From can to pump how gasoline and the car found each other

How did the first motorists get their fuel? Was gasoline already available? Which came first, the car or the gasoline?

The invention of the principle of the combustion engine and then building it marks a milestone in the history of the automobile. Working out the fuel is almost just as important. A clear requirement for a fuel is that it must be easily flammable. Gasoline, as we know it today, did not yet exist. However, fuel did exist in another form.

Image 1: Bertha Benz refuels at the pharmacy

The 1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen, the very first car, ran on ligroin, a volatile type of cleaning agent that was only available at the pharmacy. This product was supplied in large wicker demijohns.

In the following years, as buying a car became more accessible for many people, the demand for fuel increased sharply.

A derivative product of crude oil, petroleum, turned out to be a good base for fuel. In many parts of the world, crude oil was processed into numerous products, including gasoline in the end. Availability was not a limiting factor. Fuel production was taken up and put to commercial use. After that, the worldwide availability of gasoline increased rapidly; at first it was sold in large demijohns. Later, gasoline was packaged in cans or barrels, which were mainly sold by the oil merchant.

It was only around 1920 that the petrol pump became common in the Netherlands. Given the place the petrol pump now occupies in our lives, you would think its invention would have been world news, but nothing could be further from the truth. Just like the car, the petrol pump developed gradually. In the 1920s the economy was doing well. Everyone wanted to get a piece of the ever rising car sales. Every self respecting inn, hotel, garage and village blacksmith put a petrol pump out front. A real pump craze broke out. By the late 1930s the market for petrol pumps was completely saturated. There was then a density of one pump for every four cars. With the outbreak of the Second World War this came to an abrupt end.

Image 2: Petrol pumps in the Louwman museum

After the war, life slowly started up again. At first gasoline was hard to get, but this improved quickly. The different brands engaged in fierce competition, with the filling stations along the main roads serving not only their intended purpose, but also as advertising displays for the brand they sold. Instead of leaving the sale of their products to middlemen, the oil company itself acted directly as the seller.

Image 3: Esso station in Raamsdonksveer designed by Dudok

The architecture of these gas stations was often intended to attract the special attention of customers. Several well-known Dutch architects devoted themselves to designing "functional" gas stations. For example, Willem Dudok designed a gas station for Esso, of which a total of 112 were built. Only two have been preserved, one of which stands on the grounds of Louwman & Parqui in Raamsdonksveer.

The competition between the different brands was fierce. There were different types of gasoline, "super" and "regular". The difference lay in the octane rating, which indicates knock resistance. The higher the knock resistance, the more the fuel can be compressed before spontaneous ignition occurs. Combustion engines with high compression therefore need a high octane rating. The various manufacturers also boasted about additives that were supposed to make the engines more economical.

The book 'From can to pump' by Rutger Booy and Bas de Voogd was recently published. The book describes how gasoline and the car found each other: a fascinating exploration of gasoline sales from 1885 to 1940.