Back in 1971 I had a mini and I can remember pulling up to a petrol pump and asking the attendant (remember those!) to put a pounds worth in. He told me that the car wouldn`t hold that much, it was a 5 gallon tank and petrol was 18p a gallon or thereabouts.
This morning I thought I should fill up my Adria Twin, it was about a quarter full, and it cost me £110.00.
That made me laugh before the depressive aspects hit home!
Still recall a pal with a 1960's Mk11 Zephyr 6 (2.3L gas guzzler) regularly putting 50p worth of petrol in it back in the 1970's!
Filled my 1.2L car tank up couple of days ago (near fumes to brimming) - £80 worth of petrol! Grateful it does over 50mpg and I hadn't put any fuel in it since before Xmas!
Had to laugh at a post on FB a couple of days ago, a photo of a tradesman's Transit van with a sign saying "Sod the Tools, no Fuel left in van overnight"
I also remember the fuel crisis in around 1970 when petrol coupons were issued. I helped out in a sub-post office, and we had a lot of irate customers.
Read an article couple of days ago suggesting there could be a 50mph limit introduced, just as has happened on previous occasions of fuel shortages. That might slow down some of the selfish speeders.
Cycling through our village this morning, I glanced at the SID which told me I was doing 13mph. Then it went red and a car and van passed me at an indicated 60mph
Good job I prefer driving our little ev. All the time we have electric power I can keep it charged.
Quote: Originally posted by badger54 on 21/3/2026
Back in 1971 I had a mini and I can remember pulling up to a petrol pump and asking the attendant (remember those!) to put a pounds worth in. He told me that the car wouldn`t hold that much, it was a 5 gallon tank and petrol was 18p a gallon or thereabouts.
This morning I thought I should fill up my Adria Twin, it was about a quarter full, and it cost me £110.00.
Wow! 18p a gallon in 1971, I wish I knew where that garage was. I started driving in 1965 and I was paying 25p a gallon then in North London. I remember it made newspaper headlines when it went up from 4/10 a gallon to 5 shillings (25p) all in one go! It goes up 5 times that amount these days and it isn't even news. Apparently that 2d rise had been the first one for several years. In the early 1970s I can remember filling the tank of my Mk3 Zodiac up for £3. I put £80 worth of diesel in my car a couple of weeks back and the tank hadn't been empty.
Quote: Originally posted by Ancient Uncle on 21/3/2026
Read an article couple of days ago suggesting there could be a 50mph limit introduced, just as has happened on previous occasions of fuel shortages. That might slow down some of the selfish speeders.
Cycling through our village this morning, I glanced at the SID which told me I was doing 13mph. Then it went red and a car and van passed me at an indicated 60mph
Good job I prefer driving our little ev. All the time we have electric power I can keep it charged.
I doubt very much whether that speed restriction will slow many down. Recently they introduced a 20mph speed limit in our village high street, and cars still go through at double that when traffic allows. It's now 20mph in my road too, but it's nigh impossible to do more than that anyway because of all the parked cars.
Quote: Originally posted by Ancient Uncle on 21/3/2026
Read an article couple of days ago suggesting there could be a 50mph limit introduced, just as has happened on previous occasions of fuel shortages. That might slow down some of the selfish speeders.
.....
Chatting this week with a pal who's heavily involved in road safety, and on the topic of most of the regulators still being blindly obsessed with speed as the root of all evils, and seeing no other problems, whilst we both agreed that major road speeds are much lower than they used to be, me citing that these days it seems to make little difference whether I'm in a solo car or towing the caravan (and further limited on legal speed), I only get to travel at around 50 or so mph (not always my choice, but imposed by traffic and 3rd world state of our roads etc.), so a new 'fuel frugal limit of 50mph' will have little practical impact, and TBH not sure we'd much notice on our journeys. Just another example of Gov doing a publicity job to justify their existence, but complete detachment from reality! Unless it's a backdoor way of imposing a anti-motorist permanent lower speed limit! - Yes, I'm highly cynical about our politicians! Can't remember the last time I got to cruise at 70mph!
