c. 1930 Cigarette Card "Grand Prix Race, Le Mans, 1929"

c. 1930 Cigarette Card "Grand Prix Race, Le Mans, 1929" is a vintage Cigarette Cards artifact by W.D. & H.O. Wills (Imperial Tobacco Co. of Great Britain & Ireland, Ltd.) from 1930, preserved in The Record Institute Ephemera Archive.

Category: Cigarette Cards

Brand: W.D. & H.O. Wills (Imperial Tobacco Co. of Great Britain & Ireland, Ltd.)

Year: 1930

Rarity Class: B

Last updated: August 8, 2026

This exceptional cigarette card from W.D. & H.O. Wills’s "Speed" series immortalizes the heavy, dominant 6½ litre Bentley that conquered the 1929 24 Hours of Le Mans. Through vivid halftone lithography and densely packed, highly specific typographic history, it captures the zenith of interwar British motorsport and the daring exploits of the era's millionaire gentleman-racers.

Quick Read

Subject: Commemorates the historic 1929 24 Hours of Le Mans victory by a 6½ litre Bentley. Drivers: Explicitly names the victorious drivers, Capt. Woolf Barnato and Capt. H.R.S. Birkin, celebrating them as "two young millionaires." Stats: Records an astonishing average speed of 73.62 m.p.h. and a total distance of 1,765 miles over the 24-hour race. Series: Card No. 25 in the 50-card "Speed" series

Summary

This exceptional cigarette card from W.D. & H.O. Wills’s "Speed" series immortalizes the heavy, dominant 6½ litre Bentley that conquered the 1929 24 Hours of Le Mans. Through vivid halftone lithography and densely packed, highly specific typographic history, it captures the zenith of interwar British motorsport and the daring exploits of the era's millionaire gentleman-racers.

A vintage rectangular cigarette trading card, oriented horizontally. The front features a color halftone illustration of a dark green vintage open-top race car (bearing the number 1) driving rapidly to the right, piloted by a driver in a white cap. A muted, impressionistic grandstand forms the background. Black text at the top reads "WILLS'S CIGARETTES." and at the bottom "GRAND PRIX RACE, LE MANS, 1929." The reverse features black typography on a beige background, with a dark banner reading "SPEED" at the top. The text details the 1929 Le Mans victory of Capt. Woolf Barnato and Capt. H.R.S. Birkin in a 6½ litre Bentley, issued by W.D. & H.O. Wills, Imperial Tobacco Co.