Various Mobil products during the Socony-Vacuum and Socony-Mobil years included Metro, Mobilgas and Mobilgas Special gasolines Mobilfuel Diesel, MobilHeat and Mobil-flame heating oil, Mobil Kerosine, Lubrite, Gargoyle, Mobiloil and Mobiloil Special motor oils Mobilgrease, Mobillubrication, Mobil Upperlube, Mobil Freezone and Permazone antifreezes, Mobilfluid automatic transmission fluid, Mobil Premiere tires, Mobil Stop-Leak, and Mobil Lustrecloth, among many others.
Through the years, Mobil was among the largest sellers of gasoline and motor oils in the United States and even held the top spot during the 1940s and much of the 1950s. Old Mobilgas pump displayed on the grounds of the Scurry County Coliseum in Snyder, Texas, 2010 Socony-Mobil ranked 86th among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts. The vehicles in each class that achieved the highest fuel economy numbers were awarded the coveted title as the Mobilgas Economy Run winner.ĭuring American involvement in World War II, April 29, 1942, Socony's unescorted tanker, named Mobiloil, was sunk by a German U-boat ( German Type IX submarine U-108 captained by Klaus Schlotz), and all 52 people survived after 86 hours adrift in lifeboats. The cars driven in the economy run were fueled with Mobil gasoline, and Mobiloil and lubricants were also used. The Economy Run originated with the Gilmore Oil Company of California in 1936 (which was purchased by Socony-Vacuum in 1940) and later became the Mobilgas Economy Run, and still later the Mobil Economy Run.
To celebrate its 100th anniversary in 1966, "Socony" was dropped from the corporate name.įrom 1936 to 1968, Mobil sponsored an economy run each year (except during World War II) in which domestic automobiles of various manufacturers in a number of price and size classes were driven by light-footed drivers on cross-country runs. In 1963, it changed its trade name from "Mobiloil" to simply "Mobil", introducing a new logo (created by New York graphic design firm Chermayeff & Geismar). In 1955, Socony-Vacuum was renamed Socony Mobil Oil Company. The Mobil Economy Run generated publicity and promotions such as this 1962 advertisement by Champion spark plugs with a Rambler American, 1962 The former Mobil headquarters in Fairfax County, Virginia, was used as ExxonMobil's downstream headquarters until 2015 when ExxonMobil consolidated employees into a new corporate campus in Spring, Texas. Mobil's brand name is primarily used to market motor oils, such as Mobil 1. Today, Mobil continues as a brand name within the combined company, as well as still being a gas station sometimes paired with its own store or On the Run. Mobil credits itself with being the first company to introduce paying at the pump at its gas stations, as well as the first company to introduce a mobile payment device, today known as Speedpass.
As one of the 34 original companies to descend from the breakup of Standard Oil, Mobil was originally known as the Standard Oil Company of New York (Socony). Prior to its merger with Exxon, Mobil was one of the Seven Sisters that dominated the global petroleum industry from the mid-1940s until the 1970s. Mobil Corporation (originally Standard Oil Company of New York and then Socony-Vacuum Oil Company) was an American oil company that merged with Exxon in 1999 to form ExxonMobil.