New and Updated pages on the European petrol map site

New and improved pages on the
European Petrol Road Map Web Site

Updates from 2000

This provides a chronological list of updates to the site, with the most recent ones listed first. In addition to the updates listed there were numerous small technical changes to help navigation around the site and improve the quality of some of the images (and the accuracy of some of the company histories).

Austrian Road Maps
For my final page of the year, I have created an overview of maps from Austria. There are ten new images on this page including some from a 1937 Shell map, as well as a number of others that I have re-scanned specially for it. (Updated 31 December 2000)

The Shell Guide to Good Mileage
In 1979, Shell published a full colour leaflet advising motorists in the UK on ways to avoid wasting petrol. Although some of the information has been superseded by improvements to car technology, much of it is still valid, and I am grateful to have been permitted to convert it into a web page, which reproduces the complete text and original illustrations. It may not be a map, but it would have sat in a rack next to the maps! (Updated 29 December 2000)

A Pollet map of Belgium
This site already showed some Pollet maps for countries other than its home land of Belgium. I have now redressed this by including a 1981 Belgian issue. (Updated 28 December 2000)

Uniti Group Maps from Germany
Uniti was established in 1927 to provide support for independent German petrol retailers. In the 1930s a surprising number of their small members, including Boie, Everth (Euco), A May and Minera issued branded road maps. (Some of these maps were previously shown on the AVIA page). (Updated 28 December 2000)

More German maps from Rheinpreussen and Migrol
Since I split the DEA and Migrol pages, I have been sent two additional map images from 1950s maps of West Germany. One is an early post-war example from Rheinpreussen, and the other the first known map from Migrol in Germany. (Updated 26 December 2000)

Post-Soviet Russia
The Russian revolution came too early for any pre-Soviet maps, and under communism independent travel was discouraged. However since the break-up of the former Soviet Union, a few Western brands have put a toehold into the Russian market. (Updated 20 December 2000)

Older maps from Poland
When I first posted the page about Poland, I asked if anyone had earlier maps, or ones in CPN colours. Thanks to Michal Okonek, a local collector, I can now show both, including an early Standard-Nobel map, an amazing distance calculator from Galkar-Karpaty and a typical CPN map. (Updated 16 December 2000)

A second Antar map
Antar was a leading French brand from the 1930s until the last decade, but its road maps are relatively uncommon. I have added a 1964 map to the Elf/Antar page, and updated the history to reflect the recent purchase of Elf by TotalFina. (Updated 9 December 2000)

Updates to Gasolin & Nitag
With the help of Jon Roma, I have added a further four map images from Gasolin and included a pre-war Nitag map cover. I have also rescanned some of the older Gasolin images to improve their quality. (Updated 6 December 2000)

Maps from Iceland
This site has only shown one map from Iceland up to now, as they are quite hard to find. To redress the balance, I have now added a page for Iceland as part of the on-going country series. (Updated 2 December 2000)

A start on the country pages...
Despite my comment above, I have started dipping my toe into the country by country summaries. The first two pages to be done are:

Romania and Bulgaria and

Poland

These are perhaps the easiest as I have vey few maps from Eastern Europe! The country pages will consist of a mix of newly scanned images and recycled ones from the brands pages: so, for example, each of the above pages has four new images, but adds them to two or thre old ones. As aleays I would welcome comment on what to include and what to leave out from these summary pages. (Updated 26 November 2000)

Two more from France...
I have added a scan of a very early (1925) BP guide to Paris that, whilst not really a map, is the earliest French oil company item containing maps that I know of. Also from France, but much younger, is a Total map of Grenoble produced for the 1968 Winter Olympics. (Updated 17 November 2000)
...and a third
I have also added a 1964 Mobil map of Provence that was issued with a companion booklet highlighting places to visit. (Updated 19 November 2000)

Maps for the 1958 Brussels World Fair
Michel Breugelmans has kindly helped me to compile this page showing five maps for the Brussels World Fair. (Updated 17 November 2000)

