KEY MILESTONES
The core meaning of Castrol is “Pioneers“, the internal aspiration that compliments external articulation of the Essence, “It’s more than just oil. It’s Liquid Engineering.”
That is why Castrol lubricants deliver superior performance. Here´s a quick timeline to show how Castrol has been driven to be the best.
- 1899 Charles ´Cheers´ Wakefield founded CC Wakefield & Co. Ltd;
- 1909 The Wakefield motor oil “Castrol Brand” was registered;
- 1919 Castrol ´R´ helps flight pioneers Alcock and Brown on their first non-stop flight across the Atlantic;
- 1935 Castrol pioneers engine oils enhanced with detergent-based additives and “Patent Castrol” for cleaner engines debuts;
- 1953 Castrol R20, the first semi-synthetic racing motor oil, is developed in partnership with Mercedes Benz;
- 1960 The Castrol brand is so well known that CC Wakefield & Co. becomes simply Castrol Ltd.;
- 1968 Castrol GTX, the first multi-grade oil with a 20W/50 viscosity rating is launched. It will become the most famous motor oil of all time. Launched the year of the Apollo mission to the moon;
- 1969 Apollo 11’s first Landing on the Moon in human history, packed with Castrol’s lubricants and technical KnowHow;
- 1970 16 of the 23 finishers in the London-to-Mexico Rally are lubricated by Castrol;
- 1978 Castrol wins its first World Rally Drivers Championship (followed by many other World Championship victories);
- 1990’s Castrol introduced syntec 5W-50, followed by 10W-30. In the mid-90´s, syntec blend arrived;
- 1995 Castrol started producing its unique patented deposit-fighting additive still used in our motor oils today;
- 1996 Castrol pioneers intelligent molecules with Castrol MAGNATEC;
- 1997 Castrol and Thrust SSC break the sound barrier on land; and Castrol wins first F1 title with Williams;
- 1999 Castrol celebrated 100 years in business;
- 2000 Burmah Castrol is aquired by BP;
- 2001 Racing teams using Castrol win 5 World Championships, including a tenth title for drag racer John Force;
- 2001…2004 Partnered with BMW Williams Castrol were involved in 10 Grand Prix wins worldwide;
- 2004 NASA’s “Opportunity” rover landed on Mars and operated for 14 years;
- 2005 Castrol EDGE, a new range of synthetic engine oils, is launched;
- 2005…2007 Castrol were involved in the World Touring Car Championships several times, for drivers and manufactures as part of a collaboration with BMW;
- 2006 & 2007 In association with Ford Castrol becomes part of the FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers;
- 2009…2011 Castrol participate in Dakar Rally wins due to involvement with Volkswagen Motorsport;
- 2010-2012 Assisting Škoda during the intercontinental Rally Challenge for both manufacturers and drivers;
- 2011-2014 Powering Audi Sport to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans for 4 consecutive years;
- 2011 NASA launches the Mars Curiosity Rover into space, lubricated by an innovative Castrol Industrial lubricant called Castrol Braycote 601 EF;
- 2014 Teamed with Volvo, Castrol powered vehicles for teams and drivers as part of the Swedish Touring Car Championship;
- 2014 Castrol sponsored the FIFA World Cup™;
- 2014-Present Castrol joins the Bloodhound SSC project, which aims to break the world land speed record with a supersonic car that can reach speeds of over 1000 mph;
- 2015 Sebastian Ogier wins his third consecutive World Rally Championship, in a car powered by Castrol EDGE;
- 2016 FORD GT wins Le Mans with Castrol EDGE technology;
- 2018 On 5 May, conditions permitting, NASA launched its Insight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) lander from Vandenberg Air Force Base, in California, to study the centre of Mars;
- 2021 On 18 February, after a seven-month journey from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base, Florida, NASA’s Mars 2020 “Perseverance” rover successfully landed at Jezero Crater on the Red Planet.
Present
The Castrol name continues to represent premium quality, high performance and leading-edge technology in lubrication.
