Motoring Trivia

We're proud of our company, and we'd like to share some of the more interesting parts of our Canadian and international history, cleverly disguised here as trivia.

• The first -- and probably the only -- Shell president ever to ride a bicycle to work was Pat Fowlie. To help conserve fuel during the Second World War, the doughty Chief Executive Officer wobbled and weaved his way to work along Toronto streets for almost three years -- and lived to tell about it!

• Around the world, Shell has hundreds of offices, thousands of service stations and tens of thousands of employees -- but only one official cat. At Shell Australia's Gore Bay refinery, Meecies, a white-fronted tabby, has even been issued her own official Shell ID card.

• During the Second World War, the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies lost 87 tankers and other ships to enemy action. During the same six years, the Royal Canadian Navy -- a very important force in the war -- lost 24 fighting ships.

• When it began operations in Canada in 1911, Shell had a working capital of only $50,000. By 1994, the total assets of Shell were valued at $6.1 billion.

• Today, when Shell Canada signs oil or gas leases, everything is overseen by dozens of executives and lawyers. But one of the first and most important leases signed by Shell's parent company, Royal Dutch/Shell, was written on the back of a menu. The 1907 lease for concessions in Kuwait was written on the menu card in the restaurant of the fabled Orient Express transcontinental train.

• When the Shell Oil Co. of B.C. Ltd. was formed in 1913, it was not owned by Shell Canada, but was, instead, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shell California. The B.C. operations became part of Shell Canada in 1945.

• So you think it's tough driving a truck today? Seventy years ago, Shell drivers piloted cumbersome Pierce Arrow trucks, whose top speed was 17 miles per hour. And if the driver ran low on gasoline, he had to back up the hill to the refinery, otherwise no fuel could reach the engine.

• Even in 1930 there was a federal government gasoline tax. Five cents (21%) of the 24 cents per gallon cost of Shell gasoline was federal tax. Today, federal and provincial taxes make up about half the price of a litre of gasoline.

• According to surveys, Santa Claus, his red suit, and whiskers are among the few symbols around the world that are more recognizable than the red and yellow Shell emblem, called the Pecten.

• One of the founders of Royal Dutch/Shell, Sir Marcus Samuel, started in business by manufacturing jewel boxes and other Victorian bric-a-brac out of sea shells. It was logical, therefore, that the first ships owned by the company were given names like Murex and Conch in honour of Sir Marcus' abiding interests in the sea shells that began it all.

• The first ocean-going motor vessel of any kind was the Shell tanker Vulcanus, built in 1910.

• English aviators John Alcock and Arthur Brown made the first non-stop trans-Atlantic flight in 1919 in 16 hours and 27 minutes. The fuel for the historic flight was provided by Shell.

• Shell was the first oil company in Canada to provide a completely lead-free gasoline when it introduced Shell Ultra in October, 1970. In 1987 Shell Australia introduced unleaded fuel to the Australian market. And in 1988 Shell U.K became the first oil company to provide unleaded fuel in Great Britain -- 18 years after it became available in Canada.

• During the Second World War, Shell Canada did its part to help the Allies' war effort. One of the things the company did was to cancel all credit cards to encourage people to conserve gasoline.

• "Have horse, will travel" was the motto of Shell geologists and surveyors searching for oil in Alberta in the 1940s. A typical survey team consisted of three geologists, a cook, a packer and 15 horses. Survey parties could only work during the height of summer, when there was enough grass to feed their trusty steeds. Despite these problems, geologists enjoyed working for Shell because they got a company horse instead of having to supply their own!

• World-famous English adventurer Sir Francis Chichester had a long relationship with Shell. When Chichester made history in 1930 by flying solo from London to Australia in his single-engine Gypsy Moth, he used Shell aviation fuel. Over 30 years later, when Chichester was the first individual to sail solo around the world in his boat Gypsy Moth IV, he used Shell heating oil in his stove and Shell fuel for his auxiliary engine.

• If a modern car had to use the gasoline refined in the 1920s without any of today's detergents and other additives, chances are good it would hardly move at all, much less moving from 0 to 100 kilometres per hour in seven seconds.

• Shell is known worldwide as a longtime motorsport sponsor. The company's first recorded involvement in the sport was back in 1907 when Prince Scipione Borghese used Shell fuel in winning the legendary Paris to Peking race. The prince took 60 days to travel the gruelling route through Siberian wastes and burning deserts in his four-cylinder, Shell-powered 24-horsepower Itala.

• The roof of the new Amsterdam Opera House is built with zinc provided by the Shell Group's subsidiary company, Billiton.

• Did you know that unleaded gasoline was actually around long before the leaded variety? From 1913 to 1923, all gasoline was unleaded. Then in 1923 General Motors discovered tetraethyl lead (TEL), a new product which increased the octane (anti-knock) rating of gasoline. They also discovered that as a useful byproduct, TEL acted as a lubricant for pistons and valves. Ethyl Corporation commercialized and marketed TEL, which is why in old movies you sometimes hear gas station attendants asking customers whether they want "ethyl or regular".

• Today's gasoline is not just a single substance. It is made up of over 300 different molecular compounds.

• Only 17 per cent of the energy released by burning a litre of gasoline is actually used to move a vehicle down the road. The remaining energy is emitted as heat through the exhaust and the engine's cooling and braking systems.

• All gasoline is seasonally adjusted by oil companies to provide satisfactory starting and driveability for different temperatures. That means that the gasoline you buy in the winter is more volatile and quite different from the gasoline you buy in summer.

• Everyone knows that gasoline is a highly-flammable substance in the presence of an open spark, flame or incandescent surface. But consider this: The self-ignition temperature for gasoline, depending on how it is blended, is between 300 and 400 degrees Celsius. Diesel fuel and motor oil will self-ignite somewhat more easily, at approximately 200 degrees Celsius! This means that in the presence of heat alone -- without an open spark or flame -- spilled diesel fuel or motor oil will catch fire at a lower temperature than gasoline will. Remember to keep exercising caution when handling gasoline, but apply that same caution to motor oil and diesel fuel!

• If technology could utilize 100 per cent of the energy of a litre of gasoline to drive a 1,400 kilogram car down the highway at 80 km/h, that car would get an awesome 66 km per litre (or 1.5 l per 100 km)! Or stated the old imperial measurement way: a 3,000 pound car driving at 50 mpg would get 185 miles to the gallon.

• At a time when we're considering alternate fuels for our vehicles, it's interesting to note that the first automobiles didn't run on gasoline. Instead, they ran on a wide variety of unusual fuels including powdered coal, wood, naphtha and wood alcohol, among others. Some were even steam-powered.