The Gulf Oil logo ranks among the most recognizable in the petroleum industry, especially among gearheads. The Gulf colors of powder blue and orange adorned the flanks of such heady machinery as the Ford GT-40 and Porsche 917, but few know that the standard Gulf service station colors were dark blue and orange; these are the colors that grace the cover of my 1970 Gulf Safety “Car-Chek” Guide. Owners of Gulf service stations were expected to provide more than gas and snacks; many of them were full-service garages, performing minor and major repairs for their patrons’ cars. This book was their guide.
http://www.gt40gulfliverycars.com/thecars.html
Before entering a discussion on service manuals (again), allow me to digress. This GT40 was painted in traditional Gulf service station colors at the behest of Gulf VP Grady Davis, who had commissioned the car for several sports car races in 1967. Soon afterward, the Gulf GT40s and Mirages were switched to the colors that most racing fans know and love today.
The service guide itself was a one-stop shop for a gas station mechanic. While it was nowhere near as comprehensive as a factory service manual or a MOTOR manual, it listed general service specifications and instructions for the types of tasks that would be expected from a gas station. Of course, Gulf Oil would be remiss if they didn’t try to sell a few lubricants to their station owners. I learned about dripless oil from this page and have since purchased a couple of cans for myself.
The manual explained basic lubrication operations and suspension joint construction.
It illustrated how to service both disc and drum braking systems, although any brake service was only to be done by “Qualified” mechanics. The minimum wage gas pump jockey was supposed to stay away from the “tough” stuff.
The manual even delved into instructions one might not expect, such as automatic transmission band adjustment operations for a variety of makes and models. One must remember that occasional band adjustment was nothing out of the ordinary for older cars; it is certainly easy to take a modern car for granted when it comes to a comparative lack of a maintenance routine.
There is a short explanation of tire types, because there were certainly cars running around on radials by 1970, even if few service station owners would have had to worry about them at that time.
There is a short description of PCV system operation, which hopefully stopped a few well-meaning but ignorant mechanics from disabling these emissions devices, thinking that they hampered driveability.
No self-respecting gas station could neglect the standard lube job, and the manual not only explained where to add the grease or oil, but also which fine Gulf products one would use. It’s actually a handy chart; there are several places I never would have dreamed of servicing, such as the glove box door hinges (dripless oil, once again).
My favorite thing about the manual, however, is that it gave detailed service specifications for most cars, trucks, and even chainsaws. I’ve selected a few samples based on my fleet of vehicles and vehicles I want to own. The 1970 manual offered specifications for cars as far back as 1963, but for some reason, the Dodge Dart stopped at 1966, leaving my ’65 wagon out. Fortunately, the Valiant page covered the older cars. Gulf usually recommended a 10W40 oil, which differed from the manufacturers’ typical recommendation of 10W30 in most climates.
One might expect that a service station would be servicing many first-generation Mustangs, so my ’65 was obviously covered in the “Car-Chek” Guide.
My ’63 Thunderbird barely made the cut, but you may notice that each page included such information as lifting points on the undercarriage and suggested tire rotation.
My ’65 Skylark was covered, too.
As was my Corvair, a car for which no tire rotation at all was recommended.
Gulf didn’t exclude those “funny little foreign cars” either; I’d happily drive the 124 Spider on this page. I thought about buying one a dozen years ago, but it was way too rough for my tastes, and that’s saying a lot.
Over the past year, I’ve been admiring “Fintail” Mercedes-Benzes from the 1960s. The right one would have to come along at the right time for me to actually buy one, but I’d be ready for the basics thanks to Gulf.
I’ve been on a Volvo kick for quite a while now. Last week, I made a decision that it’s soon going to be time to open up the wallet for a first-generation Riviera, but changing one’s mind is certainly a prerogative in life.
An old truck is always a useful tool, and all major brands were covered, including International.
Motorcycles, small engines, and snowmobiles earned limited specifications; apparently, the mechanic was just supposed to wing it if somebody brought in a Husqvarna (spelled wrong in the text, it seems).
Even chainsaws and outboards had a page; the Gulf Safety Car-Chek Guide wasn’t just for cars.
