Quality Endurance Passion
Gulf Oil began with the discovery of the world's first high volume oil well in 1901 at Spindletop, Texas, USA, which laid the foundation on which the Gulf Oil corporation was built. It produced an estimated 100,000 barrels of oil a day and, in response to advances in automotive technology, led to one of Gulf's initial visionary steps by introducing the first drive-in service station in 1913 under the distinctive 'orange disc' brand.
In 1928 Gulf manufactured and marketed GulfPride - 'The Worlds Finest Motor Oil', and by the early thirties, Gulf Oil had become a major corporation in the United States. Gulf was a strong oil company with operations including exploration, production and transport, refining and marketing. It also involved itself in diversified industries such as petrochemicals and automotive component manufacturing.
In the 1950s Gulf had become the 8th largest manufacturing concerns in the United States, and increasingly diverse and technological requirements brought continued growth and expansion into the 1960s.
In 1963 Gulf entered the world of motor sport in a partnership with Ford on the GT40 program, and ever since Gulf Oil’s support for the victorious Ford GT40 sports car in the 1968 Le Mans 24hr race, our blue and orange team- colours have been a crowd favourite.
Gulf hit the silver screen in 1971 with the Steve McQueen film 'Le Mans' at the height of his career. The film follows the character Michael Delaney (McQueen) driving the number 22 Gulf-Porsche 917 through the grueling 1970 Le Mans 24hr race. For further information on 'The Blue and Orange Story' and official Gulf merchandise, please visit http://www.grandprix-originals.com
Gulf has built on its brand pedigree, historical strength in endurance motorsport and the Le Mans 24Hrs. Over the last 40 years many different cars have carried the Gulf brand. Gulf has been associated with some of the top sports-car manufacturers. As well as Ford, they include Porsche, Audi, McLaren, Mirage, Zytek and now the Aston Martin Racing team.
