MOBIL OIL CO. / MOBILGAS 1950 GRAND CANYON RUN "PROOF OF PERFORMANCE" GAS EFFICIENCY TEST 64944

[@MrLikeke]

This was thrilling for me. As a child I traveled across these same places with my family. One could see the glow of Las Vegas from over one hundred miles in the sparse high desert in the very dark night. Most cars had a water bag hanging in front of the radiator. Those cars that didn't suffered in the heat. It was no laughing matter when driving long stretches of desert between isolated towns. As an adult I have traveled throughout these regions on my hunting, photography, geology, and archaeology trips. The west sure is alluring and beautiful.

[@dehoyosrudolph8885]

Do you have any of your vintage photos posted, on the internet?

[@gregorymalchuk272]

Was the water bag an improvised overflow container that sucked the water back in when the motor cooled down?

[@noscwoh1]

Since this was a Mobilgas promo film, it doesn't mention any specific auto marques or the test results. They wanted to stay "impartial" for the film, of course. ;) The results were kinda skewed anyway, because of the method of measuring economy per ton-mile. If you're interested, the out and out winners were Studebaker and Nash cars, averaging MPG in the high 20s to low 30s. They won so often that Mobilgas put them in their own category in later years!

[@fromthesidelines]

It was known as Socony-Vacuum Oil Company until 1955, when it changed its name to Socony Mobil. The reason, according to Vance Packard in "The Hidden Persuaders" (1957), was because too many people thought they manufactured vacuum cleaners instead of gasoline and motor oil. The "Mobil" name (and sign) began to be used regularly in 1957, and "Mobilgas" was phased out the following year.

[@calbob750]

Interesting footage of Las Vegas. Notice that the stop signs were yellow and black. Red started in 1954.

[@sarjim4381]

There are only six makes left out all the ones that entered the run. That was a weird route to the ?South Rim. I guess they wanted to include Death Valley. I checked the identical route on Google Maps. Even taking old Route 66 through Arizona, the trip today would take 11 hours 32 minutes. That shows the effect of freeways compared to the two lane road era. The CHP car was a hoot. Single red spotlight to the front and single amber light in the rear window. If the people in Lone Pine were shivering it couldn't have been that hot in Death Valley. Of the four hotels in Vegas, only the Flamingo still exists, but name only, since the the last remaining Flamingo structure from the original 1946 hotel was demolished in 1993. It was obviously chilly in Vegas at 7:30 in the morning. In 1950, you could drive to the top of the dam, park right along the road, and go take a free tour down to the powerhouse. You can still drive across the top of the dam, but you can't stop, only park in the garage for $10, then take a shuttle to the dam. The free tour will now cost you $30, and you'll be thoroughly searched before you can enter. It's worse than getting on an airliner. Even a nail file is prohibited, just in case you decided to start chipping away at the concrete. The switchbacks coming up from the Dam on US 93 are long gone, replaced by a wide four lane highway, crossing the Colorado River on a long steel bridge, downstream from the Dam. The suicide barriers are so high you can no longer see the Dam from what is now Interstate 11. The stretch of 93 from the Nevada border used to be in terrible shape, Just as it was in 1950, shown by all the patches and potholes. It's now also replaced by a wide four lane highway. Ash Fork is on the last major section of old 66 in Arizona, and was bypassed by I-40 running over 20 miles to the south. This killed off the town, and, with only 396 people left in 2010, it's rapidly approaching ghost town status. The tracks still go to the Grand Canyon, but now it's just a tourist railroad. The last Santa Fe passenger train visited the Grand Canyon in 1969, with only the occasional freight with heating oil for the park running the rust off the rails. The Grand Canyon Railway tourist operation began in 1989 and is still going strong. And, after watching 36 minutes of this, do you think Mobil was going to announce the actual winners, thereby pissing off all the other entrants? Not on your life! They needed those car companies to come back next year, and that wasn't going to happen by naming a competitor as having better gas mileage than you did. No, we'll use the last ten minutes to let you know why you need to visit a Mobil station and have everything on your car serviced or replaced. :-)

[@vinnydaq13]

Sar Jim I wonder why Buick and Pontiac declined to enter.

[@bloqk16]

@@vinnydaq13 It could have been in the price-range of those two makes; as well as not having appear for General Motors to be _stacking the deck_ of its additional makes against other manufacturers with fewer makes.

[@waynejohnson1304]

At 31:42, it indicated that all of the cars finished.