Three quick quizzes
If you have trawled through this site you may wish to see if you can remember anything about it! I have added three short quizzes:

Where the brand has been removed from the map cover image

For six small map sections, taken from 1957 Esso maps

For eight maps of Bournemouth, where you have to guess the issuer and cartographer

(Updated 12 November 2000)

A pre-war Rheinpreussen map
A pre-war Rheinpreussen map has been added to the DEA page. I have also rescanned the older DEA images to gain a better quality file and split off the Migrol maps onto a separate page, now that DEA and Migrol are no linked in Switzerland. (Updated 5 November 2000)

Sheet maps from Sainsbury's and Leclerc
Up to now, this site has only shown booklet maps from Sainsbury's. Two sheet maps by ML-Design have been added, with a more recent booklet map and another map from the French supermarket chain, E. Leclerc. (Updated 3 November 2000)

A map from Ernst Boie
A pre-war map has been found from Ernst Boie of Lübeck, which was part of the Uniti grouping of mittelstand companies and is now an AVIA participant. (Updated 3 November 2000)

More Aral maps
In a major upgrade to the Aral page, I have added six more maps and re-scanned most of the older images. (Updated 30 October 2000)

More Q8 maps
I have added three more maps from Q8's operations in Sweden and Belgium, including one that is the same size (when folded) as a credit card. (Updated 22 October 2000)

Belgian independent brands since 1975
A small number of Belgian independent brands have issued maps over the past quarter century. This new page shows examples from OTA spanning three decades, Pollet (which amazingly added its own covers to maps from several European countries) and Octa+ which issued a map earlier this year showing the locations of the stations it had acquired from Burmah. (Updated 19 October 2000)

A recent AVIA and an old Minera map
I have added a recent (2000) AVIA map from Belgium that is issued by a sister company of Octa+ and also a pre-war map from a German predecessor, Minera. At the same time, I have upgraded four of the other images on this page. (Updated 19 October 2000)

1980s Shell maps from France
I have added a 1988 Shell map from France to represent maps from that decade. (I have also made a number of technical improvements to the navigation on the Esso area of the site, and updated the list of articles on the Letter from Europe summary page.) (Updated 14 October 2000)

Valvoline (and more Duckham's)
Valvoline dates back to 1866 and has sold lubricants in Europe for many years. The lubes page now shows a 1957 French Valvoline map which shows that the company was particularly active in the Sarre (Saar). I have also added a 1953 Duckham's Road Maps booklet to this page. (Updated 8 October 2000)

Oil Company adverts on road maps
Not all petrol & oil companies issued their own road maps; some of the smaller ones could not afford to and so it made sense to consider advertising on other, commercial map issues. However, it appears that most adverts found on maps are nonetheless from the major brands of petrol - especially Shell, Esso, BP and Mobil. This page looks at some of the other brands with adverts on maps, including Optimol, AVIA, Portuguese brands and AGIP in Italy. (Updated 7 October 2000)

Dating Petrol Company Road maps
Many road maps carry a clear copyright date on them. However a significant minority lack any clear date and there are some cartographers' codes that are worth discovering. Otherwise, it may be necessary to compare the road network with a map of the same area that is dated, or to fall back upon the general style of the map... (Updated 1 October 2000) I have also created a specific page looking at the sequence of British Esso maps from ca1949 to 1958. (Updated 1 October 2000)

Updates to the BP Britain page
Following on from the main BP page, I have completely rewritten the British page and upgraded the scans of the maps. I have added a couple of new maps, and also changed some of the sectional images to ring the changes! (Updated 27 September 2000)

Updates to the main BP page
Two more maps have been added to the main BP page - a 1930s issue from Denmark (courtesy of Stan DeOrsey) and a special 1964 issue of Lausanne produced for the Swiss National Exhibition held that summer. I have also taken the opportunity to tidy the page up a little. (Updated 26 September 2000)

The introductory page in French
I am grateful to Pascal Pannetier for his assistance in preparing a French translation of the introductory page. (Updated 25 September 2000)