The last page of the guide offered service station owners, such as Gary Busey here, a program designed to impress the customers and keep ’em coming back. In reality, an actual service station would likely impress me enough to stop by the Gulf station when I needed basic maintenance. Judging by the fact that working service stations were fairly uncommon in my community by the time I noticed such things in the 1980s, I’d guess that the Car-Chek Guide outlived its usefulness soon after my edition was published (although I’ve found editions as new as 1980 online).
Nevertheless, it’s a fun, rose-colored glimpse into a past that was certainly more likely to be the purview of the “grease monkey” than the well-trained technician, but I’m always ready to give a fella the benefit of the doubt.
*Note from the author: I apologize for the slight fuzziness of my photographs. I use a cheap digital camera because I spend most of my money on old cars rather than electronics.
Great topic! The oil companies have been very creative at times competing for our business. I loved the Shell Answer Books as a kid in the late 70s, and pursued the full collection. My dad kept a stack of them in his glove boxes for years. They were great reading material, whenever sitting in the car. The Shell Answer Books played a huge role in encouraging my earliest interest in car maintenance and safety.
And of course, I loved the Shell Answer Man on TV. Great memories of gas station promotional material and commercials. That had high journalism qualities, and were also very informative. They were better in many ways than government-issued driver safety booklets. The sound of the Fairmont’s door closing in the commercial below sounds dreadful! Thank you for stirring these great memories Aaron!
I recall collecting the full series of these Shell Answer Books. And made a point of watching all their commercials.
Now I want one of those books! 🙂
Shell called them ‘books’, but they were actually small booklets with magazine layouts, with lots of useful factoid information. We picked them up at Shell stations. They were like so many energy and money-saving publications/brochures government and industry published in the 70s. As Poindexter pointed out below, they were also inserted in magazines like Reader’s Digest. Great for reading, as a kid in the back seat, on long road trips. Though they were published by a big oil company, I don’t recall them being political or biased. Lots of valuable info for consumers.
There are plenty available at Ebay.
Brings to Mind “Elmer’s Shell” the service station not far frm mine and my parents home in the western suburbs of St. Louis. Dad took his and Mom’s cars there for years. so I did as well once I reached driving age and had a car. at least for more difficult tasks. Also for new tires as well. Had a 3 bay station which resembled the Mid Century Modern homes of the neighborhood, including a faux chimney stack on which the Shell logo was affixed. He even had a tow service. Several of my friends worked there as pump jockeys at the time (late 60s) and one became a schooled and certified mechanic, excuse me, “Tech” due to his youthful employ, there. Ah the days of full service. What “Service station” meant.
I remember these too.
I still see a lot of those 1960s Shell buildings around though most have been repurposed. There is an old-school service station down the road from me where the pumps and repair bays are owned and run by the same people – it’s a Gulf station.
Were Gulf stations regional in the US? I feel like I first became aware of the company through the racing livery, but don’t recall that there were any Gulf stations in California where I grew up.
Me too! I don’t think there were any in California or even on the west coast. I remember seeing my first one in New England I think and pulled straight in to fill the tank even though it was still half full. Same with Sunoco when I finally came across one of theirs. Gotta support the brands that support(ed) my favorite sport!
Sunoco was the best, yeah in part because they supported motorsports, but also because they used the Wayne Blend-O-Matic gas pump. You couldn’t get custom blended gas at just any station. When traveling to an area with Sunoco I’d always ask my dad to fill up there and of course tried to get my him to spend the extra money on the higher octane but of course he didn’t.
And that all too cool to me at the time blend selector.
I’ve read a lot about Sunoco 260 being the highest octane gas you could buy. A quick Google search tells me that it was 102/103 “Research” octane and 95 “Motor” octane; I guess that would be about 98 or 99 octane by our current standards.
Hancock, a Los Angeles area refiner, used the same pump.
I do remember Gulf stations in the Los Angeles area, but not too many. No refinery, so they had to buy fuel from others, not a big deal.
Gulf bought the L.A. area Wilshire gasoline stations in 1965 and converted them to Gulf stations. I don’t know if they ever expanded outside the L.A. metro to the rest of California, though.
