From oil prospecting days down in turn of the century Texas, Gulf Oil and its various partners, subsidiaries and spin offs have grown into an important player in one of the worlds most dominant industries. For car people, though, Gulf is more than a multinational corporation. It’s a legendary race sponsor, draping beautiful colors over some of the most recognizable race cars (and model cars) of all time.
One of the first cars that Gulf got involved with was the 1938 Gulf Miller Tucker Special Race Car, a rear engined 4wd race car (in 1938!) that went on to beat 14 speed records at Bonneville.
In the mid 60’s, during the next golden age of racing, then VP of Gulf oil himself bought a ford GT40 (man that guy sounds cool) and formed a racing partnership with John Wyer, producing some of the most storied racing in history, including the LeMans winning Ford Gt40 and the Porsche 917, cloaked in-you guessed it-the orange and blue livery still iconic today.
These colors went on to grace many other LeMans winning cars, along with other series like like Can Am, Indy and Formula 1, racing with incredible names like Aston Martin, McLaren, and Lamborghini.
Needless to say, Gulf has had a huge impact on the car world, with countless great model cars of these racing legends worldwide, proudly draped in orange and blue. Cars that never were a part of racing still get painted in these colors because they were so iconic. This team continues it’s racing partnerships to this day. With their support of cars and racing, we’re happy to welcome them to the Hall.