There is a whole industry out there that every car lover of every shape and size and of all ranges of riches cannot do without. I'm talking about the indispensable gasoline industry. Every single person who uses a car must be prepared to pull into a gas station and fill up their tank (unless they have the money and time to drive a Tesla or some other electric car). Assuming that most people reading this car-ticle are not just filling up the time while charging up their electric car, everyone here knows what it means to have to fill up their tank on a regular basis.

But here's the thing: most gas stations are not at all the out of the ordinary. At least, not so far as I've experienced (and I've been to a significant number of gas stations). Sure, they are all designed differently and they are all staffed by different people, but for the most part, they're all pretty similar in a bland sort of way.

But the gas stations below are very different indeed. From UFO and plane-crash building designs to dinosaurs and hanging pump nozzles...there are some pretty unusual gas stations out there. And that's what this piece is all about. Not those stations that everyone is so used to, but the ones that are just a little too weird to avoid talking about. So pull over, it's time to fill up.

25 Mobile Container Pumps

MGST.com

This is pretty weird but also pretty cool. I think it is cool that there are mobile gas pumps out there in the form of something like a shipping container but then I also have to say that I think it's a little pointless because a vehicle does have to transport this pump...so it's not like it's going to use the pump for other vehicles. It's going to need to refill its own tank, so is it just essentially bringing its own gas station with it? That is pretty cool, but dragging this thing out to the middle of nowhere...it seems silly.

24 Station Washroom...

Pinterest.com

Ok, I know. I know that this is not an actual gas station but I do have to say that this is one of the coolest washrooms out there. This is the gas station-themed washroom of a car-themed burger joint. I think it is very bizarre, especially when it comes to having to use a gas pump to wash one's hands in the basin of a hub cap...but it is pretty cool in a rather kitschy sort of way, as far as I'm concerned.

23 B-17 Bomber Station

AtlasObscura.com

Talk about strange. This is a real gas station that has a B-17 bomber looming over the top. I cannot even fathom what caused someone to do this. I mean...presumably, this bomber has nothing to do with the notion of gassing up one's car. It's not like they quite take the same fuel and it's not like the bomber is representative of the whole petrol industry. Maybe the owner of the station used to fly one of these? That's all I've got.

22 Shell Hotel Room

TravelAway.com

Alright, to be fair here, this is not actually a gas station. However, this is very much designed to look like a gas station. I really do not know what could have possessed someone to design a hotel room after the Shell company but...here it is. Someone is such a petrolhead out there that they thought it would be the coolest thing to have a car bed with a gas pump nearby and all sorts of Shell branding and products, as well. I wonder how much money the company got when photos of this surfaced.

21 Baghera Gas Pump (~$200)

Pinterest.com

When I say "Baghera" I am not talking about the panther Bagheera from The Jungle Book. I am talking about a toy company. And that company, for the price of about $200, will sell someone a gas pump that is functional (obviously not with real gas) and for kids. I sort of wish that the car this kid is using was not just a pedal car. It would be really cool to watch this kid gas up and then motor away with that classic-looking mini roadster.

20 Gold Plated!?

Wired.com

Wow. This is the way that the upper-class gasses up, I guess? Yeah, this is a gold-plated gas station. I don't know if anyone here reading this piece have ever seen a station like this before, but I think this just goes to show how big an industry the petrol industry truly is. When a gas station can get the gold treatment from the ground up, it makes me think that this station actually belongs in a country where the cops have cars like say...a Bugatti Veyron.

19 Old School Nevada Pump

WeirdNevada.com

I have to put all my cards out on the table right now and say that I think this is actually a pretty cool gas station. That being said, it also looks like it belongs in a creepy film and I'm going to guess that this is not functional anymore because it looks like it has a home address and the little canopy looks more like the entrance to a shed than to any sort of station office. Unless people pay up at one of the homes behind the pumps, I really don't know how this could work.

18 UFO Sighting

Twitter.com

Are there not already way too many UFO sightings in the United States? Do we really need to have gas stations built to make people think that they're seeing one on their way to gassing up? What if someone is in a different state of mind while walking by? That's just going to add to the theories. I'd understand if this was near the Little A'Le'Inn in Nevada where people travel to go see UFOs, but this is just asking for way too many new "sighting" stories. And it's just a weird setup in the first place.

17 The Aliens Are Coming!

Gestalten.com

It's bad enough to see a gas station with even only one UFO over the top of it in order to encourage those strange alien sighting people to buy gas, but to have three of these flying saucers connected is just asking to draw in all those weirdos who are going to start thinking that this gas station is nothing more than a hub for alien activity. I bet there are people who think the owners of this station are covering things up for the government about the alien visitors...

