Jack Irving

John Samuel Irving (1880–1953), MIAE, was a British automobile engineer best known for designing the Irving-Napier land speed record breaking car Golden Arrow.

Apprenticeship Born in Manchester in 1880 he joined the Daimler Company in 1903 after serving an apprenticeship in toolmaking and general engineering. He was awarded the London City and Guilds silver medal for motorcar engineering in 1908. He was a lecturer at both Coventry and Warwickshire Technical Institutes.

Balloons, RAE and RFC From Daimler he joined the Balloon Factory at South Farnborough later known as the Royal Aircraft Establishment with Colonel Mervyn O'Gorman

Humfrey-Sandberg and the Irving-Napier Golden Arrow

From Sunbeam Irving took an appointment with Humfrey-Sandberg Co developing their freewheel and easy gear change device. Humfrey-Sandberg granted him permission to use part of his time designing and constructing Golden Arrow for ex-Sunbeam driver Henry Segrave. A measure of Irving's success was that as well as setting new land speed records Segrave reported the Golden Arrow was very docile compared with other cars of its kind. After the car's first and only test run Segrave drove the car up some planks to get it off the beach then drove it back through the main street of Daytona to its garage. Contemporary reports refer to the car as the Irving-Napier Golden Arrow.