New pages

New and improved pages on the
European Petrol Road Map Web Site: 2006

This page shows the updates that were made to the PetrolMaps website during 2006. With time, some of the links may no longer work if I have moved images to a new location (for example through splitting large pages), although most of the content of this website is permanent and can still be found by using its search facility.

Link to most recent updates

Regent & Caltex in Ireland
Caltex branded fuels were sold in the Republic of Ireland, but it is thought that the name of Caltex's British affiliate, Regent, was used in Northern Ireland. A 1958 map of Ireland has recently been discovered carrying both logos, possibly for distribution in the North. (Updated 31 December 2006)

Two Purfina maps of Germany
Purfina maps, dating from the period before the introduction of the FINA brand into continental Europe, are relatively uncommon. Two Purfina maps of Germany, probably dating from 1958 and 1959, are now shown, with the later one covering just the Southern half of the country. (Updated 31 December 2006)

Esso town plans for the 1972 Olympics
Esso joined Shell in issuing a special map of Munich for the 1972 Olympics, but Esso's map also included plans of Kiel and Augsburg, where water-based events were held. (Updated 31 December 2006)

A Polish BP atlas
Although BP appears to have stopped issuing sheet maps in Poland after 2001, a fine hardback atlas of Poland and Europe running to over 800 pages was sold in its service stations in 2004. (Updated 22 December 2006)

Polish maps from 2006
Although not many maps dated 2006 have been found in service station colours, two examples from Poland (in Shell and Jet colours) have been added to the site. (For the record, Shell and Aral are already selling 2007 maps in Germany, as is the Wm Morrison superstore chain in the UK.) (Updated 19 December 2006)

Widenmeyer and the Saar
Widenmeyer was a West German independent petrol distributor that operated almost exclusively in the Saar. As well as a late 1950s Widenmeyer map, this new page looks at how the changing control of the Saar was reflected on BV-Aral maps of the area. (Updated 12 December 2006)

Morrisons' 2007 Road Atlas of Britain
The UK superstore chain Morrisons, which operates around 270 branded filling stations, has become the first brand this year to issue a 2007 map. Based on the AA Big Road atlas, it marks all Morrisons locations on almost 60 pages of maps at 1:250,000.
While updating Morrisons, I have taken the opportunity of splitting the UK Superstore page into three: as well as Morrisons (and Safeway, which it acquired), there are now individual pages for Tesco and Sainsbury's. I have yet to see a map from Asda, though... (Updated 12 November 2006)

CIP strip maps
Mobil entered France through association with the Compagnie Industrielle des Pétroles (CIP), and an early 1930s set of strip maps from CIP (using its Motricine and Pégase brands) has been added to the new Mobil France page. (Updated 25 October 2006)

A Mobil sheet map of Europe
Continuing the recent Mobil theme, Mobil issued very few sheet maps of Europe. I have now added a 1964 edition that is notable mainly for carrying plans of 28 European cities (including Istanbul) on its reverse. (Updated 25 October 2006)

A Mobil Euroguide
In 1970 Mobil issued a Euroguide, essentially an atlas of Europe prepared for it by Rand McNally
As the Mobil page has now become rather large, I have decided to split off French Mobil maps onto a separate page of their own. As part of the consequent restructuring, CIP has been moved onto the same page, and the other two French brands that it formerly shared a page with - Aero and Serco - have been moved to more appropriate pages reflecting their subsequent merger into Total and Elf respectively. (Updated 22 October 2006)

Shell's sectional maps of East Germany
Shell works closely with the Stuttgart cartographer of Mairs, and for over 40 years has produced a series of Generale Karte sectional maps. During the period of when Germany was divided, the series only covered West Germany, except for a short lived extension to cover the DDR (East Germany) in 1990, immediately prior to reunification. (Updated 22 October 2006)