It's not just perception of road speeds being slower, my car links to my phone app, and it's recorded data of individual and averaged journeys that shows things are slower than they used to be, and max speed obtained is usually way below posted speed limits! I often use the same roads on same journeys, so historical data can be compared over the years. Even without the tech, long journeys I used to do in 5 or so hours now take more like 8 hours! Even shorter journeys of 55 miles to family, mostly on motorways now take closer to 1.5 hours whereas used to be little over an hour!
Seem to recall that as part of the vehicle testing for economy under Euro legislation, 56mph was the magic number to which manufacturers aim to quote best fuel economy, so doing less is not automatically more economical as less efficient! Certainly got friends with Auto Gearboxes and at circa 50mph they are never sure what gear they want to be in and constantly changing - that's not efficient and returning best fuel usage!
Breaking of local speed limits other than the national speed limit is another matter entirely, and a new 50mph limit is not going to influence that positively, may even make things worse as drivers try to make up time lost on major roads! Bottom line is, the selfish are selfish and don't obey the rules anywhere!
Quote: Originally posted by badger54 on 21/3/2026
Back in 1971 I had a mini and I can remember pulling up to a petrol pump and asking the attendant (remember those!) to put a pounds worth in. He told me that the car wouldn`t hold that much, it was a 5 gallon tank and petrol was 18p a gallon or thereabouts.
We were paid peanuts back then too. And think what house prices were.
I’m now wondering what the diesel for the already-booked week away in the MH is going to cost…. Hey ho. Not a cheap hobby, this camping malarkey.
Quote: Originally posted by badger54 on 21/3/2026
Back in 1971 I had a mini and I can remember pulling up to a petrol pump and asking the attendant (remember those!) to put a pounds worth in. He told me that the car wouldn`t hold that much, it was a 5 gallon tank and petrol was 18p a gallon or thereabouts.
I remember when Jet petrol came on the market around 1965 in my motorcycling days and it was the cheapest petrol available at 4 shillings (20p) per gallon. I have no recollection of it ever dropping below that price.
Quote: Originally posted by franbee on 21/3/2026
I also remember the fuel crisis in around 1970 when petrol coupons were issued. I helped out in a sub-post office, and we had a lot of irate customers.
I'e still got the tokens somewhere. I wonder if they are worth anything?
------------- Freedom is a light caravan and an open road.
Quote: Originally posted by JoannaLesley on 22/3/2026
Quote: Originally posted by franbee on 21/3/2026
I also remember the fuel crisis in around 1970 when petrol coupons were issued. I helped out in a sub-post office, and we had a lot of irate customers.
I'e still got the tokens somewhere. I wonder if they are worth anything?
So have I, I came across them only recently. Not quite sure what I did with them but I know I didn't throw them away. At the time I had two vehicles, a Mk3 Zodiac and a Reliant van, so I got the allocation for the Zodiac. My idea was that if I put my allocation in the Zodiac, I could always syphon it out and put it in the Reliant if I had to do extra miles. I never actually needed to, but at least I had the option.
Back in 1999/2000 there was some kind of fuel crisis and I remember struggling to find fuel station with fuel in Hove/Brighton area after a training course.
Eventually I found one with fuel and had to queue, and it was over 140p for a litre of unleaded back then.
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
I think it was about £1.50 when I started driving in the mid 80s. By the 90s it was £2.
Filled up in Ireland today and it was €1.99 a litre. It was €1.10 when I moved here 19 years ago.
Farmers are having problems just getting supplies of their red diesel for tractors & machinery, never mind its increased cost: so I heard on the radio farming program; this starts to impact on food supply & animal welfare.
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Fuel, how times change!
via mobile 21/3/2026 at 1:35pm