Yes many of the gas station chains were regional. I assume some of that had to do with the location of their refineries.
Gulf started in Texas (hence the name), as a result of Spindletop, the ultimate gusher. It became huge, especially after opening up fields in Kuwait. Its US headquarters were in Pittsburgh, and its distribution was generally east of the Rockies. Gulf went into decline after Kuwait nationalized its oil fields, and eventually merged with Chevron. The franchised Gulf name is still used in some places, but has nothing to do with Chevron.
Gulf was once the eight largest industrial company in the US in 1943, but had a long decline.
Being from the gulf south, Gulf stations were everywhere, but disappears once bought out by Chevron (who was the White knight in the merger). I was surprised to see a Gulf station when I moved to the Hudson Valley in 2005. I believe Cumberland Farms had the Gulf franchise for the north east.
In the late 60’s or early 70’s, Gulf advertised its premium gasoline as “no knocks”. The commercial had a hard metallic sound in the background with two horse shoes appearing on the screen. As part of the promotion, the stations would hand out a set of flimsy plastic horse shoes with adhesive on the back. The idea was to place the plastic horse shoes on the bumper to show that you had “no knocks” in your tank.
Gulf is currently a terminal operator and distributor, centered in the Northeast, with no refinery assets.
I cant figure out who actually owns the trademark, but the The Hinduja Group of India claims to have bought Gulf in 1984.
It seemed like in North Carolina all the Gulf stations suddenly rebranded as BP stations overnight some time in the early 1990s.
I’m just up the street from Chevron HQ in San Ramon. I recall when Gulf was acquired so to speak. Some months later I started to see a few geologists in my office who were transferred to San Ramon from Texas. Some years later they seem to have faded away. Just today had a Chevron executive in my office with a lot to talk about.
Gulf operated the oil fields in the Cabinda province of Angola when it was a Portuguese colony. After independence, Communists took power and forced a rival group into bush. Meanwhile, Gulf got taken over by Chevron. This left an American oil company running the nationalized petroleum fields of a Communist governed country. The rival group never accepted the Communist government, so a long civil war ensued. Naturally the Americans backed the anti-Communist side. The strange politics of the oil business led to a situation where US backed rebels wee attacking American manned oil fields being defended by Cuban soldiers with Russian military advisors. I was there – but I’d be lying if I claimed to understand any of this.
I have not seen a Gulf branded one before. The first shop that I worked at the owner had previously owned a couple of gas stations, so he had a number of the Chek Chart generic versions. I too found them interesting and thumbed through a couple of them when I had a break.
It is interesting how they changed part of the names of their Gulf branded products. Car Chek being the first, obviously derived from Chek Chart. However their lubricants page also uses the supplier’s (AGS) product names. IE Ru-Glyde a great rubber lubricant and dressing, as well as Sil-Glyde, and Lock-Ease which you can still buy today.
I bought my dripless oil straight from AGS. It showed up really quickly, so I’ll give them a plug if you need any interesting fluids/lubricants.
agscompany.com is their website.
You’ll find most of their products at NAPA too, in their Balkamp line.
Gulf wasn’t the only oil company to issue those service guides to its gas station operators. Exxon and the Signal Oil Company did so as well. That Gulf Oil guide looks exactly the same as the one that Exxon would send to my father’s gas station every year. They just changed the logos and product names. There must have been one publisher who wrote and published all the guides for the various gas companies and just changed the logos and names to suit the client oil company. They were really useful guides.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gousha is the company that produced Chek-Chart and rebranded it for whoever wanted it. They also did the maps that gas stations gave away.
Gulf, like BP, and Fina, was one of the less common stations in Central Canada. My dad never bought gas there, so I never became familiar with their promo material. After the Canadian government bought Petro-Fina in Eastern Canada in the early 80s, adding stations to the existing nationalized Petro-Canada, more Canadians made the switch to Petro-Canada. Still have a couple of their maintenance booklets, and other small promo items, collected from the 80s.
Fina is the station my older cousin worked at when he was in High School. Hadn’t thought about that brand in decades.