Top of PageSpecial Shell maps from George Philip
In the 1960s Shell worked very closely with George Philip & Son Ltd, one of Britain's leading map companies. Among the special issues produced were an experimental wipe clean map using a "Shorko" plasticised map coating for a 1964 Geographical Congress, and later 1960s Shell maps in card covers produced for Philip's to sell into the map trade, rather than through Shell filling stations. (Created 17 October 2006)

Another city map from Norway
Close on the heels of the Shell map of Oslo, I have added an Esso Guide and map to Bergen and surroundings, dating from around 1957. (Updated 11 October 2006)

Two from Norway...
No city maps from Norway have been shown on this site up to now. This has been rectified by adding a 1961 Shell map of Oslo, which was printed by them in conjunction with the local tourist board in order to attract German visitors to Norway. I have also added the first map from the Norwegian brand Norol, which replaced BP in the mid 1970s but was eventually switched to its parent's Statoil brand. (Updated 23 September 2006)

...Two from Hungary...
After the Hungarian petrol market was liberalised in the early 1990s, several Western companies started building up service station chains, including Aral, for which a 1995 domestic Hungarian issue is now shown. I have also included a slightly earlier map that marks all Shell locations on the map, yet carries advertising from many small businesses in Southwest Hungary. (Updated 23 September 2006)

...and one from Jugoslavia
Also carrying oil company advertising, rather than being an oil company issue, was a 1933 map from the Yugoslav automobile club. This is shown in context on the Yugoslav page, but also on the page dedicated to maps carrying adverts, where all three motor oil brands from the map (Mobiloil, Socony and Shell) are shown. (Updated 23 September 2006)

Veedol
Veedol was one of Europe's largest lubricant specialists, owned by the US companies Tidewater/Getty until 1970, then subsequently by Burmah and BP. Although several of its maps have been shown on the German Lubricants page for some years, now that a French map has also turned up, it has been moved to a new exclusive page. (Updated 8 August 2006)

The gap is due in part to my working on a draft website for the Automobilia Collectors Club of Australia, but also due to fewer different maps turning up this summer. I continue to make minor updates across the website as new facts are found about company histories.

BP Touring Guide
BP's Touring Service issued comprehensive tour guides to Europe, alongside their maps in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Another design, distributed through BP's Danish subsidiary, is now shown on the website. (Updated 12 July 2006)

DCB
DC Berkel is a small Dutch independent company that has recently issued a small format map to enable its customers to locate their service stations, where they can use the DCB payment card. (Updated 6 July 2006)

Top of PageOROP
Orop was a state-owned Austrian brand, active in the 1960s, but later merged with Pam to form Elan, which in turn has now become part of OMV. The first Orop map has now been added to this site, and is included on a new page that has had other OMV predecessors transferred to it, including Elan, Istra-Benz and Total (Rumwolf). (Updated 20 June 2006)

Slovak Maps
Slovakian service stations still sell a wide range of branded road maps (see also below). As a result, Slovakia has now been split off from the Czech Republic to form a new single country page. (Updated 18 June 2006)

2006 maps from the Czech Republic & Slovakia
Although petrol company branded maps are not widespread in Europe, they are still being printed and sold in Eastern Europe. I have added a copy of two Czech produced maps, from OMV and Shell, to the 2006 page. (Updated 17 June 2006)

An earlier Agrola map
A 1968 map from the Swiss farmers' co-operative brand, Agrola, has been displayed for some years. A 1962 map, using a map cover design also used by Gulf, has now been found in a University library in Kansas. (Updated 4 June 2006)

Castrol maps
Castrol maps have been included on the same page as that of Burmah, its owner from 1966 until both brands were acquired by BP in 2000. A separate page has now been created for Castrol maps, and a 1998 promotional atlas of the UK has been added. (Updated 4 June 2006)

Italian Shell maps from 1969-72
Shell sold its Italian chain to IP (recently bought by API) in 1973. Previously this site showed no Italian Shell maps after 1967, but three issues from its final few years have now been added. Shell has, of course, since re-entered the market (twice) but no later Shell maps are known. If you have one, then please send me an e-mail. (Updated 4 June 2006)