Mex Motor Spirit Map of the River Thames
Mex was a predecessor of Shell in England and during the 1914-18 war issued a map of the River Thames for use by motorists and owners of motor launches! (Updated 14 September 2000)

A Shell map showing the new RVI
Shell introduced a new Retail Visual Identity in 1994-5, and this is clearly shown on a 1995 map from France. (Updated 13 September 2000)

The French AVIA sign variant
When AVIA dropped the "space rocket" logo in the 1970s, a number of different national variants existed for a while. In France the logo had a green (not red) bar, and this is shown on a 1977 AVIA map created by Michelin. (Updated 13 September 2000)

Watsons Petrol Distributors had maps in the 1930s!
Watsons Petrol Distributors were based in NW England and supplied stations under R.O.P.'s ZIP brand. A map has now been found, similar to the 1937 ZIP issue, that is triply branded for Watsons R.O.P. ZIP. (Updated 13 September 2000)

Shell maps from Britain & Ireland
I was reminded by the responsible official at Shell that I had left off the latest Shell atlas - a real labour of love as it listed and located on the map all Shell's 2,500 British outlets in 1993. (Updated 24 August 2000)

Another 1930s Esso Germany map
I have added another 1930s Esso Germany map, with a transitional style of cover. (Updated 22 August 2000)

Maps from LPG Distributors
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) is used by a growing minority of European motorists. Surprisingly few maps have been prepared to help them find retail LPG outlets, but this page shows one from France. (Updated 20 August 2000)

Shell maps from Britain & Ireland
Shell issued maps for over 50 years in Britain, using a mix of Foldex, George Philip and AA for cartography. This major new page examines the maps and includes some 31 illustrations. (Updated 20 August 2000)

Shell-BP Shilling Guides
In 1963-4 Shellmex & BP Ltd published a series of 48 Shilling Guides to the counties of Britain. These had a small map in the centre, around 20 pages of text and very attractive card covers. (Updated 20 August 2000)

More scenic German Shell touring maps from the 1930s
I have added a further six images of 1930s Shell touring maps to give a more complete picture of this map series, which ran to 100 titles. (Updated 19 August 2000)

Pratt's Perfection Motor Spirit
The Standard Oil Company used the Pratt's name for motor spirit sales in Northern Europe. Between 1905 and 1929, Pratt's (latterly Pratts) issued a series of atlases covering England & Wales and Scotland & Ireland. These have now been linked in the the Esso pages. (Updated 18 August 2000)

Haltermann
Haltermann was a small Hamburg-based brand that issue an unusual and rare map in the 1950s. (Updated 12 August 2000)

A map from Nafta
The Soviet controlled Nafta operated in Britain and Belgium from the 1960s to late 1980s. A map has now been locatedfrom its Belgian operation. (Updated 8 August 2000)

More scenic German Shell maps from the 1930s
With the help of Jon Roma, I have added a further seven images of 1930s Shell maps to give a more complete review of the map series. (Updated 31 July 2000)

Shell Maps from 1973-95
The main Shell chronology is now on line: only the British pages are outstanding. This latest page has 13 further images from the period when Shell maps started to become less common. (Updated 30 July 2000)

Italian Home Page now on-line
The Italian language Home Page and Introduction pages are now on line - with many thanks to Enrico Audisio for his translations. (Updated 28 July 2000)

More Gasolin Maps
I have added some more Gasolin maps, including one from Austria. (Updated 23 July 2000)

Recent Maps from Poland
Continuing the trend of adding recent maps, I have added Polish maps from four brands: Aral, BP, Jet and PKN. PKN is the main successor to the former monopoly, CPN which is although understood to have issued maps. I have also taken the opportunity to add a recent Austrian atlas to the BP page. (Updated 22 July 2000)

Two more recent Aral Maps
Two more recent (2000/1) Aral Maps have been added to show the latest designs in use. (Updated 20 July 2000)

Recent Shell Maps
Shell has continued to produce maps, atlases and map booklets and this new page shows examples from Scandinavia, Benelux, Austria/Germany and Ireland, all prepared in the last five years. (Updated 19 July 2000)

