Gas Stations

Rest stops, gas stations, and service stations

Rest Stops, Gasoline, and Wrenches

Integral to the cultural and national phenomena of automobilia, Canadiana, and Americana, and to the interests, pastimes, and hobbies of roadgeekery and road tripping — the industrious auto shops, restful service centres, and petroleum-fumed gas stations that have kept vehicles and drivers on the road for over 100 years.

Rest Stops

Gas Stations

Service Stations

Highlights

Vintage Petro-Canada

There aren't many chain establishments that manage to elude corporate renovation for decades, yet somehow a dwindling number of Petro-Canada stations have managed to slip through and continue to retain the chain's boxy and vintage 1980s appearance.

Rollsigns Give Way to LEDs

Petro-Canada remained as the last major gas station chain displaying regular gasoline prices on its tall roadside price pylon signs with (mechanical) rollsigns, however the vast majority have now been retrofitted with LED displays. Reminiscent of old times was the novelty of watching those individual numbers swiftly scrolling into position.

British-American Dealer

Newtonville, a small historic village on the eastern side of the GTA's Durham Region, is home to a significant piece of North American motoring history in the form of an immaculately-restored and preserved British-American Dealer service station. Situated right along historic Highway 2, the site has been home to all things British-American for over 100 years [1].

Repurposed Vintage

Decades after the station pumped its final gallons (yes, gallons!) of fuel and serviced its last vehicles, it was bought, restored, and repurposed as an auction centre for Stapleton Auctions [1].

The Sunoco Name Lives!

Following Suncor's purchase of Petro-Canada in 2009, the Sunoco brand practically vanished across the country throughout 2010 (giving way to more of the Petro-Canada brand [2] and Husky Energy for a few dozen locations [3]) — apart from a solo station keeping the trademark alive all the way up in North Bay.

High Octane

Apart from Chevron in far-western Canada [4], Petro-Canada, and by extension this lone Sunoco-branded station, remain the only major retail outlets that sell 94 octane. In fact, the blue, yellow, white, and red Ultra 94 branding used on Petro-Canada signage to-date was directly inherited from Sunoco back in the day.