Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Founded: 1926
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In 1926, 16 year old Les Mecoles founded Penrite Oil Company from his parents’ home in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia. The first batches of oil were made on his mother’s kitchen stove and delivered to service stations, milling factories and the local shipping port using his father’s wheelbarrow. As the business began to grow, a new blending facility was built in Richmond, Victoria.
After several years, Penrite again moved to Abbotsford, Victoria due to further growth as Melbourne and regional Victoria grew in population and the road and railway network expanded across Australia. In 1965, Penrite again was forced to move to nearby Brunswick East, Victoria as the Abbotsford site was purchased by the Government of Victoria to make way for the newly commissioned Eastern Freeway (Melbourne). The business continued to grow, but in 1979, Les Mecoles, suffering from poor health, sold the company to John and Margaret Dymond.
In 1981, Penrite launched its flagship range of multigrade motor oils known as HPR (High Performance Range), identified to solve modern engine oil consumption problems and tailored for the local Australian driving conditions. During the late 1980s to mid-1990s, Penrite continued to grow and expand, opening up new distribution channels and market segments. A second blending facility was opened in Brisbane, soon followed by new warehousing in Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Sydney and Darwin. Exports commenced in New Zealand, Southeast Asia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe.
In 1997, the existing blending facility in Brunswick East could no longer keep up with the demand and was relocated to Wantirna South, Victoria in Melbourne’s east and soon after, the Brisbane site was also relocated to larger premises in Crestmead, Queensland. In 2016, Penrite opened a new blending facility and moved the head office from Wantirna South to Dandenong South, Victoria.
Penrite's marketing activities includes an involvement in motorsport, partnering with numerous teams and privateers worldwide across a wide range of motorsport disciplines including Auto racing, Motorcycle racing, Kart racing and Boat racing. Some key partnerships include Honda Racing Corporation and Erebus Motorsport.
Penrite first partnered with Erebus Motorsport just prior to the Supercars Championship Bathurst 1000 race in 2015. The most notable achievement of the partnership was the 2017 Bathurst 1000 race win with David Reynolds and Luke Youlden behind the wheel of a Holden VF Commodore.
In 2019 Penrite expanded their partnership with Erebus Motorsport by sponsoring both David Reynolds' #9 car and Anton de Pasquale's #99 car and renaming the team as "Penrite Racing". Penrite also took on title sponsorship of the Sandown 500.
In 2021 The Penrite and Erebus Motorsport partnership ended to form a new partnership with Kelly Grove Racing by sponsoring David Reynolds' #26 Ford Mustang GT in the Supercars Championship and Matthew Payne's #10 Nissan Altima L33 in Super2 Series for selected rounds.
In 2022 Penrite expanded their sponsorship with Grove Racing (Formally known as Kelly Grove Racing) by carrying on sponsoring David Reynolds' #26 car and now Lee Holdsworth's #10 car. Penrite also carried on sponsoring the #10 Nissan Altima L33 of Matthew Payne for a his first full time campaign in the Super2 Series.
The Penrite and Honda Racing partnership began in 2013 with the Australian factory Motocross Team. Since then the partnership expanded to sponsoring riders not only in Motorcross but Supercross, Endurance and Road Racing factory teams. The most notable achievements of the partnerships include the three straight Australian Supercross Championships in 2016, 2017 & 2018 with US rider Justin Brayton and the 2018 Australian Superbike Championship with rider Troy Herfoss.