A nostalgic look at brand loyalty?

[G-MAN]

I remember growing up in the 60s when my dad changed his own oil and swore by Havoline, and only in 30wt (which wasn't a problem since we lived in Fla). He thought multi-vis oils were "junk" no matter who made them, though he did switch his thinking on this later in life.

We all have our favorite brands now, but for those of you who had "car nut" dads or uncles or older bothers, what do you remember being the "brand that beat all others" for them?

 

[Al]

My dad used to like Kendel, But later in the 60's we went to Havoline. I believe that Havoline was pretty well the best performance oil then.

 

[Giles]

Quaker State and STP oil treatment. He still uses QS today, not sure if he uses the STP any longer. He has 285,000 miles on a Dodge Work van with a V8 in it running QS.

 

[satterfi]

My dad's an EE. I remember going to the drug store and testing vacuum tubes though.

Ahh...those were days when gas was $.23/gal and green stamps were worth something.

 

[G-MAN]

quote:

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Originally posted by satterfi:
My dad's an EE. I remember going to the drug store and testing vacuum tubes though.

Ahh...those were days when gas was $.23/gal and green stamps were worth something.

---

My dad was a mechanical engineer who loved tinkering with anything. I hadn't thought about those old tube testers in years until you just mentioned it.

I remember him keeping that old B&W set of ours going well into the "color age" using the tube tester down at the Western Auto.

Those were the days. "Fill it up with Ethyl and check the oil."

 

[bretfraz]

My dad was one of the early adopters of Mobil One. He used it on his then-new 1978 Dodge Aspen with the 318. A valve cover was leaking so I helped him change the gasket. He was thrilled to see the valve cover and the valvetrain looking like new with no sludge or varnish anywhere. That sold me on synthetics right then.

Funny thing is, I used M1 in my cars but my dad now takes his Dodge Ram to the quick lube and lets them put in whatever. Kinda weird.....

And I am just barely old enough to remember testing vacuum tubes at the store (dad is an electrical engineer). And I remember helping mom stick Green Stamps to the books and looking at all the stuff you could get for them. green Stamp collection after getting gas was a job of mine when I was little.

 

[Patman]

I remember my dad always asking for Castrol XLR when we went to the fast lube places. I don't know if you guys had this type of Castrol down there too. XLR was replaced by GTX up here sometime in the mid 90s.

Now my dad swears by Mobil 1 and will use nothing else.

 

[westex39]

My Dad used Esso Uniflo back in the 50's. Later he switched to Gulfpride. Does anyone remember the grape juice oil they had back then? Can't remember what brand it was.
I finally remembered what the grape juice oil was.
Phillips 66 royal triton.

[ December 06, 2002, 10:26 AM: Message edited by: westex39 ]

 

[Nosmo King]

Back in the 60’s I was an apprentice mechanic with Jaguar cars in England. Duckhams 20W-50 was it.
Came to Canada in 66 and used Castrol until some one explained to me that the guck on the underside of the oil fill cap was caused by Castrol oil.
Switched to Penzoil and then Quaker state in 88 when Mercedes Canada
started recommending it. Tried their synthetic in 94 ( aprox ) and it leaked out of every seal on my Mercedes 300E.
Back to Quaker state dino oil until Sept of this year when I switched to M1 due entirely to this addictive forum and a new car.

[ December 05, 2002, 09:06 PM: Message edited by: Nosmo King ]

 

[Dominic]

My dad was born in 54, loves telling me stories about Sunoco... he used to love to run Castrol but the intense varnish it started causing in the 80s cars he had made him go through a number of oils. He's told me about running down to the store to test tubes

Sounds like a neat era lol.

 

[Greg]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Nosmo King:
Back in the 60’s I was an apprentice mechanic with Jaguar cars in England. Duckhams 20W-50 was it.
Came to Canada in 66 and used Castrol until some one explained to me that the guck on the underside of the oil fill cap was caused by Castrol oil.
Switched to Penzoil and then Quaker state in 88 when Mercedes Canada
started recommending it. Tried their synthetic in 94 ( aprox ) and it leaked out of every seal on my Mercedes 300E.
Back to Quaker state dino oil until Sept of this year when I switched to M1 due entirely to this addictive forum and a new car.