The Morris Owner's Road Map
In an unusually early (1936) example of sponsorship, The Morris Owner's Road Map of England and South Scotland was presented with the Compliments of Price's, makers of Motorine Oil. Inside it showed how Motorine was made from a blend of fatty and mineral oils. (Updated 22 May 2006)

Adverts from a 1930 T.C.I. maps
The Touring Club d'Italia issued complex maps in the 1920s and 30s, often with advertising from three petrol or oil companies. A ca1930 example shows a front cover advert for Shell (with plenty of additional Shell ads inside), some very graphic adverts for Standard Oil (Lampo/Esso), and a rather odd advert for Texaco Motor Oils on its rear. (Updated 30 April 2006)

Expansion of the Shell Chronological sequence
The historical development of Shell maps has been expanded to cover 5 full web pages, with an average of 17 images on each page. The pages cover, in turn, Maps up to 1948, 1948-62, 1962-72, 1973-94 and most recent maps. The first three of these have been modified, and this has allowed space for an extra four map images to be shown from the 1960s peak era for Shell maps. The new division allows pages to follow changes in the Shell pecten logo more closely. (Updated 23 April 2006)

Torquai or Torquay?
When Esso created the German version of its 1962 Road Guide to 70,000km of routes across Europe, it used local place name spellings throughout - except for Torquay which was converted to Torquai, in what was possibly a deliberate copyright trap. (Updated 23 April 2006)

Errors on maps
Many maps have errors; most are quite small and many are deliberate. This new page looks at some that appear to be of both types, ranging from a non-existent bypass to a village spelled wrongly; from a map with the cover photograph reversed to one pasted into completely the wrong cover. Others show production errors, such as an atlas with some pages missing whilst others were bound into it twice. (Updated 9 April 2006)

Early 1990s maps from Romania
It took a few years for Western brands of petrol to become established in Romania after the Ceaucescu dictatorship fell, but in the early 1990s branded maps were produced by the old monopoly company, Peco, and a local distributor of Texaco lubricants. (Updated 7 April 2006)

A Hugo Stinnes/BV map
Hugo Stinnes was for many years a fuel distributor in Germany; in the 1950s and 60s it operated a chain of Stinnes Fanal stations for which maps are known. But a 1938 BV-Aral map of East Prussia suggests that before the War it distributed BV fuels. (Updated 4 April 2006)

Caltex in Lebanon
The new South East Mediterranean page will be updated as I am informed of additional maps; the first extra example is a 1960s Caltex map of Lebanon. (Updated 4 April 2006)

South East Mediterranean
To complete the circuit of the Mediterranean Sea, I have now added a page summarising Libya, Egypt, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon & Syria. Collectively, there are only nine map images shown, although it is almost certain that more exist (and a few are known to to do). If you can help out with oil company maps any of these countries, including the current status of some of the markets, then please send me an e-mail! (Updated 2 April 2006)

Top of PageLeuna's Heimatkarten
In the 1930s in Germany, much was made of the concept of a homeland, - the Heimat. In 1938 a pair of Heimatkarten were published, sponsored jointly by Leuna, Agfa and Ford. (Updated 28 March 2006)

Texaco's FastFuel Site Directory
Texaco has not issued a sheet map in Britain since the mid 1980s, but has occasionally issued road atlases. The latest of these is a small 2004 atlas serving primarily to locate its sites for customers of its FastFuel card. (Updated 26 March 2006)

Tunisia
The final Maghreb country has now been added to the site, with 12 images from Esso, Shell, BP and Agip. Nine are newly displayed, but as Shell and BP both issued combined Algeria/Tunisia maps, some are duplicated from the Algeria page. (Updated 19 March 2006)

Early Opening and Late Closing BP service stations
In 1959/60, Shell and BP each issued a booklet, with maps by George Philip, showing the locations of their service stations with extended opening hours. The Shell one has been shown for some time; I have now added the BP equivalent. Shell's booklet listed 371 stations against 212 for BP - each representing about 5% of the network. (Updated 19 February 2006)

