[66GTO Jim]

I worked at a SOHIO Gas Station (Standard Oil of Ohio) in 1966 and 1967. Our premium was called Boron and it was about $0.32 a gallon. Sunoco 260 was about $0.35 a gallon then. Sunoco had a dial from 190 (cheap) to 260 and about 4 grades in between. We only had two grades of gas, Extron (regular) and Boron (premium).

The real old timers will get a kick out of this one. Back in the 60s, the customer was truly KING. A customer pulled in and told me abruptly to "FILL IT UP WITH ETHYL". Being 16 years old, I had heard the old term "ethyl" for gasoline but had no idea what it meant. I asked the gentlemen what he meant and he started to get upset, "ETHYL, ETHYL, FILL IT UP WITH ETHYL!!!". Finally, one of my coworkers walked by and said ethyl was Hi-Test (premium to you younger folks). So I grabbed the BORON hose and the guy must not have been familar with SOHIO gas and thought EXTRON was our Hi-Test because the name sounded like it would be. He started yelling "ETHYL NOT REGULAR, ETHYL"! I had to get the manager to explain that Boron was our "ethyl".

When I pumped gas, were wore uniforms embroidered with our name and "MacKeigans Sohio" above the shirt pockets. We were required to ask if they wanted us to check their oil and we always washed their front and rear windows. Mini-skirts were the latest rage so there were some girls with very dirty windshields that took some extra attention. Yes, we had the rubber hoses by the pumps that went "ding ding" when a car ran over them so you knew a customer was there. There were 4 bays with lifts where we did light mechanical work, especially "oil and lube" and we would always have to stop and run out to pump gas no matter what we were doing. The air pump was not only free but we would check the air in their tires and fill them up if they were low.

The best part was I worked evenings after school as part of a "work/school" program as I was taking Automotive as my Major. Many very cool musclecars and hot rods would pull in for gas. Many guys would not let us look under the hood to check the oil, not wanting to give up their "secrets". The night managers girlfriend had a midnight blue 65 GTO Tri-Power 4 speed. She came back and gave me a big hug after I did a mini-tuneup on her car. She told me she could once again go around a corner and not downshift out of 4th! I can still smell her perfume from that hug. The musclecar era of the 60s were a great time to be a teenager with "wheels". Jim