---

my mom had a 92 300 E 2.6 that kept stalling randomly despite every possible diagnostic routine. also had oil in the coolant.

 

[Propflux01]

My Dad always used Quaker state. I never would use it as I had seen ( in the 70's) the sludge build-up from it. I always used pennzoil, and now, use M1. My Dad doesn't do his own changes anymore, and uses the Honda Dealer's oil that comes in a big drum labled 'Castrol'. But I use strictly Castrol 20w-50 in the bike.

 

[UncleS2]

As well as I can remember, my dad was never big on any particular brand of oil. However, I do remember going to Texarkana to visit my Granny often, going into the 7-11 stores to get Icees for all 4 of us boys, & seeing the tube testers in the store! He even used them several times to fix his mom's TV. They also used to sell shotgun shells in 7-11's back then, had large stacks & displays at dove season every year.

 

[OneQuartLow]

The machinist I grew up around (60's-early 70's) swore by QuakerState & STP. Every change. Filters were Fram or whatever was on sale, every other oil change. Fram was actually respectable back then, pre-acquired-acquisition-takover-mergered.

I'm still trying to duplicate half his metalworking shop & 10% his skill.

David

 

[Chris 2421]

My Dad used to use Quaker State 40wt racing oil in the Road Runner and 30wt racing oil in Mom's Furys.Always with a Fram filter,HP-1 for the 'Runner,and a regular PH8A in the Fury.The HP-1 always came with a Fram decal inside,and the QS oil was in white metal cans,that we always wiped the top of as the paint would peel a bit.Later he switched to Castrol GTX,and now uses Syntec(UGH!) in his cars,along with a Fram filter.I was a Quaker State/Fram user until I started using Mobil 10w30 dino in my new 2002 Dodge truck(.97 a quart)

 

[Pablo]

I firmly believe now that my brand loyalty to the old Castrol 20W-50 killed several Datsun L16/L18's.....

My dad? The man used the cheapest oil he could buy...he is now retired in luxury. His engines didn't last long though - by today's standards!

 

[msparks]

I don't remember much brand loyalty when I was growing up.

Though I do remember Kedall being mentioned more than anything, and that is what I used when I first started to drive in 1986.

Then later I went to the whatever is cheapest frame of mind, and put 100,000 using whatever in my 92 Ford Ranger.

Then of coarse now I have seen the light!!!

 

[dickwells]

In the 50s my dad used Quaker State with a can of "liqui-Moly", and later a can of STP to "keep the cylinder walls lubricated." A college roomate in the 60s had a chevelle that would burn a quart of any oil other than Valvoline in 600 miles. With Valvoline it burned none. After getting up to date in this forum I have to bite my tongue when I see someone buying a case of Valvoline at Wal-Mart.

 

[dragboat]

Dad used Mobil oil.
Dad's best friend who owned a Deep Rock filling Station used and swore by Havoline.

When young I used Kendall,Amalie and DA Speed Sport.I used the Kendall in my V-Drive and Plymouth RR- Amalie and the DA was less expensive for the M/Cs
Dad used Castrol in the LawnBoy- I used Castrol in the two stroke bikes pre 1977

I remember Kerr McGee Blue Velvet oil and that orange Gulfpride oil.

Every one had a racing oil including Sinclair.

Lots of Wynns friction proof was used around town

I always rode M/C's pre 16 but I remember my now gone friend and I stopping by the TGY store and picking up a few spark plugs and Champlain CMO oil for 11 cents a quart for the Satureday nite cruise in his first car,a well worn Nova with 4 cylinder,yep the early Novas had them.
Regular gas was 23.9 and right next to it in the other pump was 24.9 cent a gallon 100 octane Ethyl.
I also remember getting my draft card

 

[M Smith]

I used Quaker State Super Blend 10W-30, and sometimes Quaker State Supreme 10W-40 in my 1970 Ford Torino, 302 V8. Then I switched to Havoline, and even used Valvoline 10W-20W-30 All Climate. Remember that stuff? Rememeber having to use one of those oil can spouts with the metal tip to cut through the top? Seems to me I even went through a case of Cam 2 10W-30, too.

Even back then Ford recommended 10W-30 in my Torino for all temps, seems to me.

I recall Kendall's Racing 20W-50 was green? Like Schaeffers is today.