Golden Arrow was a

land speed record The land speed record (or absolute land speed record) is the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C ("Special Vehicles") flying start regula ...

racer built in Britain to regain the world land speed record from the USA. Henry Segrave drove the car at 231.45 mph (372.46 km/h) in March 1929 on

Daytona Beach Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County near the Atlantic coastline, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 census. Daytona Beach is approximately nort ...

, exceeding the previous record by 24 mph (39 km/h).

The car

Built for ex- Sunbeam racing driver

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Henry Segrave Sir Henry O'Neal de Hane Segrave (22 September 1896 – 13 June 1930) was an early British pioneer in land speed and water speed records. Segrave, who set three land and one water record, was the first person to hold both titles simultaneous ...

to take the Land Speed Record from

Ray Keech Charles Raymond Keech (May 1, 1900 - June 15, 1929) was an American board track and brick track racer in the 1920s. He is best remembered for winning the 1929 Indianapolis 500, and for setting a land speed record. Career Land speed record ...

, ''Golden Arrow'' was one of the first

streamlined Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are field lines in a fluid flow. They differ only when the flow changes with time, that is, when the flow is not steady. Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the framework of ...

land speed racers, with a pointed nose and tight

cowling A cowling is the removable covering of a vehicle's engine, most often found on automobiles, motorcycles, airplanes, and on outboard boat motors. On airplanes, cowlings are used to reduce drag and to cool the engine. On boats, cowlings are a cove ...

. Power was provided by a 23.9

litre The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3). ...

(1462 ci) W12 Napier

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

VIIA

aeroengine An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbines, although a few have been rocket powered and in recent years many ...

, specially prepared by Napiers, designed for the

Supermarine Supermarine was a British aircraft manufacturer that is most famous for producing the Supermarine Spitfire, Spitfire fighter plane during World War II as well as a range of seaplanes and flying boats, and a series of Jet engine, jet-powered figh ...

aircraft competing in the

Schneider Trophy The Coupe d'Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider, also known as the Schneider Trophy, Schneider Prize or (incorrectly) the Schneider Cup is a trophy that was awarded annually (and later, biennially) to the winner of a race for seaplanes and flying ...

, producing 925 hp (690 kW) at 3300 rpm. The car was designed by ex-Sunbeam engineer, aero-engine designer and racing manager Captain John Samuel Irving (1880-1953).Captain J. S. Irving. ''The Times'', Tuesday, 31 Mar 1953; pg. 8; Issue 52584. It featured ice chests in the sides through which

coolant A coolant is a substance, typically liquid, that is used to reduce or regulate the temperature of a system. An ideal coolant has high thermal capacity, low viscosity, is low-cost, non-toxic, chemically inert and neither causes nor promotes corrosio ...

ran and a

telescopic sight A telescopic sight, commonly called a scope informally, is an optical sighting device based on a refracting telescope. It is equipped with some form of a referencing pattern – known as a ''reticle'' – mounted in a focally appropriate po ...

on the cowl to help avoid running diagonally. The Rootes brothers, friends of Segrave and Irving, provided the Irving-designed individual

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...

body panels from Thrupp and Maberly. Golden Arrow land speed record car 1929

In March 1929, Segrave went to

Daytona Daytona refers to the city of Daytona Beach, Florida, or things named after it. Daytona may also refer to: Locations * Daytona Beach Shores, Florida * South Daytona, Florida * The Daytona Beach metropolitan area * Halifax area, also known as Da ...

, and after a sole practice run, on 11 March, in front of 120,000 spectators, set a new flying mile at 231.45 mph (372.46 km/h), easily beating Keech's old speed of 207.55 mph (334.00 km/h). Two days later, another record attempt by

Lee Bible Lee Bible (May 27, 1887 March 13, 1929) was an American garage operator and a racing-car driver. He was killed attempting to break the land-speed record on March 13, 1929, at Ormond Beach, Florida. Early life He was born Conway Lee Bible on ...

's ''

White Triplex The White Triplex (also known as the "Triplex Special" and the "Spirit of Elkdom") was an American land speed record car built for J. H. White and driven by Ray Keech. It was powered by three 27-litre Liberty L-12, Liberty Aircraft engine, aero en ...

'' resulted in a crash which killed both Bible and a photographer. Daytona Beach was subsequently closed and Segrave was unable to make further runs to try for even higher speeds. ''Golden Arrow'' never ran again and the following year Segrave himself was killed while setting a water speed record.

