higher.[7] Enthusiasts purchased nearly 33,000 912 coupés and Targas powered by the Type 616 engine that had served Porsche so well during the 356 era.

In late 1959 significant styling and technical refinements gave rise to the model in this picture: the 356 B (a T5 body type). The mid-1962 356 B model was changed to the T6 body type (twin engine lid grilles, an external fuel filler in the right front wing/fender and a larger rear window in the coupé). It is interesting to note that the Porsche factory didn't call attention to these quite visible changes with a different model designation. However, when the T6 got disc brakes, with no other visible alterations, they called it the model C, or the SC when it had the optional extra powerful engine. A unique "Karmann Hardtop" or "Notchback" 356 B model was produced in 1961 and 1962. The 1961 production run (T5) was essentially a cabriolet body with the optional steel cabriolet hardtop welded in place. The 1962 line (T6 production) was a very different design in that the new T6 notchback coupé body did not start life as a cabriolet, but with its own production design—In essence, part cabriolet rear end design, part T6 coupé windshield frame, unique hard top. Both years of these unique cars have taken the name "Karmann Notchback".

The car was built of a unibody construction, making restoration difficult for cars that were kept in rust-prone climates. The basic design of the 356 remained the same throughout its lifespan, with evolutionary, functional improvements rather than annual superficial styling changes. Nevertheless a variety of models in both coupé and convertible forms were produced from 1948 through 1965.

One of the most desirable collector models is the 356 "Speedster", introduced in late 1954 after Max Hoffman advised the company that a lower-cost, somewhat spartan open-top version could sell well in the American market. With its low, raked windscreen (which could be removed for weekend racing), bucket seats and minimal folding top, the Speedster was an instant hit, especially in Southern California.

It was replaced in late 1958 by the "Convertible D" model. It featured a taller, more practical windshield (allowing improved headroom with the top erected), roll-up glass side-windows and more comfortable seats. The following year the 356 B "Roadster" convertible replaced the D model but the sports car market's love affair with top-down motoring was fading; soft-top 356 model sales declined significantly in the early 1960s.

Cabriolet models (convertibles with a full windshield and padded top) were offered from the start, and in the early 1950s sometimes comprised over 50% of total production. A unique "Karmann Hardtop" or "Notchback" 356 B model was produced in 1961 and 1962, essentially a cabriolet-style body with a permanent metal roof.

Porsche designers made the decision to utilize the engine case they had originally designed for the Volkswagen Beetle. It was an air-cooled pushrod OHV flat-four engine. For use in the 356, they designed new cylinder heads, camshaft, crankshaft, intake and exhaust manifolds and used dual carburetors to more than double the VW's horsepower. While the first prototype 356 had a mid-engine layout, all later 356's had a rear-mounted layout. When the four-cam "Carrera" engine became available in late 1955, this engine became an extra cost option starting with the 356 A, and was available through the 356 model run.

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This advert from 2016 tells us the Brussels fashion brand "Marcel de Bruxelles" is back on the market, selling a new collection in the shops of ZEB. 

More interesting, though, is the classic car in the background; the Lancia Fulvia Zagato also known as the Lancia Fulvia Sport.

Lancia’s Fulvia was introduced at the 1963 Geneva Motor Show and built through to 1976. It was named for the wife of Roman politician Marc Anthony, who was an influential figure in the power struggle that followed the death of Julius Caesar. The Fulvia, ostensibly intended to replace the Appia, was designed by engineer Antonio Fessia and took up the earlier Flavia’s front-wheel drive. Rather than the Flavia’s flat-four engine, the Fulvia used a “traditional” Lancia narrow-angle V-4, a legacy dating back to the Lambda of the 1920s. The Fulvia’s four, designed by Zaccone Mina, used vee-angle with twin overhead camshafts mounted at 45 degrees. The compact geometry allowed for the use of a single cylinder head and just two camshafts. Three body styles were offered, a four-door berlina on a 97.6-inch wheelbase, which provided comfortable seating for four; a shorter 91.7-inch wheelbase that bore a coupe body style and an attractive fastback by coachbuilder Zagato, which was built on the coupe floorpan and was known as the Sport. It's this Fulvia Zagato that's in this advert; Carrozzeria Zagato was founded by Ugo Zagato, a craftsman with aluminum, in Milan in 1920. Their first work was for Fiat, but by the 1950s, they were also building for Alfa Romeo and, notably, Lancia. The Appia Zagato, Appia GTE, Aurelia 2500, and Flaminia Sport were iconic styles for the Turinese automaker, and all were bodied by Zagato. By the 1970s, the popular Lancia Fulvia Sport and Beta Spider were a mainstay of Zagato’s business.Since there weren't that many Fulvia Zagato's built and even less of them have survived, there's not that many that appeared on the screen. Still, you could have seen one in the Italian movies Il Segreto del Vestito Rosso and Il Capo dei Capi.

