The 1929 car that shattered speed records despite its corny name

April 1929

The Golden Arrow on its way to be displayed at Selfridges department store in London.

Image: Fox Photos/Getty Images

Henry Segrave had a need for speed.

After serving as a British fighter pilot in World War I, he won numerous car races in the 1920s before retiring to concentrate exclusively at smashing speed records.

He set his first land speed record in 1926, pushing a car named Ladybird to a speed of 152.33 miles per hour. That record was broken just a month later

Segrave regained the top spot in spectacular fashion in 1927, when he hit 203.79 miles per hour in the Sunbeam 1000 HP Mystery, making him the first person to exceed 200 miles per hour. His brakes melted as he raced down the sands of Daytona Beach, Florida, forcing him to stop by veering into the shallow waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Read more...