Our history
Fueling achievement for 75 years
Iconic brand symbols
Gargoyle
As early as 1869, Vacuum Oil used a stylized red gargoyle to advertise petroleum-based lubricants for horse-drawn carriages and steam engines.
Pegasus
The flying red horse was first used by Vacuum Oil in South Africa in 1911. In 1931, when Vacuum merged with Socony, the red Pegasus — a symbol of speed and power — was adopted as its U.S. trademark. In 1968, Mobil adopted new-look Pegasus service stations. The red Pegasus remains among the most recognized corporate symbols in American petroleum history.
Moments in motion
On the road
In 1958, Jersey Standard offered free road maps to customers as part of its Happy Motoring campaign. The maps featured Happy the Oil Drop Man — an advertising character that was first introduced by Esso’s Danish company during World War II. Today, thousands of Mobil brand customers use our online fuel finder to help them on their journeys.
On the track
In 1915, Ralph DePalma, winner of the Indianapolis 500, was the first of many Indy winners to use Mobil products. Today, the Mobil brand is a proud partner and fuel supplier of Oracle Red Bull Racing, Visa Cash App Racing Bulls and the Porsche Carrera Cup North America.
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Collaborating with pioneers
The Wright brothers
In 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright used Jersey Standard fuel and Mobil Oil (Vacuum) lubricants for their historic first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart
Both of these famous pilots used Mobil oil in their historic transatlantic flights: Lindberg in the Spirit of St. Louis in 1927, and Earhart in Friendship in 1928.
First transatlantic commercial flight
In 1958, Pan American Airways used Mobil aviation fuel in its first transatlantic Boeing 707 flight from New York to London.
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Famous firsts
- Octane In 1938, the world’s first commercial production of alkylate at a Humble Oil plant in Texas made possible the manufacturing of iso-octane as a blending agent. In 1976, Mobil invented a process for converting methanol into high-octane gasoline. Today, all North American gasoline contains octane, and gasoline grades are based on octane ratings.
- Motor oil In 1974, Mobil introduced the first synthetic motor oil, Mobil 1™ lubricants. Today, the Mobil 1 brand is the world’s leading synthetic motor oil brand.
- Detergent gasolines In 1966, Mobil was a pioneer in detergent gasoline. Detergents help to reduce buildup of harmful deposits inside fuel injectors. Today, all Exxon™ and Mobil gasoline grades contain detergent additives. In fact, our gasolines contain significantly more than the minimum quantities required by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
- Pay at the pump In 1986, Mobil became the first gas retailer in the U.S. to introduce pay at the pump. In 1997, Mobil introduced the Speedpass™ key tag, the first mobile payment device. In 2015, ExxonMobil released the Speedpass+™ app, the industry’s first mobile payment app — followed by the Exxon Mobil Rewards+™ app, which integrated payment and rewards, in 2019.
- Gasoline for better gas mileage** In 2016, we released Fuel Technology Synergy™ gasolines. Developed with seven key ingredients to help improve fuel economy, Synergy gasolines represent 130 years of engineering in the making.
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Energy to take you further
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