John Samuel Irving

Contemporary reports refer to the car as the Irving-Napier ''Golden Arrow''.Interview: Captain J. S. Irving, designer of the Irving-Napier Special. ''Motor Sport'', page 7 May 1929 Irving had left Sunbeam and his new employers, Humfrey-Sandberg, granted him permission to use part of his time designing and constructing ''Golden Arrow'' for ex-Sunbeam driver

. ''Golden Arrow'' was, Segrave said, very docile compared with other cars of its kind. After the first trial run when he established no goggles were necessary at Segrave drove the car up some planks to get it off the beach then drove it back along the main street of Daytona to its garage. Napier Lion engine (cutaway) National Motor Museum, Beaulieu

Napier Lion engine (cutaway) National Motor Museum, Beaulieu

The sponsors required a British brand name for the engine and Napier was chosen. Dunlop's tyres were not warranted safe beyond so the planned maximum of was pulled back. To minimise frontal area Irving based the shape of the nose on the racing Supermarine S.5's cowling. Leading fairings in front of the front wheels gave no useful improvement and they were abandoned. An irreducible minimum was arrived at for the size of the cockpit because it had to be large enough for a sixteen-inch steering wheel believed to be needed to give sufficient leverage. In the end a large tail fin was adopted in case of side gusts, it located the centre of gravity an inch in front of the centre of pressure. The whole shell was shaped to exert a downward air pressure to keep the driving wheels on the ground and assist stability but a further of lead ballast was added to the tail. The twin prop-shafts were given strong casings in case they came apart at high speed. The axle was given no differential. At that time the car was notable among land speed record cars for having 4-wheel brakes. Suspension was by half-elliptic leaf springs all round, axle travel was limited to just 1 inches in front and 1 at the rear axle. The car was built at KLG Works on Kingston Hill. Segrave found he could not use all the throttle opening until past 2400 rpm, or, in bottom gear, until the car was moving in excess of . The engine ran throughout without a misfire and the extra ice cooling turned out to be unnecessary. Segrave made just the two runs. Including that first test run it is doubtful if the car has travelled as much as in its whole life. Irving was helped by chief draughtsman W U Snell, his brother lent by

Alvis Alvis may refer to: *Alvis Car and Engineering Company, British luxury car and military vehicle manufacturer which later became Alvis plc * Alvis plc (formerly United Scientific Holdings plc), a defence contractor which acquired Alvis Cars and bec ...

to supervise the car's building and his daughter who dealt with all the associated progress-chasing and administrative work. The engine cannot be run again because the cylinder blocks were not properly inhibited and are now too porous. Wakefield / Castrol presented the car to the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu in 1958.

Backers

*Sir Charles Wakefield (

Castrol Castrol is a British oil company that markets industrial and automotive lubricants, offering a wide range of oil, greases and similar products for most lubrication applications. The name ''Castrol'' was originally just the brand name for com ...

)John Bullock, ''The Rootes Brothers'', Patrick Stephens, Sparkford Somerset *O J S Piper, Portland (Red Triangle) Cement ( Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers)The inside story of the Irving-Napier ''Golden Arrow''. ''Motor Sport'', page 56 July 1981 * H O D Segrave (the driver)

Suppliers

*Engine –

Napier & Son D. Napier & Son Limited was a British engineering company best known for its luxury motor cars in the Edwardian era and for its aero engines throughout the early to mid-20th century. Napier was founded as a precision engineering company in ...

, Acton *Body –

Thrupp & Maberly Thrupp & Maberly was a British coachbuilding business based in the West End of London, England. Coach-makers to Queen Victoria they operated for more than two centuries until 1967 when they closed while in the ownership of Rootes Group. Mr Thru ...

, Rootes brothers *Assembly – Robinhood Engineering Works, Newlands, Putney Vale *Spark plugs – KLG *Steering – Marles * Chassis frame – John Thompson (Wolverhampton) *

Shock absorber A shock absorber or damper is a mechanical or hydraulic device designed to absorb and damp shock impulses. It does this by converting the kinetic energy of the shock into another form of energy (typically heat) which is then dissipated. Most sh ...

s – T B Andre, London *Ball bearings –

Ransome & Marles Ransome & Marles Bearing Company Limited was the owner of a business making ball and roller bearings founded during the First World War to make bearings for aircraft and other engines. Before the war most bearings had been imported and most of th ...

Cardan shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft ( Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power and torque and rotation, usually used to connect ...

s –

Hardy Spicer Hardy Spicer is a brand of automotive transmission or driveline equipment best known for its mechanical constant velocity universal joint originally manufactured in Britain by Hardy employing patents belonging to US-based Spicer Manufacturing. Har ...

*Gearbox – Gillett Stephen and Co, Bookham *Brake operation – Clayton Dewandre, Lincoln *Radiators – Gloucester Aircraft *Special steels –

Vickers Armstrong Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, wi ...

*Fuel – British Petroleum *Oil – C. C. Wakefield & Co

References

* *

External links

{{commons category, Golden Arrow (land speed racer)
"Fastest Thing On Wheels", June 1929, Popular Science
* ttp://www.beaulieu.co.uk/ipus/beaulieu/lotstosee-national-motor-museum National Motor Museum website Vehicles powered by Napier Lion engines Wheel-driven land speed record cars Cars powered by aircraft engines