Easy On The Throttle Jake....A Look Back at the Mobil Gas (Mobil Economy) Run

Mileage per gallon is all the rage now. Economy is back! Reading about this tonight, I thought it would be a great idea to dig up some information on the Mobil (MobilGas) Economy Run. Held from the 1930's to the late 1960's, this annual event helped to determine gas mileage on current automobiles available to the consumer.

(1)

Sponsored by Mobil, the United States Auto Club was the operator for the events. The vehicles were purchased from auto dealers and then the hoods, etc. were shut and special gas tanks to measure fuel used were installed.

(2)

There were different classes in the competition and this event proved to be very popular....probably the most among the automobile manufacturers. Mileage actually wasn't too bad, considering the weight of the cars and the strictly mechanical setup of the drivetrains. Said Time:

"6-Cylindef: Chevrolet Biscayne, 22.3788 m.p.g.;
Chevrolet Biscayne, 21.9439 m.p.g.;
Ford Custom 300, 20.3288 m.p.g....:

(3)

(4)

Try the links below, especially the Times article for more information. The screenshots above were also from a great film off of archive.org that was part of the Prelinger Collection. I've put the link in below.

Have a great day, see you tomorrow!


Links:


Mickey Thompson Economy Run Information

Time Magazine Archive-1959 contest

Prelinger Archive Film-On The Run

Wikipedia entry-Mobile Economy Run

New York Times Story: Coast to Coast....


Sources:

(1)(2)(4) Screen-grab from On The Run

(3) Time Magazine Archive: Rambler.....

Shhh....don't say a word...remember, "loose lips sink ships..." There might be a spy!

I've always been intrigued by spy stuff. James Bond, OSS, real secret agent stuff. In doing some research this weekend about that, I stumbled across the FBI's FOIA site and found out about the Duquesne spy ring case during World War II.

(1)

Huh?

Spies....in the good old USA. That's right, in fact, there were several well documented incidents of Axis spies in the United States during the Second World War.

Not the James Bond types, you know the suave, sophisticated type we've all come to know. Nope, these spies looked and acted just like you and me! The Duquesne Spy Ring consisted of over 30 active Axis spies working within the borders of the United States. Successfully investigated by the FBI, the members of the ring were captured with the help of a double agent, William Sebold (More on him in another post!).

Yet there were other events as well.


(2)

While German U-Boats were ravaging shipping in the early parts of the war, there were also plans by Hitler and his spy agencies to infiltrate the United States by other methods, such as landing by U-boat. Traveling over to the Naval Historical center, we see evidence of these in an event called by the center:

The Amagansett Incident:

"...Shortly after midnight on June 13th, four trained German saboteurs landed on the beach near the Coast Guard Station at Amagansett, Long Island. They had made the voyage across the Atlantic in a German submarine and had rowed ashore in a collapsible rubber boat containing clothing, explosives, and several thousand dollars in cash. On June 17th, four other saboteurs were similarly landed from a submarine at Ponte Vedra Beach, south of Jacksonville, Florida...." (3)


While the ring was eventually caught, perhaps there were others that were not. Some information, we may never know! Don't you enjoy a mystery? For a more complete picture, try the links below for in-depth details. Great stuff!

Have a great day, see you tomorrow!

Links:

FBI Case Lin-Duquesne Spy Ring (PDF-FOIA)

Spy activities on the East Coast

Landings on the East Coast


Sources:
(1)Library of Congress
(2) National Archives
(3) Naval Historical Center