Collecting Gasoline Pumps – An Introduction
By Scott Benjamin

This article is part of a series of discussions on gasoline pumps. There are so many of you out there who collect pumps or at least have one pump that we felt it important to go over several aspects of collecting gasoline pumps. I’ll be the first to admit I’m not an expert on gas pumps. But I’ve been around long enough to know many of the different types of pumps which exist. It’s good to try and learn as many of the different model numbers as you can. One thing you’ll learn in talking to pump collectors is that you better know their language to talk shop with these people. A Wayne 800 and a Wayne 70 are totally different pumps with totally different prices. So study the pumps as best you can. If a guy wants $2,000 for a nice Wayne 800 pump and you need to think about it for a while then you don’t know your pumps and may lose a great deal.

Pumps were being collected by the antique auto collectors back in the 1960s well before our hobby even got off the ground. There are thousands of people who have a pump or two and have no globes, cans, signs etc. In fact, many have no interest in our hobby at all. They put the neat old pump in their garage next to their vintage car and it all looks real snazzy. I couldn’t figure out for years who was buying all the repro globes other than some of the restaurant chains. Well, it’s these guys with the pumps. Our ‘Gasoline Pump Collectors Guide Book’ sold more than our three globe books combined so far and in fact is still our best selling book. So there are a lot of pumps out there.

The first basic things about pumps which any beginner needs to know are the four main types of pumps one can find. The latest are the computing pumps as they are called that have the rotating numbers that compute the cost per gallon as the tank was filled. These dated from around the 1930s through the 1970s. The clockface pumps, so called because of the clock looking dial on the front of the pump, are today very popular. These pumps are not too tall to fit in a garage or family room and are in high demand. Most of these pumps date from the 1930s but some date into the 1920s and some were made into the 1950s. The visible pumps, so named because of the customer’s ability to visibly see the gasoline they were buying, were made from about 1912 through the 1930s. These are tall pumps and were very popular in the 1970s and 1980s. They are still sought after today though the rush seems more towards computing pumps. The last and earliest types of pumps are the previsibles which may look more like water well pumps than gasoline dispensers. Some of the Bowser wooden cabinet versions date to the 1880s and most others were phased out by the late teens to make room for the visibles. These are the least collected of any gas pumps. Many did not hold a globe and when restored just are not as impressive as a regular looking gasoline pump. But for age and what they are, the previsibles are still collectible and adorn many collections.

Like globes, signs, cans, maps and anything else in our hobby, the prettier or fancier the pump the more money it is worth. A Wayne Roman visible pump because of its beauty alone will bring much more in value than most other visibles, even rarer ones. The prettier the pump the more it will cost you.

I get a lot of calls saying, “I have a Texaco pump or a Mobil pump, etc.” Oil companies did not have their own pumps other than Gulf. One may have a Bennett 150 clockface done up as Socony but don’t get confused here. Also, the most difficult question to answer is what is a pump worth restored. One needs to educate himself on pump prices by reading ads, going to shows, making call etc., in order to have a base from which to start. Now a restored pump is worth only the value of the pump plus the value of restoration. I bet I could restore a pump for $50! And I bet we’ll all know how good it would look. The same pump may get a $2000 restoration and you know it’ll look a lot better. I’ve spoken to many pump restorers over the years and any good professional restoration will cost you $800 to $2,000 depending on the pump. So if a Wayne 800 just cost you $5,000 and a restoration for it $1,800 then it’ll be worth at least $6,800-$7,000. A common computing pump worth $350 with a $800 restoration should be worth $1,100-$1,200. Sometimes for more common pumps it can be hard to get the full value out of them after they have been restored since most of the value is in the restoration. But to the right buyer they do pretty good. The rarer and more desirable pumps seem to be the easier sell these days, restored or unrestored.

Article and image courtesy of ‘Petroleum Collectibles Monthly’, August 2000 issue.