More Shell maps from Algeria
Two more Shell maps of Algeria, both dating from the 1950s, have been added, along with an image of a desert Shell pump from a 1938 guidebook to the country. (Updated 19 February 2006)

Two maps with errors
Many maps contain small errors; sometimes deliberate to help protect copyright (and trap others who have made illegal copies) and sometimes inadvertent. This new page looks in some depth at two examples - a Greek map of Britain that is riddled with small errors, and a deliberate error on an Exxon map of New York State. (Updated 19 February 2006)

An Amoco atlas from Italy
Up to now, only a single sheet map from Amoco's Italian subsidiary has been be shown on this site. This has now been joined by a 1967 16-page atlas. (Updated 19 February 2006)

Winter Olympics Maps
This website has for some years shown four maps from the Winter Olympic Games, when held in Europe, but they were rather hidden at the foot a page devoted to the summer games. Two maps are from Innsbruck in 1964, and two from Grenoble four years later. As it is 38 years ago today since the Grenoble Winter Games closed, with a choral concert featuring Olivier Messiaen at the Maison de la Culture, I have decided to promote them to their own page, as well as to expand a little on the map descriptions. (Updated 18 February 2006)

Castrol in Germany
The large British lubricant company Castrol expanded to sell its oils in most European countries after the Second World War. Although its German operation was not particularly large, it did sell a map of Southern Germany in the early 1960s. (Updated 16 February 2006)

Top of PageA 1920s map from a BV-Aral distributor
Few European maps can be dated, even provisionally, to the 1920s. An example that appears to carry the date 1927 has been found from an independent distributor of BV-Aral products called Gebrüder Hoppe, based in the Western Ruhr, where they have added their own advertising to a sectional Ravenstein map. (Updated 2 February 2006)

Metax
Metax was understood to have issued a map in the 1990s, as well as to mark its stations on a simple outline map of Denmark, and this latter leaflet has been shown for several years on the Introduction page. However, as I have been unable to track down a copy of the sheet map, I have not had a proper Metax map until recently, when I was able to buy a 2003 booklet map in one of the few manned locations for this Danish discount chain. (Updated 22 January 2006)

QStar
QStar is a Swedish independent company that has specialised in supplying discount unmanned stations since its establishment in 1990. A map locating its 120 outlets was published in 2005. As part of adding these additional brands, the Scandinavian independents page has now been split into two, with one for Denmark (see above, under Metax) and the other for Sweden. (Updated 22 January 2006)

Pintsch Oel
Pintsch Oel sold lubricants in Germany, using the Speedwell brand in the 1930s. A folding road atlas of the country from this period has now been added to the page of Germany motor oil manufacturers. (Updated 22 January 2006)

Three more from Morocco
The Moroccan page has been expanded to include an extra map from Shell and the first one from Texaco; (Updated 12 January 2006) and a further example from Mobil (Updated 20 January 2006).

Caltex's Städte-und Reise Atlas from West Germany
In the 1950s, Caltex - which had a relatively small chain of service stations in the country - developed a unique City and travel atlas, which included town plans and maps of popular holiday areas. (Updated 8 January 2006)

A 2004/5 AVIA map booklet of Germany
AVIA has quite recently issued the first edition of a 40 page map booklet marking its locations in Germany. (Updated 5 January 2006)

Algeria
It is now exactly 5 years since the first of the pages devoted to maps from a single country was added to this website. All the main European countries have been described, so I am pleased to cross the Mediterranean (metaphorically at least) and add a page about petrol maps from Algeria. (Updated 2 January 2006)

Morocco
Although Algeria still has a state monopoly supplying petrol stations, Morocco has a variety of brands, and several are illustrated on this second North African page, mainly from the 1950s and 60s. Tunisia should follow shortly... (Updated 2 January 2006)

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Text, "new" icon and layout © Ian Byrne, 2004, 2006

All original copyrights in logos and map extracts and images are acknowledged and images are included on this site for identification purposes only.