This is an article from the December Bulletin Issue written by Jamie Thompson, APEA Technical Committee Chairman.

Historically the petroleum industry and their marketers have consistently over the years challenged both Engineers and Regulators by changing the way they have designed and built their filling stations, one such aspect that has seen much change has been the petrol pump.

Looking through some old papers recently I came across an “innovation” from 1960 which was proposed by BP as a “way forward” for dispensing fuel for motorists.

It was a pump design called the “Autovista” and was claimed to be able to deliver various grades of fuel from one position without having to choose which grade pump to drive to – in other words the first multi-product dispenser (MPD) which we eventually seemed to adopt across the industry.

It was designed by The De Havilland Engine Company from Leavesden, Hertfordshire, but manufactured by Avery Hardoll and to be installed in many of the BP sites.

The engineering design at that time was quite forward thinking and before the days of standards for pumps they had to rely on the Petroleum Licensing Authorities to agree such an arrangement.

In London at that time the London County Council Public Control Department had the Petroleum Inspectors who examined the plans, visited the factory and reported to a committee before a letter of approval was sent to both BP and the design company and Avery Hardoll for permission to install such modern equipment.

The engineering manager for Avery Hardoll was a Fred Wilson who was an experienced petroleum engineer and eventually became influential in working with industry to produce the first British Standard for Petrol Pumps BS7117 in 1988 before he retired.

BP launched the new system at Leavesden in Hertfordshire and the new systems would be installed in Italy and the UK during 1961.

The press release at the time stated that since the introduction of the petrol pump at the end of the nineteenth century there had been little change in its basic design.

The days had gone when the pump attendant had to pump fuel through by hand and in the mid 1930’s there was a break through with the introduction of the price computer. The general idea remained the same; a separate unit for each grade of fuel making it necessary for the motorist to drive his vehicle to the right position in front of the particular grade of fuel.

BP’s research indicated that it would be far better for the motorist and the garage to now have various grades of fuel available from one pump and also allowing for a preset money value to be chosen at that pump.

This was a unique design but I understand was an expensive option and not too many were installed. However, the general principle of having multi products dispensed from one pump became a reality.

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