Our new exhibit will fill visitors up with happy motoring memories!

Before and after photos of the petrol pump restoration

The Lakeland Motor Museum has thousands of exhibits to make you smile – and one newly arrived item that will most probably make you a little sad!

It’s a historic petrol pump displaying the cost of petrol when it last dispensed fuel in a Cumbrian village in the 1970s – 78.5p a gallon! (that's less than 18p a litre)

You’ll be forgiven for shedding a tear when you work out that back then it means you could fill up a family car for around eight pounds! Sadly its just an exhibit and not a working pump!

the petrol pump in its orginal poor condition

The Gilbarco Salesmaker petrol pump, thought to date from the 1960s, is believed to have spent much of its working life at a small petrol station in Thursby near Carlisle before being moved to Lindale in South Cumbria.

“We have an incredible collection of vintage and classic vehicles but sometimes it’s simple items like this historic petrol pump that spark the strongest nostalgic memories,” says Chris Lowe, Curator at the Lakeland Motor Museum.

“We’re hoping we may even get some visitors who remember using the pump at either of its locations during its working life.”

As the before and after pictures show, the team at the Lakeland Motor Museum at Backbarrow, have painstakingly refurbished the pump so that it is in pristine condition. It’s been returned to its original colours, with a red band, having been all white when it was taken out of service. The paintwork was done by Frank Brown from Ambleside. Original Esso Plus graphics were kindly donated by Matthew from mattsautomobilia.co.uk

Before and after closeups of the glass filling globes

Gilbarco petrol pumps were born in the USA but soon spread across the world to Europe, Asia and Australia. The company was founded under the name Gilbert and Barker in 1870 by Charles Gilbert and John Barker in Springfield, Massachusetts. One of its first products was a simple oil burning lamp. By 1911 it had introduced the first measuring gasoline pump. The company was renamed as Gilbarco in 1929.

Along with its stunning vehicle collection, the Lakeland Motor Museum has around 30,000 automobilia exhibits.