Stepping back in time

[Cormanus]

I once pulled into a station on my Aermacchi 50 and the guy comes out. I said fill it with regular, and the guy carefully pumps it in so it doesn't spill , hangs up the pump and says that'll be 18 cents. Lol


I was working at the Sohio station one time and a guy comes in driving a Saab. This was 1968. No one had even seen a Saab before. I asked him about it and he said it was made in Sweden, was made to go in the snow, and then handed me a can and told me to pour it in the tank before I filled it up. I asked what it was and he said the car was a two stroke and you had to mix oil with the gas. ( I of course was familiar with 2 strokes, my Aermacchi was a 2 stroke, but I didn't know they made 2 stroke cars) After I put in the oil and filled the gas he told me to jump up and down on the rear bumper to mix it up.

BTW not to divert too much, but talking about strange cars did you know Honda once made a chain drive sports car?

My godmother's son had one in the late 60s. It was a little red genuine two seater. About 600cc as I recall. I liked it. It was one of the first small two-seater sports cars from outside Europe.

[CIP57_imp]

During the first gas shortage in 1973 i worked at Power Test. My dad told me don't quit or loss this job, he would come in at closing and fill up his car. Back then it was 32 and 36 cents a gallon.

Who remember riding minibikes and after the local gas station closed going and draining the hoses for a full tank

[the Ferret]

Cormanus, I have never seen one, only in books. That's cool that you actually know someone that owned one. Introduced in 1964 it was called an S 600 and it cost 1/2 as much as an MG and revved to 10,000 rpms with it Dohc motor vs the MGs 6000 rpms. Awesome little car.

[Cormanus]

Cormanus, I have never seen one, only in books. That's cool that you actually know someone that owned one. Introduced in 1964 it was called an S 600 and it cost 1/2 as much as an MG and revved to 10,000 rpms with it Dohc motor vs the MGs 6000 rpms. Awesome little car.

Think I might even have been taken for a drive in it once, but it's a long time ago.

[The Spaceman_imp]

I worked at a Sohio station in 1968 and 1969. Back then it was full service. When someone came in we pumped the gas, washed the windshield and checked the oil level while the gas was pumping, would even check the air pressure in their tires if they wanted.

A lot of people back then would order their gas by dollar amount.." Give me $5 worth" .. But some old people would order by gallons as in " give me 5 gallons of gas". You had to be careful, sometimes someone would pull in and say "give me 5" and you'd pump in $5 worth and they'd say "I only wanted 5 gallons" or $1.75 worth and would try and pay you that.

For that I made about $ 1.50 an hour


Taking the pictures was fun and brought back memories

That's so cool; we did the same thing, my stint was just a few years later in the late 70's. I worked part-time at Steve's American gas station on US-1 in Cocoa my last year of High School and first 2 years of college. Pumped gas, checked oil, on the weekends they'd let me help in the shop where I almost learned a thing or two. Got a few great stories from that job, like the guy with the Chevelle that burned fuel so fast we had to have him shut it off so the pump could keep up and fill the tank.

[Elipten_imp]

The old Saab was also 6 volt as I recall. The reason it was 2 stroke, was so there was not thick cold oil to slow the engine turning over to start in the cold northern climate.


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[redbirds_imp]

Such a cool picture Ferret. When I got my job as a Lineman for Southern Bell back in '66 I had a '56 Nash Metropolitan that I commuted to work in. Only thing I could afford at the time. I made a stop on Monday mornings at the Gulf station and bought $2 worth of gas which would carry me through to next Monday. Those were the days.

[flynrider]

I once pulled into a station on my Aermacchi 50 and the guy comes out. I said fill it with regular, and the guy carefully pumps it in so it doesn't spill , hangs up the pump and says that'll be 18 cents. Lol


I was working at the Sohio station one time and a guy comes in driving a Saab. This was 1968. No one had even seen a Saab before. I asked him about it and he said it was made in Sweden, was made to go in the snow, and then handed me a can and told me to pour it in the tank before I filled it up. I asked what it was and he said the car was a two stroke and you had to mix oil with the gas. ( I of course was familiar with 2 strokes, my Aermacchi was a 2 stroke, but I didn't know they made 2 stroke cars) After I put in the oil and filled the gas he told me to jump up and down on the rear bumper to mix it up.

BTW not to divert too much, but talking about strange cars did you know Honda once made a chain drive sports car?

My neighbor owned a late 60s Honda sedan that had a CB450 engine and the original Hondamatic transmission. Even stranger was a school friend who drove a 4-wheel drive Suzuki Jeep-like car with 350-400cc air cooled two stroke. Both these drivers were the envy of their friends when gas prices shot through the roof

[Guth_imp]

Great picture.

There really weren't too many jobs to be had around the little town where we lived when I was in high school. Back then, if a kid was lucky, he might find work at the gas station or the grocery store. I ended up stocking shelves instead of pumping gas. Of course, much of the money I made at the grocery store was spent at the gas station.