My lasting memory of Fina stations, was how quiet they always seemed, including their service bays. I’m sure they were delighted to sell their operations in Eastern Canada to the Canadian government.
Like Gulf with the GT40 and 917, Fina to me is always linked with the McLaren F1.
Me as well. Though they had a product presence in North America, I always associated Gulf, Castrol, Fina and Elf specifically with European motorsports.
Fina, Sunoco, BP, Spur…talk about some blast from the past. I remember a bit when Ultramar was once known as Golden Eagle.
Recently on AARoads forum, there was a topic about a Gulf station still existing in Canada near the Fundy National Park. https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=27689.0
That is very cool! Another brand that had a large presence across Canada for decades was Supertest. I have their logo in my avatar.
I recall seeing this typical station branding up to the early 70s.
The Gulf brand has reappeared in Ontario in the last 1-2 years. Apparently it’s a marketing arrangement for independent operators with the UK Gulf organization. This location is in Scarborough:
Those service stations were a great way for high school kids to climb the ladder from gas pump jockey to mechanic’s helper to mechanic. Nowadays I imagine they have to get a tech school degree to start working as an entry-level tech in a dealership or an independent.
You can still get a job busting tires right out of, or still in HS and if you show some promise move up to more skilled jobs.
I have a similar, but less comprehensive 1977 Ignition and Carb Tune-up booklet from Standard Motor Products. 39 pages, cost 50 cents … not sure I actually paid for it. I probably haven’t used it for 40 years.
Here’s the cover. It covers cars from 1969 to 1977. I guess anything older went to the scrapyard.
Having grown up just outside of Pittsburgh, Gulf stations were prolific in my area, but our preferred brand was Atlantic (which later merged with Richfield to become ARCO).
The Gulf Oil Tower in downtown Pittsburgh was the city’s tallest skyscraper in my early years, eventually topped by the US Steel Building in 1969. Gulf’s building had a pyramidal top that was illuminated in different colors to indicate the weather forecast, and we could see this at night from one the windows in our house. (Just look out the window for the forecast!)
I am old enough to remember full service stations because at a very young age, my young family would pack up for a month of road trips throughout the US. When your car only got 7-10 miles per gallon, we had to stop and tank up a few times a day, depending upon our agenda. Consequently, I have a lot of memories of these places.
Cars needed a lot of routine maintenance. A service station was an oasis of assistance when crossing the country. We didn’t have cell phones. We had few credit cards. We had seven people in our sedan. Seven bladders. Seven moods. The logistical planning for my parents was impressive. Our trips took us places we never visited before. We depended upon good service stations.
Thankfully, most service stations were considered real businesses. Your auto emergencies were addressed there. The men, and occasionally women, who were at service stations, were usually impressive and experienced. In a lot of ways these people would work with my mechanical-genius father to arrive at an affordable repair. Many service stations were like auto clinics.
Because of my life experiences in travel, I collect vintage road maps. I especially search for maps from service stations and brands that were local and obscure. Many of these maps are beautifully illustrated and impressive. I have framed more than a few to protect them from dust and dirt.
Yet, my children are unimpressed. They don’t have these memories. Looking at my road maps from the 1930s is to them, like looking at a Rolodex. They don’t even think spatially like earlier generations. Without their cell phones, they couldn’t drive to the church we’ve attended for the past decade. A car ride to them was watching the video screen playing a Disney movie. Today, a car ride to them means a game on the iPhone. All my kids travel in our cars, looking down at their phones. Now that I’m trying to teach my oldest to drive, we have discovered that she hasn’t even seen how a left turn at a busy intersection is handled. Today’s kids are seeing traffic for the first time, when they start driving school. They are utterly lost.
Amazing.
“They are utterly lost.”