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Chanel, one of the most famous fashion brands in the world, is promoting both clothes and travel bags in this advert from march 2016.

More interesting, though, is the classic car in the background; the International Havester Scout (Red Carpet edition).

The International Harvester Scout is an off-road vehicle which was produced by International Harvester from 1961 to 1980. A precursor of more sophisticated SUVs to come, it was created as a competitor to the Jeep, and it initially featured a fold-down windshield. The Scout and second generation Scout II were produced in Fort Wayne, Indiana as two-door trucks with options of a half cab pickup or removable hard or soft top.

The International Harvester Company (abbreviated first IHC and later IH) was a U.S. manufacturer of agricultural machinery, construction equipment, trucks, and household and commercial products. In 1902, J.P. Morgan merged the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company and Deering Harvester Company, along with three smaller agricultural equipment firms, to form International Harvester. In 1985, International Harvester sold off most of its agricultural division to Tenneco, Inc., who merged it into its subsidiary J.I. Case under the Case IH brand. Following the terms of IH's agreement with Tenneco, International Harvester renamed itself Navistar International Corporation in 1986.

International Harvester began building trucks and pickups in 1907. In 1953 it added a truck-based people carrier, the Travelall. In the late 1950s it began to design a competitor for the two-door Jeep CJ 4x4. The 1961 model year Scout 80 made its debut in late 1960.

Its chief designer Ted Ornas later reflected: “The market potential for a 4 wheel drive recreational vehicle was an unknown quantity in the early 1950s. The only such vehicle offered in the post-war period was the Willys Jeep, a version of the military jeep produced for World War II. It was a flat-sided bare-bones product, and American military personnel learned to appreciate its ability to maneuver over rough terrain. Sales volume was very low. In early 1958 we were directed to develop a concept proposal to enter this small market of that time. So help me, Mr. Reese, manager of engineering, said 'design something to replace the horse.' There was no product definition to use as a guide. It was even proposed to use the defunct Henry J body tooling. Compound body surfaces were considered too far out for this type of vehicle. The military jeep was thought to have the correct appearance. Our design sketches with the flat-side, no contour look never excited the executive committee. The program began to die. One night while sitting at our kitchen table (full of frustration and desperation), I dashed off this rough sketch on a piece of scrap mat board. It had contoured sides and was designed for plastic tooling. The next morning it was shown to a committee member. He reviewed it with controlled enthusiasm, but revived interest in the program. We were off and running. Goodyear produced many plastic parts for WWII and had formed a large plastic engineering group. We entered a program with them, a scale model was vacuum formed to simulate body assembly. This model received executive approval for appearance. By July 1959, Goodyear completed their costing and, because of the high costs, the plastic program was cancelled. By this time the contoured design met with executive approval and a decision was made to convert the body design to steel. Starting in late July 1959 a full size clay model was completed, and in November 1959, it was approved. Looking back, it was a remarkable program with fast paced engineering and manufacturing developments. The total development time of 24 months was an heroic achievement considering the concept was unique and no in-house engine or manufacturing was available or even considered when the program started.”

The first Scout was introduced in 1960. A concept for its replacement was initiated in 1964 and approved for production in mid 1965. The Scout II was introduced in 1971. The basic sheet metal remained unchanged until production stopped on October 21, 1980. During the 20 year period (1960–1980) 532,674 Scouts were produced. The Scout, introduced as a commercial utility pickup in 1960, set the stage for future 4-wheel drive recreational vehicles of the '70s, '80s, and '90s.

The first model Scouts (the “80”) were built between 1960 and 1965. These models were identifiable by removable sliding side windows in 1960–1961 and even some very early 1962 models, a fold-down windshield, vacuum windshield wipers mounted to the top of the windshield and an IH logo in the center of the grille. The Scout 80 had the gasoline-powered 152 four-cylinder as its standard engine. The first special package was the "Red Carpet" Series, celebrating the 100,000 Scout manufactured by IH and there were only 3,000 produced. This model had a red interior with a white exterior, full length headliner and full floor mats, and a special medallion, that was gold plated affixed to the door which read,"Custom". This Scout was a step up from regular ones, it was marketed to attract more people, it was often advertised with women in mind. Each International dealer in the United States received one Red Carpet Series Scout to be use in parades, in the showroom and for promotional purposes. The car in the picture of the Chanel advert, is a Red Carpet version.

