Automobilia

Automobilia /aw-tuh-moh-bil-ee-uh/ noun (uncountable)

The collective term for any historical artefact or collectable item related to motor vehicles and their associated culture, excluding the vehicle parts themselves. The field encompasses everything from beautiful enamel signs and vintage petrol pumps to obscure sales brochures and pre-war spark plug boxes. Driven entirely by nostalgia and the conviction that a rusty oil can is worth storing in your living room.

The Full Story of Automobilia

For many enthusiasts, a passion for old cars does not stop with the car itself. It bleeds into the garage, the study, and often, to the despair of their spouse, the living room. This is the world of automobilia, pursuing everything that surrounds the motor car: the culture, the advertising, and the everyday objects that once formed the motoring landscape. It is a hobby that requires explaining to visitors why there is a 1950s petrol pump in the hallway.

One of the most popular collecting genres is petroliana, anything related to the classic petrol station. Enthusiasts pay handsome sums for a gleaming, restored petrol pump from the 1950s, a glass globe from a forgotten brand like National Benzole, or a colourful enamel sign advertising long-obsolete engine oil. Their garages become shrines to a roadside culture that has vanished beneath the fluorescent glare of modern forecourts.

Paper forms another substantial category, though it requires a certain type of mind to find romance in old brochures. Collectors hunt for original sales literature, with its optimistic, hand-painted illustrations of families enjoying picnics beside their brand-new Austin Cambridge. They seek out old, oily-thumbed workshop manuals, whose complex diagrams hold the secrets to fixing a cantankerous SU carburettor. Vintage copies of magazines like The Autocar and Motor offer glimpses into past motoring worlds, complete with advertisements for miracle additives that have long since been exposed as snake oil.

Then there is the art, if we are calling it that. The car badges of the 1950s and 60s, with their intricate chrome and colourful enamel work, attract collectors who appreciate miniature sculpture. Original posters advertising race meetings at Brooklands or Goodwood can fetch thousands of pounds, which seems reasonable until you remember they were originally given away for free. At the top of the market sit René Lalique's glass radiator mascots from the 1920s, which now sell for over £200,000. They have graduated from car bonnet ornaments to serious decorative art, proving that anything becomes priceless if you wait long enough and keep it in good condition.

The primary hunting ground remains the autojumble, a muddy field where enthusiasts haggle over trestle tables laden with the rusty and the rare. In recent years, specialist auctions have become venues for the most prized items, where a pristine enamel sign can sell for what an actual car would have cost when new. Each faded brochure or chipped enamel sign connects to a vanished world, though quite what a rusty Esso oil can tell us beyond "someone once bought oil" is open to interpretation. Whether this justifies the stacks of petrol cans currently occupying your garage remains a discussion best had with your household insurance company.

For The Record

What is the most valuable type of automobilia?

Rare, early motoring posters from famous artists, and pristine, original glass radiator mascots by René Lalique from the 1920s can sell for tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds at auction. A single Lalique mascot has exceeded £200,000, which is approximately £199,980 more than the rusty oil can you found at a car boot sale.

What is "Petroliana"?

A collector's term for any artefact related to petrol stations and the oil industry. This includes petrol pumps, the glass globes that sat on top of them, oil cans and bottles, and advertising signs. The appeal lies in preserving brands that have vanished into corporate mergers or simply dissolved, much like their products often did in British weather.

Is an old car part automobilia?

Generally no. Automobilia refers to non-functional, collectable items. A rusty but usable carburettor found at an autojumble is a spare part. A promotional, cut-away model of the same carburettor produced for a motor show qualifies as automobilia. The distinction matters enormously to collectors and not at all to anyone else.

What are "New Old Stock" parts?

NOS refers to original parts that were never used. A pristine, boxed NOS item like spark plugs from the 1950s in original packaging crosses into automobilia territory, collected for aesthetic and historical value rather than function. The packaging often matters more than the contents, which tells you everything about this hobby.

Why do people collect old oil cans?

Rarity, nostalgia, and graphic design. The artwork and branding on a vintage can of Castrol or Shell oil represent beautiful commercial art and a tangible reminder of brands in their prime. Some cans, particularly early examples or limited editions, have become surprisingly valuable. Others remain worth precisely what an empty tin can has always been worth, though try explaining this to the seller at an autojumble.