Wow, Vanilla Dude, you hit the nail on the head. What a sad commentary, and I witness it every day, seeing kids obliviously buried in their devices, a world that I never inhabited. I reveled in road trips with my family (just mom and dad and my one brother, mind you). My face was constantly glued to the car windows whenever we drove on long trips, intently watching the world go by outside. I was 8 years old in 1955 when my dad took us on our first long road trip from our home in L.A. to his folks home in El Paso, Texas, driving our new Oldsmobile. No interstates, just highways and byways, stops along the way at small restaurants and motels, fascinating scenery, interesting encounters. Another long trip to the Seattle World’s Fair in 1962, driving our 1959 Ford all the way up California and through the Pacific Northwest. Frequent treks to my grandmother’s home in Palm Springs, reveling in the intoxicating smell of orange groves along the way, intently examining all the different types of train cars slowly moving on the tracks parallel to the highway through the Banning Pass, waving to the engineers. Travelling with my college roommate in his new 1967 Ford Custom from L.A. to Chicago in 1968. Other long trips throughout California and the Southwest through the years, all of them fascinating to me, so much to watch and learn. And to this day, I am still enamored of the passing scene on any trip as a passenger, always something new to catch your eye.
Kids are missing so much, there’s a vast world out there on the road beyond staring at a little blue screen. And as you note, the lack of spatial awareness of where you are and where you’re going and how to get there and how to navigate traffic just boggles me. Guess I’m an old dog, but I wouldn’t change any of it.
Hey, Don W., we drove our relatively new 1961 Ford Falcon (no air conditioning, no seat belts) from the Indiana to the Seattle World’s Fair in 1962! Along the way we visited cousins in Montana, Yellowstone Park, Mount Rushmore, Grand Coulee Dam, The Badlands, Wall Drug Store in South Dakota (remember those signs? And the Burma Shave signs?), and more. Miles driven on that trip: 5090. How do I know? My parents required that I keep a written journal so the number sticks in my head. Don’t have the journal but boy do I have the memories as well as lots of pictures and guidebooks and other random souvenirs thanks to my pack rat Dad. And I too sat glued to the car window mesmerized by the chance to see so much of this beautiful country.
We drove down to Florida almost every winter in the 50’s and I remember: grits for breakfast for the first time, separate and not equal restrooms, the incredible smell of the citrus groves – because, as you say, before the Interstates you were on state roads that interacted with every part of the communities. I think that kind of contact was good for people, and you learned more about the country and its regions that travelers do today.
And those damned phones and other devices – in earlier periods of air travel one used to chat with seatmates but that went away and everyone now is glued to a device – or two or three. I recall a late 80’s trip home from Heathrow to LAX on Air New Zealand on which I met a couple from NZ who were visiting family in CA. I learned so much about their adopted country, their childhood in England during WWII, and attitudes toward the US and other European countries from their perspective. Today on a flight (talking pre-COVID) everyone is playing videos, games, etc. Many lost opportunities for valuable communication, learning, creating new friends.
I agree with you that much is being lost.
CA Guy, I’m convinced that you and I lived a parallel automotive life! Always fun to chat with you here. Your family’s ’61 Falcon brings back fond (or maybe not so fond) memories of learning to drive in my dad’s company ’61 Falcon, a four door deluxe model, baby blue, and yes, no A/C or seat belts or power steering. We only used that car for short around town trips, preferring to use the big family cars (the ’55 Olds, the ’59 Ford, and later our ’63 Mercury) for long road trips. Yes, I remember the Burma Shave signs so well, you always anticipated them coming up along the highway. So many great memories of those family trips watching the world go by. My mother was a bit of a pack rat, too, she saved so many maps and pictures and assorted doo-dads from all of our trips, as well as business trips with my dad around the U.S. and to Europe in the 1970’s. When she passed away in 2003 my brother and I had little choice but to jettison all of that old stuff, but not before looking back through it, naturally. My dad took thousands of slides of all our family road trips, I still have those, as well as a mint Kodak Carousel slide projector, so I keep telling myself that I will revisit all of those photos some day and keep the best ones and get them digitized. But, best laid plans, you know, it’s a daunting task.