The Scout II was also built by other manufacturers, such as the model Monteverdi Safari in1978. Monteverdi, the Swiss brand of luxury cars, used Scout IIs to produce well-equipped luxurious off-road station wagons. Two models were made in the late seventies, the Safari, which had most of the bodywork changed, and the Sahara, which featured more limited changes, i.e. changed grill and a more luxurious interior. Both were available with IH's SV-345 engine or Chrysler's LA 318 (5.7 or 5.2 litres). The Safari was also offered with Chrysler's 7.2 litre "440 RB" engine, while the lesser Sahara could be had with Nissan's SD33 diesel engine. You can see from the photo the standard IH Rallye wheels, Subtle Ellegance. Nissan also produced 2 versions: the Nissan SD33 (Diesel) (naturally aspirated) and the Nissan SD33T (turbo Diesel—1980 only).

Although it was mostly sold in the U.S. and is little known in Europe, this model may be recognized all over the world as it appears in several movies and tv-shows: Jurrassic Park, The Bodyguard, Top Gear USA, Annie Hall, Matlock, Flipper, Mannix, ChiPs, Deliverance, Riptide, The Electric Horseman, Independence Day, Rocky II, Walker – Texas Ranger, Moonraker, Remington Steele, Dallas, Milk, Steel Magnolias, Miami Vice, Valley of the Dolls, 10 Things I Hate about You, The Walking Dead, The Hitchhicker, Magnum PI, La Piovra, The Enforcer, Desperado, Con Air, Baywatch, The A-Team and the Dutch scandal movie Spetters, by Paul Verhoeven.

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Club70, the Antwerp fashion agent, used this advert to promote it’s Blugirl brand.  

More interesting, though, is the classic car in the background: the Chevrolet Advance Design or 3100 from 1953.  

People may recognise this vehicle as it appeared often on the movie- and tv screen: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Chrystal Skull, The Fugitive, Sons of Anarchy, Lassie, La Bamba, Wheeler Dealers, Mission Impossible and Remington Steele.

Chevrolet's first major redesign post-World War II, the Advance Design series was billed as a bigger, stronger, and sleeker design in comparison to the earlier AK Series. First available on Saturday June 28, 1947, these trucks were sold with various minor changes over the years until March 25, 1955, when the Task Force Series trucks replaced the aging Advance-Design model.

The same basic design family was used for all of its trucks including the Suburban, panel trucks, canopy express and cab overs. The cab overs used the same basic cab configuration and similar grille but used a shorter and taller hood and different fenders. The unique Cab Over fenders and hood required a custom cowl area which makes the Cab Over Engine cabs and normal truck cabs incompatible with one another while all truck cabs of all weights interchange.

From 1947 until 1955, Chevrolet trucks were number one in sales in the United States, with rebranded versions sold at GMClocations.

While General Motors used this front end sheet metal, and to a slightly lesser extent the cab, on all of its trucks except for the Cab Overs, there are three main sizes of this truck: the half-, three-quarter-, and full ton capacities in short and long wheelbase.

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Model Jolien and an unknown male model are promoting new designs from Fendi, Bontfederatie, Isabel Marant and Hugo Boss.

More interesting though, is the classic car in this picture: the Triumph TR6.

You may recognize the TR6 as it appears in quite a lot of tv series and movies: Sturm der Liebe, 3 men and a Baby, Dallas, The Osterman Weekend, The Flying Doctors, The 6 million dollar Man, Mission Impossible, CHiPs, Starsky & Hutch, True Blood, Dempsey & Makepeace and Wheeler Dealers.

The TR6 ( built from 1968–76) is a British six-cylinder sports car and the best-seller of the TR range built by Triumph when production ended in July 1976. This record was then surpassed by the TR7. Of the 94,619 TR6s produced, 86,249 were exported; only 8,370 were sold in the UK. About 4000 of those are still surviving on the British roads today.

The bodywork closely resembled that of the previous model, the Triumph TR5, but the front and back ends were squared off, reportedly based on a consultancy contract involving Karmann. This is referred to as a Kamm tail, which was very common during 1970s era of cars and a feature on most Triumphs.

