Busch 48498 H0 PKW Modell Piaggio Ape 50, Aral

From waste product to global brand. The story of Aral begins in 1881 in Gelsenkirchen-Bulmke-Hüllen (northeast of Gelsenkirchen city center) at a coking plant. During the production process there, where coke is produced from coal using a dry distillation method, raw gas is generated as a byproduct. However, this raw gas was not regarded as waste; instead, it was further processed into benzene, among other things. On November 28, 1898, 13 mining companies founded the West German Benzene Sales Association in Bochum. By 1906, it merged with the East German Benzene Sales Association to form the German Benzene Association. This led to the creation of the first logo featuring crossed hammers and chisels of mining, combined with the abbreviation DBV. In the following years, due to various corporate restructurings, the abbreviation BV for Benzene Association emerged. However, developments did not come to a standstill, and as early as 1924, the BV conceived and presented a gasoline-benzene gas mixture, which soon became known as automotive fuel. The addition of ARAL to the fuel name comes from the basic components of benzene, as benzene belongs to both aromatics and aliphatics. The first letters of both chemical groups were combined to form ARAL. Thanks to the continuously growing number of motor vehicles, the Benzene Association became one of the largest fuel distribution organizations in Germany during the 1920s. For trademark protection reasons, all products and the vehicle fleet were designed in the company color blue starting in 1930. However, the small blue Ape is more of a pure advertising vehicle than a transport vehicle, yet it still makes a big impression.