I did a lot of air travel in the ’70s for my first job out of graduate school, and I frequently chatted with my seat mates. Even remember one very drunk guy on a cross country trip who got on the plane at the last minute and plopped down next to me, started buying me drinks and never stopped talking. My first trip to Europe in 1970 was on an Air France 707, from L.A. to Paris, and a bunch of completely toasted French merchant marines transferred onto our flight in L.A. coming from Tahiti, but it was fun and I got to practice my high school French with those characters. My first trip to Hawaii in 1978 was on one of those pub flights, remember those? We got very tipsy at the bar at the back of the plane, but what a marvelous time carrying on with other passengers. There were so many opportunities to meet and learn from others in such encounters, all of it regretfully lost in our cyber world today.
Back in the day, cars had much shorter service intervals and routine maintenance was handled by the corner service station.They were an oasis of aid for motorists on a long road trip. Invariably, a lot of cars ended up needing some small repairs while on the road. Lights, brake, cooling, electrical repairs. Tires, exhaust system. Do you remember how often muffler clamps used to break?
Then there was that guarantee of clean rest rooms! Most of the first line stations were pretty consistent. Like Vanilla Dude said, trying to navigate the rest room needs of a car full of passengers were enormous. Dad tried to please Mom and still try to make some time.
I worked in a gas station in the mid 1970s while in high school. Tire changes, oil and lubes, I even rented out U Haul trailers. Do you remember those awful clamp on bumper hitches? I installed lots of those. Hopefully they all stayed in place during the entire trip!
I figured this article could use some vintage pictures of a Gulf service station — so here’s one from here in Fairfax, Virginia… circa 1978:
The back of the building is a bit more interesting, car-wise:
When parked next to each other like in this pic, it’s clear to see that the 1963 Cadillac is a modernized version of the 1960 Cadillac.
Some individual (or staff) put a lot of thought and care into producing that 1970 “Car Chek” book. This was part of the mentality of all these service stations–competing for business and wanting to provide the best service to attract more customers. Note that the “ideal” service man wears a Gulf cap, a dress shirt, and a tie–in 1970!
You can look on YouTube for commercials and promo films which show all the things gas stations and oil co. brands did to lure customers: contests, give-aways, maps, clean bathrooms, service agreements, sending Christmas cards , the “personal touch”, etc. Where did all this go? Do modern station owners and brands not care about building up their businesses?
Here in N.J., attendants still pump your gas, but no one’s cleaned my windshield in a long time. As for the gas, as long as it’s on the “top tier” list, I think all brands are basically equal.
P.S.: I remember reading those Shell Answer Books as a kid, and I recognize some of the covers. I think they were inserts in Reader’s Digest magazines.
One of the Esso giveaways was a “Tiger in Your Tank”. Like a stuffed doll, but this resembled the tail of a tiger with an elastic band on one end. The idea was to the wrap the band around the mouth of the gas filler and let the tail dangle out of the flat that cover the gas cap.
My father had one, but it only last a few months. If you went to a Gulf or Conoco station, the attendant had a tendency to yank them off.
20W/20 used to be the most common oil recommendation for GM, and apparently Ford cars, back then. I have a few cans of Valvoline Super HPO in that grade on display in the garage. I have doubts, however, about the Mercedes diesel recommendation in this book. MS was a gasoline engine oil specification, DG, DS or a proprietary Benz spec would have been more likely.
Oof, not a good recommendation. For many years, well into the ’80s, 10W40 was justifiably known as an oil grade best avoided, because of its tendency to form more sludge faster than other grades. That was because it had a relatively wide spread between its cold and hot viscosities, which was made possible by large amounts of viscosity modifiers, which tended to cook into sludge. Same deal with the other screwball multigrades sold by various companies in the ’70s: 10W-50, “10W-20W-50”, and otherwise like that.
By and by the chemistry improved (so did all the other ingredients of the oil) and wide-spread multigrades like 10W-40 and 20W-50 stopped being so sludge-prone. But when this guide was printed? No. And I second Nikita’s squawk about the false recommendation for diesel Mercedes applications, too. I suspect these recommendations were more about streamlining and profit-maximising Gulf’s service station engine oil supply and sales activities and less about adhering to vehicle manufacturers’ recommendations.
