As the price of oil skyrocketed in the 1970s and 80s, there was an increased demand for more fuel efficient vehicles. For a number of years, Shell Canada sponsored an annual competition for university and college engineering departments across Canada to build highly fuel-efficient vehicles.
To promote this competition, the company I was working for was commissioned to produce a short film in 1986. Shot and completed in 16mm film, we spent the weekend gathering footage and interviews with the contestants at Shell Canada’s Oakville Research facility and test track in Oakville, Ontario.
David O’Keefe was camera-person, Peter Bradley was executive producer along with Phyllis Newman, a former Shell executive with their media department. My principal role was post-production supervisor and film editor.
The winner of the competition managed fuel efficiency of over 5600 miles per gallon. Unfortunately, I didn’t save a 16mm print of the finished program.
In October 2024, I received an email from the son of one of the earlier Fuelathon participants. In 1981, the film “Going For More” was produced by Shell Canada. This film preceded the one I directed. However, the producers for my film, Peter Bradley and Phyllis Newman were directly involved in this earlier production.
As mentioned, neither 16mm or VHS of “Invitation to a Challenge” seem to exist, it is good that some archival material is still around for this competition from the 1980s.
Thanks to Garnet Hertz for uploading his father’s film “Going for More – The Shell Fuelathon, Oakville Ontario“