Today, it’s one of the most recognised automotive brands, but Mobil 1 and its range of synthetic engine oils has only existed for 40 years. It was first launched back in 1974, a brand from the long-established Mobil oil company, which had formed in 1911 as the Standard Oil Company of New York. Socony, as it was known, was itself a product of the break-up of Standard Oil, an Ohio company dating back to 1870, founded by the well-known industrialist John D Rockefeller. After a variety of mergers, the company changed its trade name to Mobil in 1963.
[Not a valid template]For decades, the firm was one of the largest suppliers of fuel and oil to the motor industry, but in the 1960s it started working with synthetic, rather than petroleum-based products. The first such innovation was Mobilgrease 28, developed to prevent military plane wheel bearings from failing in cold weather. The use of synthetic products widened, and in the late ‘60s Mobil developed engine oil for big diesel engines that powered oil-drilling rigs in Alaska.
In 1971, a team was convened to develop a proper synthetic motor oil for the public to use in their cars, with properties that more traditional oil just couldn’t stretch to. It was to be called Mobil 1, and it first launched in 1973. Over the next decade, the availability of products widened from the initial SAE 5W-20 offering, and the late ‘70s Mobil 1’s long-standing tie-up with motorsport began with sponsorship and then a technical partnership with the Williams Formula 1 team.
By the 1990s, the Mobil 1 line-up had expanded from just oil to include a range of other synthetic products, such as grease, gear lubricant and automatic transmission fluid.
A particular highlight in 1990 was The Million Miles Test. A new BMW 325i was filled with Mobil 1 synthetic oil and run continuously over the course of four years. After covering the equivalent of a million miles of hard driving, the engine was stripped and no sign of any significant wear was found.
The idea of an official tie-up with manufacturers began in 1992, when the Chevrolet Corvette rolled out of the factory filled with Mobil 1 oil. By the end of the decade, Mercedes-Benz and Aston Martin were added to the roster and in the 2000s, Ford’s Mustang was sporting Mobil 1 out of the factory too. Bentley, Cadillac, Nissan and Lexus would follow.
Through the ‘90s, the formula used in the synthetic engine oil was refined, providing better protection at high temperatures. By 1996, Mobil 1 Extreme Formula 0W-30 could protect between temperatures in excess of 200°C to -29°C.
Mobil merged with Exxon in 1999 to form ExxonMobil, combining the expertise of two oil giants. And the innovations kept coming – motorcycle oil in the same year, and a Tri-Synthetic Formula.
2014 marks 40 years since Mobil 1 was globally available, and it continues to innovate with ever-more products designed for specific applications. Tested in motorsports and on the road, Mobil 1 helps vehicles of all shapes and sizes run better, for longer.
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