Greatblack & white photo depicting the legendary Land Speed Record car GOLDEN ARROW with it's driver Sir Henry Segrave .
The car was powered by a NAPIER LION 12 cylinder aero engine and set the outright Land Speed Record at Daytona Beach , Florida in 1929 of 231mph .
The car is shown here from the front, surrounded by crew and cameramen having just completed a run with Sir Henry Segrave climbing out from behind the wheel.
Great atmosphere and also a great view of the sleek panelwork covering the W12 Napier engine.
Size 10x8 inches (250x200mm)
Sir Henry O'Neal, De Hane ("H.O.D") Segrave was Britains leading driver in the 1920s, winner of the 1923 French GP and other major events for Sunbeam. He broke the land speed record in 1936, 1927 and 1929 with speeds of 146mph, 203mph and 231mph. At which point he was knighted by the king for his patriotic efforts and retired from motor racing . Instead he took to speed boats. In the twin Rolls Royce engined MISS ENGLAND 2 , backed by Lord Wakefield the oil millionaire, he broke the water speed record on Lake Windermere in Cumbria in 1930 at just under 100mph but without stopping to check the time of his two record runs went out for a back-up third run to make sure and the boat crashed into a submerged tree trunk floasting in the water. It flipped over, throwing out Segrave and his two riding mechanics, all three were fished out of the water but only one mechanic survived, Segrave, the national hero died of his injuries not knowing he need never have made that final run.