Various technical updates
I have made a number of changes to the front of the site, including a shorter home page, and a new Introduction. I have also added some technical notes and a page of acknowledgements. There are a number of new images on the intro page, and one on the acknowledgements.
As this is meant to be a European site, I am - with the help of a number of friends - adding some pages in other major European languages. German and Dutch are the first to be posted, but there will be more soon... (Updated 15 July 2000)

An early Celor map of France
Celor was for many years a popular brand of French lubricating oil. I have added a Celor map, possibly from as earkly as the 1920s, to the lubes page: the map is unique in that it includes a built-in slide rule! (Updated 9 July 2000)

Shell Maps from Italy
Shell Italia produced cartoguida and various city plans in the 1960s, and a representative sample of these is shown on this new page. It also has a MonteShell map from 1986. (Updated 9 July 2000)

Shell Maps from 1958-72
Another major part of the Shell section is now on line. This page has some 23 new images, including maps from Portugal, Turkey, Greece and Sweden. The less graphic covers of the Mairs map series are explored as well as classic mid 1960s pictorial covers from the Shell Touring Service. (Updated 8 July 2000)

An OK map from 1983
The OK page previously jumped from the 1970s to the 1990s. I have now filled the gap with a 1983 map of Sweden. (Updated 7 July 2000)

Events based on Michelin and other tyre collectibles in Clermont-Ferrand
Michelin, Europe's largest tyre company, has been based in the city of Clermont-Ferrand, France since 1832. There are a number of events related to art and collectibles associated with the company (and other French tyre companies) taking place in 2000. (Updated 2 July 2000)

A BIM map of the Netherlands
Bim is a tiny Dutch independent brand of petrol that has issued a road map in the past few years. (Updated 22 June 2000)

A map from the Leclerc hypermarket chain
The hypermarket page has been extended to include a map from the chain of E. Leclerc, which is one of the top petrol retailers in the country. (Updated 21 June 2000)

A Sinclair Opaline map of Switzerland
This page now shows a mystery map of Switzerland promoting Sinclair Opaline Oils. (Updated 19 June 2000)

Shell cartoguides from France
Between 1958 and about 1980, Shell issued a number of series of cartoguides which featured attractive covers, a map by Foldex France and a gazetteer of places to visit. This large page shows a selection of cartoguides and related maps. (Updated 18 June 2000)

A cloth bound DEA Atlas
DEA appears not to have issued sheet maps in the 1950s and 60s, but it did sell hard bound atlases as are newly illustrated on this page. (Updated 14 June 2000)

More French maps
Two more French booklet maps have been included: an Atlas Azur from 1963 and a Motul that is five years younger. (Updated 15 June 2000)

Special Maps for the Olympic Games
Eight summer and Eight winter Olympics have been held in Europe since 1930. For a few of these games, leading petrol companies produced special maps to help their customers get to the Olympic venues. This page includes examples from Berlin (1936), Helsinki (1952), Rome (1960), Munich (1972) and the 1964 Winter Olympics at Innsbruck. (Updated 7 June 2000)
Bill Phillips and Richard Horwitz have kindly sent me a couple of additional images from Olympiads, which I have now added to the page. (Updated 14 June 2000)

More Fina maps
Two more maps, from Belgium and Germany, have been added to the Fina page. There is also a map extract showing how Fina stations were clustered on the cheaper Belgian side of the Franco-Belgian border. (Updated 24 May 2000)

Another Trading map from Belgium
Another Trading map from Belgium has been added to the Burmah page, dating from the early 1960s. (Updated 22 May 2000)

Shell maps from Denmark
Danske Shell has been a regular issuer of maps since the 1930s, and a broad cross-section is shown here. (Updated 20 May 2000)

Scenic German Shell maps from the 1930s
In the 1930s German Shell (Rhenania-OSSAG) published a large number of maps with scenic covers. A selection of the best are shown here. (Updated 18 May 2000)

