1930 Cigarette Card "LIGHTWEIGHT T.T. RACE, 1929. (S. A. CRABTREE.)"

1930 Cigarette Card "LIGHTWEIGHT T.T. RACE, 1929. (S. A. CRABTREE.)" is a vintage Cigarette Cards artifact by W.D. & H.O. Wills (Imperial Tobacco Co.) from 1930, preserved in The Record Institute Ephemera Archive.

Category: Cigarette Cards

Brand: W.D. & H.O. Wills (Imperial Tobacco Co.)

Year: 1930

Rarity Class: B

Last updated: August 8, 2026

This pristine survival from W.D. & H.O. Wills’s celebrated "SPEED" series captures the kinetic intensity of interwar motorcycle racing. Depicting S.A. Crabtree’s record-breaking 1929 Lightweight Tourist Trophy victory on an Excelsior machine, the card serves as a microscopic monument to the golden era of British motorsport and the relentless pursuit of velocity.

Quick Read

Subject: S.A. Crabtree, riding motorcycle #12 to victory at the 1929 Lightweight Tourist Trophy (Isle of Man). Machine: 250 c.c. Excelsior motorcycle. Issuer: W.D. & H.O. Wills, a branch of the Imperial Tobacco Co. of Great Britain & Ireland Ltd. Context: Card No. 33 from the highly popular "SPEED" series of 50, categorized under section "(c) Motor-cycles." Historical Data: Documents Crabtree's 19

Summary

This pristine survival from W.D. & H.O. Wills’s celebrated "SPEED" series captures the kinetic intensity of interwar motorcycle racing. Depicting S.A. Crabtree’s record-breaking 1929 Lightweight Tourist Trophy victory on an Excelsior machine, the card serves as a microscopic monument to the golden era of British motorsport and the relentless pursuit of velocity.

A vintage W.D. & H.O. Wills cigarette card titled "LIGHTWEIGHT T.T. RACE, 1929." The front features a dynamic color illustration of motorcyclist S.A. Crabtree, wearing a brown leather aviator-style helmet, goggles, and a brown riding suit with striking white crossed chest straps. He is leaning aggressively into a left-hand turn on a black motorcycle bearing the racing number 12. The background consists of a dirt track and rolling green hills. The reverse features crisp black typography detailing Crabtree's racing history on Excelsior machines, identifying it as card number 33 in the "SPEED" series issued by the Imperial Tobacco Co.