I loved reading about this. My best friend’s father (Howard) had a brother who worked for Sun Oil’s Detroit HQ back in the 60s-80s. He told me how the company used to put out a book like that and that each year they would get their hands on early production cars to go through all the procedures to make sure everything was current. It was a great perk for employees who got a thorough tune-up and all the fine adjustments for free.
Howard bought a new 66 Chrysler very early in the year and his brother pulled a string and got the Chrysler in to Sunoco for “the treatment”. Howard said the car was “simply perfect” when it came back. Then he immediately traded it for a new Dodge Charger midyear.
I always associated Gulf with visits to my grandparents in suburban Philly in the 70s. This was when people had oil company credit cards so you were always on the lookout for a certain brand so you could charge the fill-up. When I graduated high school I was “invited” to apply for a Union 76 credit card. I was so proud when I got it, only to realize that there was maybe one 76 station within 40 miles of where I lived. Oh well.
I have the same book, only issued from Standard Oil. Different cover, same inside pages. I have treasured that book for years/decades.
My father had a Hess station in the 1970s. They were big in New York and New Jersey. They just sold gas, no repairs.
My father worked for Esso in the 1960s these are some pictures of some special event.
More Esso
What a great set of pictures… thanks!
Esso again
Still more Esso
This time with the picture
This one’s right up my alley, Tom…as I said in the text, I’ve been getting serious about buying an early Riv. 🙂
Swoon…first-gen Riviera! Aaron, go for it!
And the last one, I think.
Love the Valiant, but I wouldn’t let anyone stretch the hose over the trunk of my car!
In 1955 my parents and I drove from North Carolina to Phoenix, AZ. Dad had various state maps from Gulf, with the route (Pre-interstate highways!) marked with orange highlighter, like the later AAA Triptiks. I often wish I had grabbed the maps before Mom tossed them. Dad ran out of gas in West Texas once, he couldn’t believe towns could be that far apart.
Gulf was big in the South back then, and Dad and Grampa were both loyal Gulf men. After we came to Phoenix, Dad became a Standard/Chevron customer. Two gas station owners lived on the street we live on now, and another one lived a couple blocks over. Another profession that has disappeared with time.
These manuals with the Chek Charts made it to Australia under Mobil branding, featuring our local cars. I have one packed away somewhere.
I remember my family’s 442 having car trouble. All I know is that it was either a 68 or 69 and it had “the biggest motor Olds sold”. It overheated on trips so we spent a lot of time at service stations. The parents got fed up with the trouble so in ’71 they traded it for a ’70 Fury. They kept that ’til ’78 and it got traded for a new Monte Carlo because it was too wide for Mom to feel comfortable driving it.
Yes, for me as well, this is a real memory jogger…though I didn’t have this particular guide.
Starting probably when my youngest sister was born (coincidentally 1970) I was moved up to the front seat in our family wagon and appointed navigator, so of course I had to keep the maps straight, and learn to interpret them for my Father. We had just moved to Virginia the year before, and my Father alternated between Gulf and Arco gas (depending on which direction out of town we took, there was an Arco station one way and a Gulf right in downtown Manassas, where we lived. Prior to that, my Dad bought mostly Sunoco, but they didn’t have those stations in Manassas (at least that I recall). I think we had a few older Sunoco maps but most were Gulf.
I’d fall asleep quite a lot during these trips, mostly to the sound of the Carpenters (especially in 1973 after Dad bought a new Country Sedan that had not only our first FM radio, but a Stereo). But I still had to keep up my navigation duties in between. Another memory is my Father bragging that I could hold my urine indefinitely during a trip, which was probably pretty true in my younger days, but as I’ve aged it has definitely changed (another infelicity of the old).
We got the 73 about 6 months before the 1st gas crisis, which did curtail our long trips somewhat, my Dad got a Radio Shack electronic ignition kit for the Country Sedan, to improve mileage, and the next year traded his ’68 Renault R10 (which I’m sure got great gas mileage but was standard shift) for an automatic car for my Mother, as he wanted her to of course put more miles on the smaller automatic car. I got my license the next year on the automatic, but it didn’t stick; 7 years later I bought my first VW (Scirocco) with standard shift, and I’ve not gone back to automatic in the 39 years hence.