How the Castrol brand came to be
Castrol — short for castor oil
In this section: 5 articles
In the early 20th century, when the first cars, motorcycles and aircraft appeared, an urgent need arose to create engine oils for these new engines — oils that could stay fluid in freezing cold while remaining thick enough at high operating temperatures.
Researchers at C.C. Wakefield & Co. found that this effect could be achieved by adding a small amount of castor oil to the engine oil being produced at the time. That's how, in 1909, the first engine oil additive (castor oil) appeared, and that's how the Castrol brand (from the English "castor oil") came to be.
Everything about the history and production of Castrol engine oils