Gulf Oil - Colour me legendary

Aston Martin's Gulf Oil Le Mans car. Photo / Supplied

Here's brand power for you: a Russian billionaire has just had his 37m superyacht - one of only 10 similar vessels in the world - painted in the lurid powder-blue-and-orange livery of Gulf oil, with the number 10 plastered on the side, racing-style.

Apparently the man is a huge car enthusiast and the paint job was commissioned out of sheer enthusiasm: no commercial connection to the oil company.

Or consider Irish motorcycle-racer Paul Swords: he approached the local Gulf distributor last year and asked if he could run his team in the same distinctive blue-and-orange scheme.

He didn't want any sponsorship money - just permission to use the colours and logo. That's the kind of loyalty money can't buy.

South Island farming co-operative CRT is hoping to capture a little bit of that passion among Kiwis as the newly appointed distributor for Gulf in New Zealand.

Even if you don't know oil you probably know Gulf: its sponsorship has adorned some of the world's most famous racing cars, including the Ford GT40s that won Le Mans in 1968-69 and the Porsche 917 (1969-71). The Porsche also starred in the 1970 film Le Mans, alongside Steve McQueen - both in Gulf branding.

There's also a watershed Kiwi connection. Gulf sponsored Bruce McLaren at the height of his success in Formula One and Can-Am, from 1967-70. World-famous New Zealand motorsport writer Eoin Young - Bruce McLaren Motorsport's first-ever employee in 1966 - was also Gulf Motorsport's media-relations director from 1967-73.

Not your average oil brand, then. CRT chief executive Brent Esler fronted the Hampton Downs Gulf launch in a retro branded jacket, T-shirt ... and a massive blue-and-orange belt buckle.

On display were a GT40 replica, an ex-David Leslie BMW M3 racing car and the Bruce McLaren Trust-owned Can-Am M8A. The Ford and BMW are owned by CRT subsidiary ANZPAC Oils and will be displayed in New Zealand as part of Gulf promotional activity.

"People have accused me of being a bit over-passionate about Gulf," says Esler. "But I've been looking for an opportunity like this. A lot of it goes back to my time growing up in South Canterbury. I was raised on a farm and the opportunity to get up close to McLaren, Denny Hulme or Chris Amon, to go and see the New Zealand Grand Prix at Pukekohe or the Lady Wigram, was fantastic.

"It was a great era to be growing up in motorsport. Everything I drove on the farm - truck, tractor or harvester - became a racing car."

It could all be marketing hype but Esler seems genuinely excited. He'll be driving the Gulf-liveried M3 himself in a number of events throughout the country. Esler has also established a relationship with the Bruce McLaren Trust - as close as international licensing requirements from both Gulf and McLaren Group in Britain (owner of the current F1 team) allow.

Down to business, though: ANZPAC's main opportunity initially is to sell Gulf oil products to CRT's 25,000-plus members and through the 31 Caltex and Challenge retail outlets it controls in the South Island. But it also has distribution rights for Australia. "CRT Fuel distributes bulk fuel nationwide and we have lacked a credible lubricants offer to take to our customers," says Esler. "Gulf provides an answer to what was increasingly becoming a constraint on our business." Esler was less forthcoming on North Island retail opportunities but we understand that Gulf products will also be sold through Repco and Supercheap Auto.

It's hard to believe, given the Kiwi component of Gulf's heritage, but the brand has never been officially distributed in New Zealand. Gulf celebrates its 110th anniversary this year; it was one of the first oil companies to brand itself with a distinctive logo (unchanged since the 1960s), pioneered the concept of the drive-thru petrol station and was the first oil company to drill offshore.

Current Gulf motorsport sponsorships include Aston Martin Racing, with an eye towards victory at the Le Mans 24-Hour race (Gulf-sponsored cars won in 1968-69 and 1975). Not this year, though: both AMR-One racers retired after just six laps with the same problem: water-pump failure.