The first Shell map page
At last, I have managed to add the first page devoted to Shell maps. The problem with Shell is what to leave out, so these pages may appear quite long. The first one looks at maps from around 1930 to 1957 when most corporate Shell maps were based on Foldex maps. But a frieze from an early French issue is included and there are some unusual German and Hungarian items on display, too. (Updated 16 May 2000)

More from Esso
A number of unusual Esso items have been added. The British Esso page now includes a "Tiger Trails" leaflet from the 1960s from the collection of Stan DeOrsey, as well as the 1966 guides "Off the Beaten Track". The navigation maps now include the oldest GB cruising guide and two images from a very recent Esso Bunker Service map of Benelux. (Updated 15 May 2000)

Seca maps from Belgium
Conoco's Belgian subsidiary continues to use the Seca brand. I have now added a separate page for the company, with images of three maps by different cartographers. (Updated 9 May 2000)

An IC map and another OK one
No more than a month after saying that I was unaware of any maps from IC, the predecessor of OK in Sweden, a local collector has sent me a scan of one. I have also added a 1973 map from OK. OK has itself now disappeared as a brand in Sweden in favour of a new composite OK Q8 identity. (Updated 6 May 2000)

A recent German Agip road atlas
To complement the 1967 Italian Agip atlas, I have now added a 1998 equivalent from Germany. As well as listing all Agip sites accepting their PAN Europe card, it locates Elf, Minol and Westfalen service stations. (Updated 22 April 2000)

This site may now be searched
The site is now fully searchable, using a service from atomz.com. I hope that it will make it even easier to find specific maps or brands on it. (Updated 19 April 2000)

Updates to the Burmah page
BP Amoco agreed last month to acquire Burmah Castrol plc. I have taken advantage of this to tidy up the page and to add add three more group maps to the Burmah page: two from Uno-X in Sweden and one from Burmah's small Belgian subsidiary. (Updated 16 April 2000)

At last - the links page
I have finally added a links page. If there are any sites that you would like to see a link to, then please let me know and I'll do my best to add one. (Updated 15 April 2000)

An Agip road atlas
In the mid 1960s Agip issued a small format softback road atlas in Italy. An example from 1967 has been added to the Agip page. (Updated 4 April 2000)

Major brands of petrol with no known maps
Most major petrol brands in Europe are known to have issued at least some maps, but there are several others large ones for which I know of no maps. Such brands include: Atlantic, Arco, Ultramar, VIP, Oxy, ICI, Nafta, Permolio, ERG, SPICA, Mach, Sacor, Sonap, OZO, Erpag, BFT, Fanal, Frisia, Deltin, Koppartrans, Kesoil, Union, Olís, Agrola, IC, and RAP. This page includes photos illustrating the operations of some of the companies named. (Updated 1 April 2000)

French Independents from the 1930s
A number of French independents issued maps in the 1930s. This new page shows maps from CIP (Compagnie Industrielle des Pétroles) and Serco, including a service station image from the Serco map. (Updated 25 March 2000)

BP Road atlases
BP regularly issued road atlases in the UK. Two examples, both from the 1980s, have been added to the BP page. (Updated 24 March 2000)

A second ZIP map
A second ZIP map (the 1937 edition) has been added to the Regent page. (Updated 24 March 2000)

A Belgian Sinclair map
A friend in Belgium has scanned this Sinclair map from 1967, a couple of years before the company was acquired by Arco. (Updated 16 March 2000)

Maps from lubricating oil companies
Various lubricating oil companies have issued maps or atlases from the 1910s to the 1990s. This page shows examples from Duckhams Oils, Millers Pistoneeze, Thelson Oils, Motul and Veedol, representing Britain, France and Germany. (Updated 12 March 2000)

Maps from Super- and Hypermarkets
Starting in the mid-1960s, supermarket and hypermarket chains have taken a steadily increasing share of the petrol market in the major countries of Europe Several supermarkets have issued maps showing the locations of their petrol stations and this page looks at those from Tesco, Sainbury's and Safeway in the UK. (Updated 11 March 2000)

