The bottom shelves of the gondolas held 24-quart cases of cans. Most were all-metal cans (composite cans were just starting to appear) and bore the names of major oil companies or nationally known brands. As I recall, everything we sold was API SD or SE, available in a few viscosity grades, and all was conventional (although no one called it that). Price-fighting brands like Foxhead went for about 29 cents a quart, and brand leaders like Pennzoil and Quaker State were 59 cents.

Motor oil flew off the shelves back then. This is because most car owners changed oil themselves; there were no quick lubes. But one product on the shelf didnt seem to fit in terms of package size and labeling. These were 2-gallon plastic jugs of Shop-Rite Re-refined motor oil.

While the jugs were priced close to $3 less than the equivalent volume in quart cans, sales of Shop-Rite Re-refined at that store werent much to write home about. And based on my four years fielding questions and listening to shoppers back then, rerefined motor oil was not deemed to be a quality product. In fact, some customers said it was nothing more than used oil that had been filtered through a sock. Some even opened jugs to show me how dark the oil was, or that it had a burnt odor. (It actually did.)

Although I dont know how Shop-Rite Re-refined was made, most rere-fined oil back then was simply used oil that was dewatered, acid-treated to extract impurities and improve its color, and filtered. The number of rerefiners using this method was already declining rapidly, due to environmental issues, but there were dozens of processors still employing it at the time I was stocking shelves. Although better than a sock, this process fell quite short of making old oil like new.

Times have certainly changed since those days. Shop-Rite lost its hyphen, for one thing. For another, todays food stores usually have only a few facings of motor oils. This is because very few consumers buy oil now at food stores or other retail outlets to change oil themselves. Instead, nearly 75 percent go to quick lubes, new-car dealers and other installers for do-it-for-me oil changes.

The price of motor oil obviously changed, too, with higher costs for raw materials, manufacturing, packaging, transportation and other inputs. Whereas a quart of motor oil sold for about 29 cents to 59 cents in the 1970s, today it ranges from $2.75 to $9.99 at big-box and auto-parts stores. Further, the choices have blossomed to include conventional, synthetic blends, high mileage, synthetics and other specialties, and consumers may select from up to 20 viscosity grades. And rather than metal or composite cans, we now see plastic quart bottles, or 5-quart plastic jugs, and yes, a blast from the past, 2-gallon jugs.

Another significant change in the market is the explosion of independent and private-label brands. Few and far between in the 70s, today they collectively serve close to 35 percent of all U.S. passenger car motor oil demand and are one of the leading threats to major brands. And while once viewed as low-price/low-quality products, today they are seen as reputable value brands that offer quality on par with the majors.

Of course, motor oil performance also has been transformed in the ensuing years. Where API SE was state of the art then, todays API SN represents four decades and seven generations of improvements. These upgrades include a step change in base oil processing that moved the business to adopt high-saturates, high viscosity index API Group II, II+ and III stocks. Significant gains have also been realized in additive technology, including more durable antiwear additives and advances in oxidation and shear stability, deposit control and dispersency, cold-flow properties and other attributes.

So what about rerefined motor oils? They also have come a long way. Many are now made with base oils produced through the same processes that are used to refine virgin base oil from crude, including vacuum distillation and hydrotreating. When blended with the same additive packages and trimmer stocks used with crude-derived base oils, the result can be motor oil that meets or exceeds the API SN and ILSAC GF-5 performance and licensing requirements.

Yet even with all these advancements, there are days when I feel I am back in the 70s, working in the oil aisle. Because I still hear buyers and even industry insiders asking, Is rerefined motor oil as good as virgin motor oil?

To answer this, next month Ill take a closer look at the realities of rerefined motor oil. Because maybe its time to let go of whats past, so we dont lose sight of the future.