16 Washington Teapot Station?

Pinterest.com

I know that there are some pretty strange things going on in Washington but I mean, come on. A teapot gas station? I have to be totally honest here when I say that this station does not even look like it's functional. I mean, I know that it is, but the setup looks way too decorative. If I were driving by here, there is no way I would stop, thinking to myself, "Oh, I'm totally going to be able to gas up here." I would just drive by thinking that there was a very strange and giant teapot off to the side of the highway.

15 The Station Bar

WikimediaCommons.com

Alright, I have to admit that I think this is a really cool idea. This is a gas station...or rather, it was. I mean, the building is still there. The pumps are still there, too, but this is no longer a functional station. It has been turned into a bar, instead. It is a pretty cool patio for a bar, I have to say. And good on them for matching the patio furniture with the actual trim of the station itself. I think that is a pretty nice touch.

14 Sinclair Station

TopsImages.com

This is both hilarious as well as sad. It's kind of cool that they have a dinosaur outside of this Sinclair gas station. At the very least, it goes to show that they know where they are getting their product from...but also, it is sad to think that a dinosaur like this is actually partially powering our cars. Fossil fuels and all, I mean, this dino would obviously not be around whether or not we bothered to start driving cars, but it's sad to think of this sad brontosaurus being used for nothing other than to gas up.

13 Ridiculous Shell Station

TravelLeisure.com

Ok, this is just way too strange and way too on the nose, if you ask me. I get that Shell is a pretty big deal in the petrol industry. It really is. But there is something that is just a bit too much when they actually turn a gas station office into a giant Shell symbol. Give me a break. It's a little bizarre, it's a bit gaudy, and it is sort of an eyesore. This is something I would not want to stop at in order to gas up. I might be a little worried about just what goes on inside this trippy little building.

12 Roadside Gas-Up

CityData.com

Maybe this is something fairly normal in some countries, but I have never seen a roadside stop where one is still literally parked on the road in order to gas up. The only time I've seen someone still on the road gassing up is when I last watched Need For Speed and they fill up that beautiful Shelby while still motoring down the highway (which was awesome). This gas station makes me worry because there seems to be a memorial right next to the pumps...I wouldn't stop there to fill up.

11 Plane Crash Station?

WeirdCalifornia.com

I'm not so sure that this gas station is sending quite the right message. I know that there are people out there who just cannot look away from collisions, so having a plane literally sticking out of the roof of the station may very well attract that sort of people to fill up here. But this just makes me concerned that planes are attracted to this station and I don't want to be around for the next incident. In all honesty, though, as cool as this station is...it still is pretty weird.

10 The Disney Swag Station

Shyguy'sWorld.com

Welcome to Oswald's gas station. This is a very interesting place, to say the very least and it is also very bizarre. I mean, it was once a gas station and all of the original design has stayed as well as the original pumps. But what has been added to this place? A whole ton of Disney merchandise. This is essentially an unofficial Disney store, which is more than a little weird, I have to say. Who converts a retro gas station into a Disney store? I guess Oswald does...

9 A Glimpse Of The Future? 

TechSpective.com

I know, I know. This is not a gas station. That is true. However, there are some people who truly believe that this will be the way of the future. There are also, of course, other people out there who think that Tesla is actually going to fold eventually because we will never run out of gas and people love their petrol way too much. I think it will probably be somewhere in the middle for a good long time. And either way, there are not yet too many people lining up to wait hours for their car to charge.

8 Shipping Containers

Wired.com

Here is what one gas station looks like in Iraq. I am sort of wondering why the pumps are just set inside shipping containers. I'm also wondering where exactly the tanks for these pumps are. Buried below them? Set behind them? And also, where is the office that the driver goes to in order to pay for the gas that they are taking from these pumps. Either way, it really does not seem like it is all that busy

7 Now...How To Reach The Nozzles? 

PawsOnTheRoad.com

This is probably one of the strangest gas stations that I have ever seen. I mean, why would the nozzles for the gas pumps be suspended above the cars? I am so confused by that. Not only do people have to somehow reach these nozzles but this also means that the tanks with the gas have to have a pump to bring the gas from the tank, up the line, all the up to where the nozzles are and then down and out and into the cars. That is so strange and really inconvenient, in terms of efficiency.

6 The Classic Touch

99Invisible.com

This is a very old school-looking gas station, for sure. I kind of like it. It looks a lot like a general store and bus terminal from back in the 1940s or 50s. I love that look. I feel like everyone from whatever town this station is located in probably goes here to fill up on gas, local news, and a few groceries before buying a bus ticket to go into the big city on the weekend. As cool as this is, I have to say it is a bit strange that this still even exists.