TOTAL Maps
Total (CFP) did not open its first service stations in Europe until 1954. Since then it has expanded into most countries and often issued slightly unusual map titles (eg for the 1998 World Cup or of all-night service stations). This page shows 20 Total map cover images ranging from 1959 to 1998. (Updated 6 March 2000)

Aquila Maps
Aquila was an Italian independent oil company which also operated a small chain of filling stations in Austria. In the late 1950s it was acquired by the Compagnie Française des Pétroles (Total) about the time that these three maps were issued. (Updated 3 March 2000)

Texaco Maps
Texaco has had two distinct periods in the European petrol industry: from 1905 to 1947 and again from 1967 to date. Amongst the 17 maps shown on this page are two pre-war issues and others from as recently as the mid-1990s. (Updated 2 March 2000)

The Amoco Map of Space Mysteries
This page is another change from the main theme of European Oil Company maps. It is a 1958 map issued in the US by Amoco with some great graphics suggesting what space travel of the (then) future might look like! (Updated 29 February 2000)

A Teboil (TB) map booklet from Finland
Teboil is a Russian controlled petrol company that has been active in Finland for many years. Although they probably issued sheet maps in the past, the example shown here is a station listing booklet with good quality map pages included. (Updated 26 February 2000)

A list of cartographers
As a change from all the pages showing map covers, this new page list all the cartographers that I have on my database as having worked with petrol and oil companies. It includes a few that commercially produced maps that had advertising by petrol companies. In all over 150 cartographic or printing companies are listed. (Updated 25 February 2000)

MS (Munster Simms)
A 1950s map from the independent Northern Irish brand MS has been added to the same page as Maxol. MS was bought by National Benzole about 30 years ago and has long since been subsumed into BP. (Updated 22 February 2000)

Upgrades on the Caltex page
The Caltex page was one of the first written on this site, and some of the images were a bit poor. They have been upgraded and an additional German map from the early 60s has been added. Keen observers might notice that the Netherlands map has changed! (Updated 21 February 2000)

Statoil maps from Ireland and Scandinavia
Statoil is the Norwegian Government owned brand that now operates in nine European countries. Despite the first Statoil branded stations having been opened as recently as 1985, there are a number of maps from the company. (Updated 20 February 2000)

Regent maps from Britain
Regent was a major British brand, majority owned by Texaco from 1948 until its demise in 1967. In the 1950s it produced a number of spiral bound atlases, and in the 1960s sheet maps. (Updated 19 February 2000)

Q8 maps from Britain and Scandinavia
Q8, the brand of the Kuwait Petroleum Co, has regularly issued maps since it acquired most of Gulf's European operation in the mid 1980s. Its Danish arm has produced maps of unlikely areas, inluding Greece and Albania! (Updated 18 February 2000)

PAM maps from the Netherlands
PAM was the brand used on petrol (gasoline) stations by the Dutch fuel wholesaler SHV in four European countries. This page shows a PAM map from the Netherlands, the only one known to me. (Updated 14 February 2000)

A NITAG map and more from Gasolin & Leuna
Gasolin history and maps have been separated from the Aral page, even though the brand was subsumed into Aral in 1971. This new page shows a map from NITAG (which was taken over by Gasolin around 1960), an additional Gasolin map from ca1963 and two more pre-war Leuna maps. (Updated 13 February 2000)

An earlier AVIA map showing the propellor logo.
Dave Leach has kindly allowed me to use a scan of a 1950s AVIA map with an earlier logo. (Updated 13 February 2000)

A recent Esso Lubricare road atlas from Britain.
The most recent known Esso branded maps from Britain are in a 1994 atlas issued as an on-pack promotion. (Updated 11 January 2000)

A Petrol map of Slovenia.
Petrol Ljubljana is unusual in that it issued branded road maps within the former Yugoslavia. A 1969 map of its home state of Slovenia has recently been discovered by a US collector, and this is now shown. (Updated 11 January 2000)