Does this gas station look like it was a Mobil?

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Ephrata1966
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Does this gas station look like it was a Mobil?

Post by Ephrata1966 »

It's at 555 E Baltimore Ave in Clifton Heights PA. Until relatively recently, it was a Coastal before going unbranded. The signs have a Mobil shape, and the station buildings have "tree bark" brick which screams 70's and reminds me of the Mobil about 10 miles west on Baltimore Pike in Springfield, which reverted back to Mobil from Lukoil. Both stations have a car wash, but the station which inspired this thread doesn't have auto repairs like the Springfield Mobil does.
Rob_L
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Re: Does this gas station look like it was a Mobil?

Post by Rob_L »

I know where this location is, and I can't remember what it was prior to Coastal. I doubt it was a Mobil though, as the building doesn't look
like their design

The Mobil in Springfield is definitely a Mobil built location.

Also remember, quite a few of the Mobil gas only locations (some did have a car wash) were originally part of the OLD BP family, but became
Mobil locations during the BP/Mobil asset swap in the 1980's...(BP traded most of their Northeast stations with Mobil for some of their west coast marketing assets)
Ephrata1966
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Re: Does this gas station look like it was a Mobil?

Post by Ephrata1966 »

Thanks for your help but I am convinced it was a Mobil if not for a short time. The plastic inserts of the signs by the road almost look like they still might be original Mobil ones which have been re-stamped.
wnetmacman
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Re: Does this gas station look like it was a Mobil?

Post by wnetmacman »

Ephrata1966 wrote:Thanks for your help but I am convinced it was a Mobil if not for a short time. The plastic inserts of the signs by the road almost look like they still might be original Mobil ones which have been re-stamped.
Looks like it could have been a Getty.
Scott Greer
Ephrata1966
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Re: Does this gas station look like it was a Mobil?

Post by Ephrata1966 »

The Sunoco at Township Line Rd (US Rt 1) and Burmont Rd in Drexel Hill PA (not far from Clifton Heights) appears to have been built as a Mobil circa 1966. It has a very "boxy" service center building, similar to the former Mobil in Audubon PA which is now a Liberty (and sits almost next door to an abandoned Texaco which started as a ranch Shell, so it never became Shell again).

Also, I should note that the only Genuardi's left in PA is in Audubon. It's ironic because the chain started in Norristown, very close to Audubon, but the majority of their stores (three) are now in NJ. And there's an Audubon in NJ too, which should be of interest to supermarket researchers because of the Acme there which was a Penn Fruit.
Ephrata1966
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Re: Does this gas station look like it was a Mobil?

Post by Ephrata1966 »

Rob_L wrote:I know where this location is, and I can't remember what it was prior to Coastal. I doubt it was a Mobil though, as the building doesn't look
like their design

The Mobil in Springfield is definitely a Mobil built location.

Also remember, quite a few of the Mobil gas only locations (some did have a car wash) were originally part of the OLD BP family, but became
Mobil locations during the BP/Mobil asset swap in the 1980's...(BP traded most of their Northeast stations with Mobil for some of their west coast marketing assets)
Hi Rob, if you're still around (I know I'm quoting a post by you which is years old) I have a couple questions for you. Do you remember what exact year it was that the BP/Mobil swap happened? Also is there a place I might be able to find a list of all the BP stations that were sold to Mobil? I just found out that the gas station in Clifton Heights originally opened in 1975 as a BP and then was at some point sold to a company called "William Penn" (I'm not sure if that actually was the name of a gasoline brand, or if it was just a gas station franchise owner of some sort) before eventually becoming a Coastal and then the current Clifton Gas & Wash. Are you at all familiar with this William Penn company? Anyway, knowing that this station was a BP, would you assume that it definitely became a Mobil at one point? What really is confusing to me is that the station's brickwork definitely is a style from the 70's that was once used by Mobil, but now that I know BP built this station in the 70's, I guess both BP and Mobil used this type of brick during the era. Even stranger is that one of the two street signs for this gas station (I'm thinking of the sign right by the car wash) has what is shaped like a Mobil (or Getty?) sign frame, but the post for the sign looks just like a 60's or 70's Amoco sign post, ironic considering that BP ended up buying Amoco.

Also, do you have any memory of a BP station being at the corner of Baltimore Pike and Conchester Highway in Glen Mills? I once had a good friend (now deceased) who told me he remembers it being a BP when he would drive by it every day in the 60's. Do you have any idea when this BP would have closed? I first drove by that spot in 2001 and the gas station there appeared to have been abandoned for a VERY long time.
Rob_L
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Re: Does this gas station look like it was a Mobil?

Post by Rob_L »

OK.. So, if the station that you are referring to is on the Westbound lane, and on the western side of the (at least used to be) traffic light at Conchester Hwy @ US1, that was originally a BP, and was part of the BP/Mobil swap. I don’t know when it closed, but my brother worked for Maryann Layman, who was the Mobil dealer back in 1993ish. She also owned the Mobil on US1 Westbound in Kenneth Square as well. I am not sure what year the swap happened, but the affected BP locations were all Mobil in 1987....

This location was probably built in the late 70’s, and would have been a BP Gas-n-go company op station.
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