The history of the Shell Eco-marathon stretches back over 50 years. It originated at Shell's research lab in Illinois, US, with friendly wagers between fellow scientists to see who could get the most miles per gallon from their vehicles. From these humble origins, where the winner scarcely achieved 50MPG, more organised competitions evolved.

In 1977, Shell organised the first competition at Mallory Park essentially for student teams. In 1978 the competition grew further and an open class was introduced. In 1985, the first European Shell Eco-marathon was held in France and the record was 680 km on a litre of fuel. Today, the recent records are equivalent to driving from Paris to Beijing with less than 4 litres of gasoline. Over the years, the fuel economy record has been rapidly improved. The most recent record was set at the 2003 Rockingham event by team Microjoule from St Sebastien/Loire in France. They achieved a fuel consumption figure of 10,705 miles per gallon - beating the previous record set by the same team in 2001 by nearly 500 mpg.