Ethyl gasoline was patented in 1921, but was not actually pumped until 1923. The first station to pump Ethyl was a Standard station in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1lace w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Dayton</st1:City> <st1:State w:st="on">OH</st1:State></st1lace>, in 1923. Ethyl was the idea of two General Motors researchers, one of whom was the founder of Delco. They first began developing the fuel in 1916 to eliminate the motor noise in cars of the time. In the mid 30’s GM, Standard oil, and the DuPont Corporation teamed up to mass produce and distribute the product. Some early gas station advertising that features the Ethyl logo states on it “A Product of General Motors”. Early on the product was dyed red so the customer could see the product in the pump and know they could get what they where paying for.
When I first put together my 11:1 Big block '55 chevy you could still buy 260 Sunoco. What a sweet smell. It would run like HELL on that stuff. You could always tell which cars were running it cause you could smell it. I swore when it hit the UNGODLY price of .78 cents per gallon I was gonna take that Big Block outta there. Well........lotsa years ago.......but the 11:1 Big Block is STILL in there. Oh to be a kid again
The Jalopy Journal
