Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion 1950's Mobil Pegasus race car decals

I am hoping that someone here might be able to help me.

I am restoring a racecar from the 1950's. It participated in the 1954 edition of the famous Carrera Panamericana (Mexico). In this race it had Mobil sponsorship and wore Pegasus decals in three places-- one on each flank, pointing forward, and one on the rear, facing right. The decals were fairly large -- I estimate about 12" nose to tail. It appears to have been a standard decal issued to a great many of the teams.

The decals, along with the car's other original markings are of course long gone. Nevertheless I wish to faithfully restore the car as it looked in 1954.

My questions then are:

--Does anyone know of a source of accurate period decals?

--Are there any specifics to be aware of in the rendering of the horse etc., that changed over time?

-- Where can I learn more about this topic?

Thanks in advance for your time.

Hi Pete,
In 1954 the Mobil name and logo was changed from Socony-Vacuum Mobilgas to Mobil. The flying red horse, Pegasus, stayed on but the shield shape was widened and smoothed out and lettering font was widened. Here is a link to the Mobil-Exxon history page on Pegasus:
http://www.exxonmobil.com/Corporate/About/History/Corp_A_H_Pegasus.asp

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Jim "Oldgas" Potts
Your host and moderator

Hi Pete. Recalled reading in one of my British Mags a similar request. Went and found it in the October 2002 Classic & Sports Cars. There is a fellow named Julian Balme running a 1954 Lincoln Cosmopolitan that he has done up as a 1954 La Carrera PanAmericana Replica. He too was looking for the same decals, and while he could find repros, they were not the right scale. He scaned them to the correct size and had them
(the pegasus) painted on the car. The Champion decals he had scanned and reproduced by a decal maker.
I am certain that any good vinyl sign maker could do this for you. Trying to track down a photo of his car to send you. You might want to contact Julian as he mentioned had a limited number of these decals manufactured. http://www.classicandsportscar.com/ask_the_team/
All the best,
Joe

I think in the pics of Indy around 50 you see those decals a lot. Probably a lot more of them being restored than PanAmerican cars.

BTW there is an aluminum mercedes coupe here that has run in that race back then and a few years ago, one of 2 cars built! I think it is a 57 or so.