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A petrol pump mystery with a Victorian voiturette
Over the years, you at home, our readers, have become real masters when it comes to providing us with the information which is missing from the photographs we unearth. Since you give your time in information so freely, we’d like to take the liberty of asking you for a bit of help with this one. It might be a real challenge for you, we think. The picture has been used across the internet to illustrate how cars refuelled in the earliest days of the petrol pump, but no one seems to know anything about its background.
There’s not much to rely on either. The street scene doesn’t give us many clues, neither does the clothing worn by those smiling folks. Are they American perhaps, or could it originate from somewhere else? All we can say about what they are wearing is that it looks more like something from the 1920s than the 1900s.
That leaves us to identify the vehicle itself. We’d date it to circa 1900, possibly slightly earlier. There’s tiller steering and a single-cylinder engine at the front with not much to protect it. Over to you again…
Words: Jeroen Booij
Veteran Car WeekThis Sunday, the world's longest-running motoring event, the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, will return when, at dawn, almost 400 cars built before 1905 will drive from the capital city to the coast. To celebrate this, we are highlighting motoring's pioneering age in our online magazine all this week with a selection of fascinating articles: 1. What to expect? The full entry list for the 2023 London to Brighton Veteran Car Run 2. Driving a 1902 Columbia: the quiet and environmentally friendly way to Brighton 3. A petrol pump mystery with a Victorian voiturette 4. Mexican majesty: the sole-surviving 1904 Decauville double phaeton (Thursday) 5. 'Twas the night before Brighton... (Friday) 6. Live from the St. James's International Concours (Saturday) 6. Live from the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run 2023 (Sunday) |
Published:
Wednesday November 1st, 2023
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Comments
John A. & Wendy L. Sullivan
19 October 2024, 01:32
I have a sign commerorating the 1902 road race. It came out of a very prominent, very old hotel. Text me for the image on 507 649 1942
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Jean-Claude Bouffard
16 December 2023, 14:06
Il s'agit de la Renault type A numéro 75 de 1899 appartenant à la famille Copley et encore exposée au musée automobile de Beaulieu en Angleterre. On peut toujours constater au musée la trace de la réparation et le rajout rectiligne de l'aile avant gauche dont il manque la partie supérieure sur la photo.
Voir les explications en page 2 du reportage de cette voiture sur le forum " les Renault d'avant guerre ".
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This is the Renault Type A, number 75, from 1899 belonging to the Copley family and still on display at the Beaulieu motor museum in England. We can still see in the museum the trace of the repair and the rectilinear addition of the left front wing, the upper part of which is missing in the photo.
See the explanations on page 2 of the report on this car on the forum Les Renault d'Avant Guerre.
Read more
Voir les explications en page 2 du reportage de cette voiture sur le forum " les Renault d'avant guerre ".
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This is the Renault Type A, number 75, from 1899 belonging to the Copley family and still on display at the Beaulieu motor museum in England. We can still see in the museum the trace of the repair and the rectilinear addition of the left front wing, the upper part of which is missing in the photo.
See the explanations on page 2 of the report on this car on the forum Les Renault d'Avant Guerre.
David Grimstead
02 November 2023, 14:28
Not exactly “refuelling in the earliest days” as this appears to be an American made or designed Wayne Electric Petrol Pump from c.1932. It looks very similar to the one in their British advert of June that year, captioned: “Electric Meter Petrol Pumps and Storage Equipment by Wayne Tank & Pump Co. Ltd., 42 Newlands Pk., London and Britannia Hse., Wellington St., Leeds.” For some time, Wayne pumps were made by Dresser-Wayne in Bracknell but its output reverted to the USA in 1980.
Wayne electric petrol pumps were widespread in Britain and Northern Ireland by 1932, their earlier pumps having been championed by the Anglo-American Oil Co. from 1920, when they first installed thirty non-electric 5-gallon volumetric pumps for Pratts - they had 500 in operation by 1921. Electric metering versions probably appeared as early as 1925, shown at London’s Olympia Motor Show and by 1928 they began to appear widely in the adverts of garages boasting they had the latest electric filling-station equipment.
As well as Wayne’s, British companies claimed early manufacture of electric metering petrol pumps: Bowser, in business since 1885, the “Xacto-Sentry” from 1928 and Hammond, in business since 1896, the “Beckmeter” from 1927. The latest Wayne pump of 1932, the “Tru-meter electric pump”, was controlled by a patented trigger-nozzle, possibly as here and was exhibited by Anglo-American Oil at the Glasgow motor show. The design for 1933/4 looks very different.
By the early 1930s, all drivers, even those in decrepit, thirty-year old voiturettes, could expect quick, clean and accurate delivery of their chosen brand of fuel.
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Wayne electric petrol pumps were widespread in Britain and Northern Ireland by 1932, their earlier pumps having been championed by the Anglo-American Oil Co. from 1920, when they first installed thirty non-electric 5-gallon volumetric pumps for Pratts - they had 500 in operation by 1921. Electric metering versions probably appeared as early as 1925, shown at London’s Olympia Motor Show and by 1928 they began to appear widely in the adverts of garages boasting they had the latest electric filling-station equipment.
As well as Wayne’s, British companies claimed early manufacture of electric metering petrol pumps: Bowser, in business since 1885, the “Xacto-Sentry” from 1928 and Hammond, in business since 1896, the “Beckmeter” from 1927. The latest Wayne pump of 1932, the “Tru-meter electric pump”, was controlled by a patented trigger-nozzle, possibly as here and was exhibited by Anglo-American Oil at the Glasgow motor show. The design for 1933/4 looks very different.
By the early 1930s, all drivers, even those in decrepit, thirty-year old voiturettes, could expect quick, clean and accurate delivery of their chosen brand of fuel.
John Murch
01 November 2023, 12:19
The fuel pump would appear to be electric (rather than hand-pumped). I don’t believe that these came in until the late 1920s. The pump hardly looks new so the photo could be well into the 1930s.
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Gilbert
01 November 2023, 08:13
The car is an 1899 Renault Model A with a De Dion-Bouton single-cylinder air-cooled engine. In fact, this was the first model of Renault.
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Laurens
01 November 2023, 09:54
Gilbert, you have such a car right? And you would look nice with a hat on, so why not recreate this photo!
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Dan Lehmann
01 November 2023, 07:06
The car appears to have an air cooled De Dion-Bouton engine, since the distinctive timer is just visible on the front.
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David Liepelt
01 November 2023, 03:15
Well, the car surely doesn't look even close to new. The tires are all flat. The brass is very tarnished, and the lamps are missing (maybe the bonnet too). Cant really see if anything is missing on the engine. It could be runnable, but with four flat tires, I suspect they aren't going too far.
But they both appear to be having fun! And yes, my vote is '20s as well.
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But they both appear to be having fun! And yes, my vote is '20s as well.