c. 1930 Cigarette Card "The Golden Arrow"

c. 1930 Cigarette Card "The Golden Arrow" 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: C

Last updated: October 3, 2026

Issued in the wake of one of the early twentieth century’s most captivating engineering triumphs, this W.D. & H.O. Wills cigarette card immortalizes the "Golden Arrow" and its 1929 land speed record. It serves as a pocket-sized monument to the interwar obsession with mechanical velocity, capturing a fleeting moment on the sands of Daytona Beach where humanity and machinery conspired to push the absolute limits of physical reality.

Quick Read

Subject: A W.D. & H.O. Wills cigarette card depicting "The Golden Arrow," a famed land speed record vehicle. Historical Event: Commemorates Sir Henry Segrave's March 11, 1929, record of 231.36 mph at Daytona Beach. Engineering Context: Explicitly mentions the use of an Irving-Napier-Lion engine and an early "wind-cheating" aerodynamic body. Curious Detail: The text reveals the car was equipped with "telescopic sights" for aiming down the beach, and that the record run was the car's very first time being driven. Format: A mass-produced chromolithographic tobacco premium intended to educate and captivate the 1930s public.

Summary

Issued in the wake of one of the early twentieth century’s most captivating engineering triumphs, this W.D. & H.O. Wills cigarette card immortalizes the "Golden Arrow" and its 1929 land speed record. It serves as a pocket-sized monument to the interwar obsession with mechanical velocity, capturing a fleeting moment on the sands of Daytona Beach where humanity and machinery conspired to push the absolute limits of physical reality.

A vintage, landscape-oriented cigarette card featuring a color lithograph of a streamlined, golden land speed record car racing across a beach. The text "WILLS'S CIGARETTES" appears at the top right, and 'THE "GOLDEN ARROW."' at the bottom left. The reverse side, printed in portrait orientation, features detailed black typography on a pale background, titled "SPEED" and documenting the car's 1929 world record at Daytona Beach by Sir Henry Segrave. A visible reddish-brown blemish marks the upper left sky area on the front.