Car Dealers re-create World Cup images from '66

June 11, 2014; The UK’s leading motor trade magazine has re-created two of the most iconic images from the 1966 World Cup using car dealers who share their name with members of England’s triumphant team.

From Bobby Moore to Geoff Hurst, the winners are all represented by staff from dealerships across the country who took part in the photographs for Car Dealer Magazine ahead of this year’s World Cup.

A team from the award-winning trade title borrowed a 1967 Ford Cortina Super from the Ford Heritage Collection – the closest they could get to a car from 1966 – and travelled hundreds of miles in three days in their bid to track down someone to stand in for each of the 11 footballing legends.

Their journey, much like the England team’s in 1966, was fraught with drama, including a breakdown in the middle of London (the car, not the editorial team), but ultimately proved successful.

Their snapper was briefed to take a picture of each dealer in the correct pose. Then, using Photoshop, each picture was cut out and pasted on to a background picture similar to the original team photo and the famous shot of captain Bobby Moore carrying the trophy as he is held aloft by team-mates following the famous 4-2 victory over West Germany in the final.

The edges of each picture were blended and blurred to make the final image as lifelike as possible. Shadows were then put in to add realism and depth to the picture, and lighting adjusted.

James Batchelor, editor of Car Dealer, said: “Like most hare-brained ideas at Car Dealer, our World Cup road trip feature began with just a few of us kicking (no pun intended) a few ideas around the office.

“When we came up with the idea of re-creating these iconic images we knew it would be a challenge but we didn’t realise quite how hard it would be. In footballing terms it was like playing Brazil without a goalie. Any notion of a schedule soon went out of the window, but we kept going and thankfully we met some great people along the way who loved the idea and were really happy to be part of it.

“The welcomes we got from each dealership we turned up at made it worth it. And I’m glad to say they think it’s all over, it is now.”

The dealers who made it into the magazine’s tribute to England’s only ever World Cup winners (so far) are:

Darren Banks, sales director of Michael Banks Cars in Andover, Hampshire, representing Gordon Banks Michael Stiles, director of Stiles Garage in Battle, East Sussex, representing Nobby Stiles Amin Patel, salesman at Cars Hunt in Ilford, representing Roger Hunt Rob Newell, owner of Charlton Motor Co in Coombe Hill, Gloucestershire, representing Jack Charlton David Morgan, salesman at Charlton Motor Co in Coombe Hill, Gloucestershire, representing Bobby Charlton George Sima, owner of George Car Sales in Fareham, Hampshire, representing George Cohen Ross Pullen, sales executive at Wilsons of Epsom in Surrey, representing Ray Wilson Lewis Payne, sales executive at St Peters Peugeot in Broomhall, Worcester, representing Martin Peters Les Little, partner at Hurst Motors in Hurst, Berkshire, representing Geoff Hurst Nick Moore, owner of NB Moore Cars in Faringdon, Oxfordshire, representing Bobby Moore Tim Ball, partner at Ball & Hargreaves in Garstang, Lancashire, representing Alan Ball

To read the full story of how Car Dealer Magazine re-created the images see issue 76 of the magazine out on Monday, June 14th.