[@desertbob6835]

​​@@vinnydaq13I did see a '50 Olds, I thought I saw a Chevy, definitely no Buick. If they did enter one, it would have come in with the worst fuel economy of ANY make, if it was equipped with Dynaflow...around 10 MPG.

[@jimmotormedic]

Driving in 2020- start it up a jam it in gear. Take off as fast as you can. Absolutely don't use your turn signal. Keep your middle finger handy. Don't drop your cell phone. Drive like a jerk and your the only one on the planet. Never do any maintenance to your vehicle. because it's a lease and it's not your problem. And when you stop at the gas station for something other than fuel, make sure you parked in front of a pump so someone who needs gas has to wait until you get your coffee and lottery tickets. I'm sure I missed a few so feel free to to add them. Cool video. I wish I lived back then. Seems like my kind of life

[@absolutely1337]

jim k it’s 2020 we all dead

[@chrisiollich4890]

Thank you sir!

[@fairfaxcat1312]

You could have added that people in cars also need to keep their pants on. You can even catch AIDS now.

[@steelermia]

the part about going in for coffee and tickets reminded me of yesterday .. massive lines to get gas .. and people taking their sweet time, going inside for who knows what when they park at the pump instead of getting their gas quickly and getting the fk out .. it's like they forget there's a line once they get to the pump .. 'fk everyone else' .. inconsiderate pieces of shit

[@TreeTop1947]

Oh, that brand new, shiny black, 1950 Willys "Jeepster", though! Semper Fi, TreeTop

[@altfactor]

I believe this was the precursor of the Mobil Economy Run, which eventually became a coast-to-coast test of fuel economy.

[@altfactor]

The American Automobile Association (AAA) also once sanctioned Indianapolis-type auto racing, but ended that sanctioning after Bill Vukovich, Sr. was killed in a crash during the 1955 Indianapolis "500". Subsequently, the United States Auto Club took over sanctioning of both Indy-tyoe cars and the Mobil Economy Run.

[@bloqk16]

Seeing those snow-capped mountains and the lack of foliage on the trees, it's easy to see this was done in Winter. The steep downhill grade spoken about when approaching Death Valley I can attest to. Years ago I approached Death Valley, in Winter, from the west entrance, driving a diesel-powered mini pickup truck with a manual shift; which was noted for its robust *deacceleration* when lifting the foot off of the throttle pedal. It was astounding the amount of braking I had to do when going downhill into Death Valley. That Death Valley approach was the hardest I ever used the brakes in the 100K miles of driving with that vehicle.

[@waynejohnson1304]

Do many cars overheat coming out of Death Valley going the other direction?

[@bloqk16]

@@waynejohnson1304 I doubt the cars made over the past 30 years would overheat on that steep grade, which according to the National Park Service, ranges from 7 to 9 percent grade. That is, unless the temperature would be over 110 degrees F, or 43 degrees C. The major vehicle manufacturers made improvements with engine cooling systems in the 1980s to the present; where the only issues I've seen with modern engine overheating would be from leaky cooling system or a stopped cooling fan. But, I can say for certainty that cars of the 1930s thru the '70s may have had issues of overheating; as the engines of those eras with poor fuel mileage meant a high rate of heat being generated from the excessive burning of gasoline; with the radiator sizes of those eras not up to the challenges of keeping the engines from overheating in warm weather with steep uphill grades. I still recall as a kid (in the 1960s) seeing turnouts on steep grade roads/highways (in the US) that had a water spigot for motorists to use to replenish the water on the overheated car radiators. I can't say for certain, but I seem to recall the Hwy 190 out of Death Valley having such turnouts in the mid-1980s.

[@waynejohnson1304]

@@bloqk16 Very well written. Thank you for answering. :)

[@bradboustead1682]

All that crazy economy and HP come from the 6.5:1 compression ratio engine.

[@quagmiredavis4117]

@Jim Kvasnicka except the flathead mercury

[@jamesbosworth4191]

Cadillacs, Oldsmobiles, and Buicks with DynaFlow had over 7:1.

[@acersalman8258]

you are science education original God bless you and protect you I wish today industries made like old style iron strong good

[@richardcoughlin8931]

Why does the voiceover of 1950s documentaries sound the same?

[@EristiCat]

The best explanation I've heard is that it's left over from the kind of "acting" voices that were needed on Radio to make things sound interesting. As people got used to seeing as well as hearing on these kinds of programs the "radio voice" faded away. Remember, in 1950 Radio was still king, tv was just in its infancy and about to explode.

