#benzine

066 Austin K4 Petrol Tanker (1946) KXY 774 by Robert Knight Via Flickr: Austin K4 Tanker (1939-45) Engine 3489cc S6 60hp Petrol Chassis no. K4VA11714 Engine no. M0197541K1675 Fleet Number 2227 Decals National Benzole Mixture fuel tanker Registration Number KXY 774 (London) AUSTIN ALBUM www.flickr.com/photos/45676495@N05/sets/72157623759808208... The Austin K4 was a heavy British truck that the Austin Motor Co. built in World War II, restyled in 1946 they were to continue in production until 1955. The vehicle number is divided into three parts, with the first part indicating the capacity (K2: 2-tonner / K4: 5-tonner), the second part is the type of vehicle, and the third part is the chassis number. From February 1946, a new cab with a new grille was installed with centrally vertical ribs They were equipped with a 4-liter engine 90 hp engine. The postwar models received an updated radiator grille., previously they were consistently horizontal. It is the only visible difference. KXY 774 - Chassis no. K4VA11714 This tanker was supplied new to National Benzole and had sold the vehicle to Brockman's in 1957, when it was repainted green and red livery, beneath which the old National Benzole colour scheme was discovered. It was rescued from scrap yard on the Sheerness dockside in 1991, after which it underwent a long and painstaking renovation The only notified deviation from factory specification is the provision of a Kenlowe electric cooling fan. NATIONAL BENZOLE - a potted history National Benzole was no ordinary petoleum brand, the clue is in its name. In the United Kingdom, benzole or benzol is a coal-tar product consisting mainly of benzene and toluene not to be confused with the word "benzol" (or benzole) which in some languages means benzene and can be confused can mean petrol, or gasoline. In the early part of the 20th century Benzole was produced in a small scale and was used during the 1st World War for propelling mortar shells massively increasing production. With the onset of peace there was huge surplus of benzole which happily coincided with the increase in popularity of the Motor Car. A group of men, including Samuel Henshaw, then the chairman of the Staffordshire Chemical Company, reckoned there was money to be made from these surplus-to-requirements stocks, setting up National Benzole in February 1919 in a room next to the boiler house of the Gas Light and Coke Company in London's Horseferry Road. Although the idea of using benzole to power automobiles was not new, cars fueled on neat benzole needed altered carburetor settings which was inconvenient for owners who had previously used petrol and the effectiveness of neat benzole as a paint stripper raised concern about the possible effect on carburettor floats made of varnished cork – a common feature in US imported vehicles. Also the quality of the new fuel was proving inconsistent. Henshaw and his team set about ironing out these problems which in 1919 was boosted by the award of the RAC Dewar Trophy to a Rolls-Royce 40/50 hp that successfully completed a 10,000-mile reliability trial fuelled exclusively by National Benzole. However in the same year there was a Coal Strike which restricted benzole availability, and increased demand in the ensuing years led to frequent shortages of coal shale from which the benzole was made. Neat Benzole was also proving to strong for the average engine. National Benzoles answer came in 1922 by replacing neat benzole with a fifty fifty mix of benzole and petroleum. While neat Benzole continued to be marketed as an effective anti-knocking performance enhancing additive. Because garages were initially sparse, the Automobile Association ((AA) itself set up twelve strategically located filling stations, supplying fuel only to its own members and making no profit from the transactions initially supplying only National Benzole which was seen a particularly patriotic fuel choice because the coal shale which was the principal ingredient of benzole was domestically produced. The AA dismantled its garage network in 1927 due to motor fuel becoming more readily available but by now National Benzole had become a nationally established fuel brand in the UK. The company however had no oil refining facility of its own, and had to contract to buyer tanker loads already refined fuel. Which led to a long term contract with the Anglo-Persian Oil Company which foreshadowed still closer links with the future British Petroleum company: Effectively promoted and distributed into the second half of the twentieth century, National Benzole continued to be very popular with British motorists and the National Benzole brand remained a common sight at the roadside. However the proportion of benzole in the mixture was reduced progressively after World War II as a number of specialist applications for the chemical grew with the development of the UK's chemical industry. During the late 1950s Benzole was determined to be hazardous to health: its anti-knocking properties as a fuel ingredient were no longer so important for the smooth running of engines, since various additives including, ironically, tetraethyllead were now routinely included in refined petroleum. Therefore, from the early 1960s onwards National sold only petrol. National Benzole joined the Shell-Mex & BP family in 1957 but continued to trade separately by 1959 the motor fuel marketing business was now fully merged with Shell-Mex & BP Benzole (no longer part of the mixture) was dropped from the fuel's name. Following the de-merger of Shell-Mex & BP in 1976, the National brand continued to be distinctively marketed by BP for over a decade. MR. MERCURY In 1928 with its 50-50 mix firmly established the company created Mr. Mercury as a marketing symbol. At first he appeared startlingly naked in a National newspaper advertising campaign. Mr. Mercury, in National Benzole's black and chrome gold corporate colours, became one of the most powerful marketing images of this age. Almost every service station in the 1930s had a National Benzole pump, for single-brand sites were unknown in those days. Eventually, Mr. Mercury's head was used as the brand's logo. After WW2 he returned in 1953, now more modestly attired in the advertisements, though he retained his winged helmet, and National Benzole quickly re-established itself as a market leader. Diolch am 98,463,824 o olygiadau gwych, mae pob un ohonynt yn cael eu gwerthfawrogi'n fawr. Thanks for 98,463,824 amazing views, every one is greatly appreciated. Shot 09.10.2022, at Bicester Heritage, Autumn Scramble, Bicester Aerodrome, Bicester, Oxon 166-066

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