Ampol’s returning, but will Golden Fleece make an Aussie comeback?
A surge of nostalgia accompanied Caltex Australia’s plans to resurrect Ampol in an upcoming rebrand. But what about Golden Fleece, a trademark it also owns?
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Its distinct “golden merino” logo once dominated the nation’s roadways.
And while selling petrol was its core business, for a time the innovative fuel supplier also ran the nation’s largest chain of restaurants.
But while Ampol will return to the nation’s roads, there are no plans to resurrect another much-loved Aussie petrol brand, Golden Fleece.
Caltex Australia – which owns both the Ampol and Golden Fleece trademarks – announced late last year that it was heading back to the future by rebranding its network of more than 800 petrol stations to Ampol.
The rebrand, to be carried out over the next three years, follows US oil giant Chevron terminating its license agreement with the fuel retailer that allows it to use the Caltex name.
It will see the Ampol brand resurrected some three decades after it disappeared from view.
The return of Ampol has stirred memories of the Golden Fleece brand, whose distinct golden merino sheep logo – modelled on a prize-winning ram dubbed David of Dalkeith – has long been popular with petrol memorabilia collectors.
Golden Fleece, founded in Melbourne in 1893 by shipowner and merchant Harold Crofton Sleigh, was at the forefront of developing the Australian petroleum industry.
The company dramatically shook up how the nation purchased petrol, pioneering the roll out of single-branded service stations.
Prior to this, service station had sold a variety of petrol brands.
It also pioneered roadhouse dining, with a menu from the early 1970s offering entrees of beef croquettes and tomato and vegetable soup and main courses including chicken kiev, T-bone steaks, and ham and pineapple salad.
Caltex Australia took over the company in the early 1980s.
While it phased out its unique livery from petrol stations across the nation, government records show it has continued to register the trademark.
Despite keeping the trademark alive, Caltex said it did not intend to bring the brand back to the nation’s roads.
“We have no current plans to revive Golden Fleece and are focused on relaunching the iconic Ampol brand to the Australian market in 2020,” the company said in a statement.
“These plans are well progressed. However, Golden Fleece’s reputation for customer service and high-quality fuel and food on the road is something that will be front and centre in our customer offer through the Ampol brand.”
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In 2018, Caltex acquired a 468-piece collection of Golden Fleece memorabilia from Paul Lukes and Clare Gordon, avid Golden Fleece collectors in Sydney.
The collection includes a 1948 Fargo truck that delivered petrol in New South Wales until the 1960s.
Chevron’s move to terminate its licencing agreement with Caltex Australia over that brand follows the US oil giant returning to the Australian petrol station market by buying Puma Energy.
Chevron is expected to rebrand Puma to Caltex.