[@fire58372001]

24:36 My, how times have changed.

[@K-Effect]

The harder and faster you drive the more fun you have!

[@fairfaxcat1312]

Always best to try to speed up to beat the traffic signal.

[@JJJBRICE]

Mobil=Socony=Standard Oil Company of New York

[@trussell8510]

Back when things were done right and America was a more respectful and united place to enjoy life.

[@allandavis8201]

Was it Mobil who organised this car rally????? I think I missed it as it was rarely mentioned, only about every few seconds.

[@MrLikeke]

16:37 I do not understand the relevancy of this part.

[@bloqk16]

I've viewed it a couple of times and the abstract reasoning I could figure: It was a BS smokescreen to give it an element of "competition" of the cars/drivers for this (ahem!) _fuel efficiency_ project; as it was told about the drivers being "charged" for the amount of gasoline they ordered. *What a load of BS.* It's doubtful none of the drivers or car manufacturers spent a penny on fuel, as this was underwritten and promoted by Mobil. Strange that no hard numbers were presented with what the fuel mileages were for the competing cars.

[@randallsullivan3692]

@@bloqk16 Gasoline weighs approx 8 lbs. per gallon. you had to estimate your mileage to the next stop in order to not have the added load. If you ran out along the way you were done. If you guessed too much and couldn't fit it into your tank, you were still credited with using (charged) that amount.

[@fairfaxcat1312]

Here again observers kept sharp watch to be sure all traffic regulations were obeyed.

[@pantherplatform]

18:30 looks like the guy on the left is in the middle of texting

[@frankelfranko1436]

This may be the most ads I seen in a 36 minute video.

[@Disques13Swing]

So which car won?

[@chuckoaks6756]

I suppose if I drove my truck 40mph I could get 35mpg.

[@J_Calvin_Hobbes]

👍

[@KE4ZNR]

This was the WORST Cannonball Run ever! 😆

[@richardhetrick4770]

This film should had posted speed and fuel useage they should had a few ecomeny cars with small engines and post same car with small engine and largest engine available my fifty seven Chevy has six to large block right available I have 283 with three speed electric overdrive they could had run cars with Manuel and automatic transmissions the same car you have convertible station wagon and sedan and few engine and Axel ratio all can effect fuel ecomeny the city cab driver wants higher number he drives in city compared to me who drives on level county roads

[@jamesbosworth4191]

Chevy didn't get a big block until 58. Ditto for Ford and Plymouth.

[@triple6758]

Cars used to cost what phones do now. Inflation my ass. Forever falling Fiat Dollars.

[@dr7584]

Ok great test, but why bother doing all that "science" when all the "data" that comes from it is preaching slow-poke driving and promoting maintenance. What car and engine got the best mileage and how much time lost and money saved driving conservatively? Should you enjoy a luxury car in spite of the lower efficiency if you can afford it? As consumers, we should have higher expectations than the entertainment of watching a 36-minute Mobil Gas and AAA appreciation commercial. It was a different world then, and despite the limp results, it is still fun to see the old cars and how riled up everyone was about gasoline.

[@richardhetrick4770]

I traveled though this area in trailer truck. I got rid jack rabbit driver this waste fuel and more wear and tear on truck you can't make time and fuel economy both I opt for fuel economy with eight trucks my profit is thin after fuel and driver wages I may sound hard getting rid fuel waster he suck profit from everybody he will drag you in red ink tires brakes clutch engine life. They most generally have car with biggest engine. They hate four cylinder cars like mustang he likes biggest 8

[@whiskeysixindigo7371]

What if they needed to stop to to poo poo?

[@fairfaxcat1312]

The woke and now defeated Balto. City State’s Attorney said that arrests will no longer be made for prostitution, illicit drug use, and public urination. If you’re driving through Balto. City you can just throw open the door and go right out onto the street while you’re driving along. You don’t have to lose any time.

[@SolarisGuy]

M L

[@thomasmcalear8673]

TRY THIS DRIVING METHOD IN THE YEAR 2023 DELIVERING GOODS TO CUSTOMERS WHILE DRIVING AROUND DUMBBELLS & SLOPOKES ON MODERN HIGHWAYS !!!! I'D NEVER GET ANYTHING DELIVERED ON TIME !!!

[@RichadTheLionHeat]

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