All TR6 sports cars featured inline six-cylinder engines. For the US market the engine was carburetted, as had been the US-only TR250 engine. Like the TR5, the TR6 was fuel-injected for other world markets including the United Kingdom, hence the TR6PI (petrol-injection) designation. The Lucas mechanical fuel injection system helped the home-market TR6 produce 150 bhp (110 kW) (145 hp DIN) at model introduction. Later, the non-US TR6 variant was detuned to 125 bhp (93 kW) for it to be easier to drive,[citation needed] while the US variant continued to be carburetted with a mere (but more reliable) 104 hp (78 kW).

The TR6 featured a four-speed manual transmission. An optional overdrive unit was a desirable feature because it gave drivers close gearing for aggressive driving with an electrically switched overdrive which could operate on second, third, and fourth gears on early models and third and fourth on later models because of constant gearbox failures in second at high revs. Both provided "long legs" for open motorways. TR6 also featured semi-trailing arm independent rear suspension, rack and pinion steering, 380 mm wheels and tires, pile carpet on floors and trunk/boot, bucket seats, and a full complement of instrumentation. Braking was accomplished by disc brakes at the front and drum brakes at the rear. A factory steel hardtop was optional, requiring two people to fit it. TR6 construction was fundamentally old-fashioned: the body was bolted onto a frame instead of the two being integrated into a unibody structure; the TR6 dashboard was wooden (plywood with veneer). Other factory options included a rear anti-roll bar and a limited-slip differential.

The UK version TR6PI could accelerate from zero to 100 km/h in 8.2 seconds and had a top speed of 190 km/h.

Some say that the car is one of Leyland's best achievements, but a number of issues were present and remain because of poor design. These issues include a low level radiator top-up bottle and a poor hand-brake. As is the case with other cars of the era, the TR6 can suffer from rust issues, although surviving examples tend to be well-cared for. The TR6 can be prone to overheating. Many owners fit an aftermarket electric radiator fan to supplement or replace the original engine-driven fan. Also the Leyland factory option of an oil cooler existed. Parts and services to support ownership of a TR6 are readily available and a number of classic car owners' clubs cater for the model.

This picture was taken at a picturesque petrol station from the PMO company. This tells us the picture was taken in Flanders, somewhere between the Flemish coast and the border with France. PMO started in 1977 as a one-man-company, but is currently a larger company exploiting about 30 petrol stations in that region.

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This picture illustrates an article about former French super model Ines de la Fressange working together again with the Japanse fashion company Uniqlo, creating 82 different dresses and stuff.

More interesting, though, is the classic car in the background; the Land Rover 109, series IIa. What we see here is a Land Rover 109 Series IIa - considered by many the most hardy Series model constructed. It is also the type of classic Land Rover that features strongly in the general public’s perception of the Land Rover, from its many appearances in popular films and television documentaries set in Africa throughout the 1960s, such as Daktari. Other films and tv series that feature this model are: Emmanuelle 6, Dalziel & Pascoe, Taggart, The Great Train Robbery, The French Connection II, The X-files, Doctor Who, Knight Rider, A Prayer for the Dying, Cry Freedom, Dallas, Midsommer Murders, Bergerac, A Clockwork Orange, The Italian Job, The Avengers, A Touch of Frost, Stand by me and Black Emmanuelle.

Land Rover built the 109 Series IIA from 1961 to 1971. In February 1968, just a few months after its manufacturer had been subsumed, under government pressure, into the Leyland Motor Corporation, the Land Rover celebrated its twentieth birthday, with total production to date just short of 600000, of which more than 70% had been exported. Certainly it was whilst the Series IIA was in production that sales of utility Land Rovers reached their peak, in 1969–70, when sales of over 60,000 Land Rovers a year were recorded. (For comparison, the sales of the Defender in recent years have been around the 25,000 level since the 1990s.) As well as record sales, the Land Rover dominated many world markets- in Australia in the 1960s Land Rover held 90% of the 4×4 market. This figure was repeated in many countries in Africa and the Middle East.

The model in this picture has a tropical roof – a pre airco feature on Land Rovers, often seen on model that were used in Africa. It’s basically is a roof just above another that provides shade and has with vents that enable cooler air to enter the vehicle and hot air to leave it. There’s also a Belgian link with the Series IIa of Land Rover. The Belgian Army had the company Minerva built 8805 under licence in the 1950-ies to replace their old Willys Jeeps. These Belgian Land Rover can easily be identified by their sloping front faces to the wings.