The 1964 Lyons Maid “100 Years of Motoring” card set was a promotional trading card series issued by Lyons Maid, the ice cream division of J. Lyons & Co. in the United Kingdom. The set contained 50 cards, featuring colorful illustrations of historic and contemporary automobiles spanning roughly a century of motoring development from the late 1800s to the 1960s.
These cards were distributed free inside wrappers of Lyons Maid ice lollies and other frozen treats, a classic 1960s marketing strategy similar to other British promotional items like Brooke Bond tea cards. Each card included descriptive text on the reverse providing historical facts and trivia about the vehicles and motoring milestones depicted. The cards measured the standard size for many Lyons Maid issues of the period: approximately 68mm x 36mm (the typical UK trade card or “cigarette card” dimensions).
The 1955 “100 Years of Motoring” set issued by Miranda Confectioners (also known as Robert R. Miranda Ltd.) and the 1964 “100 Years of Motoring” set from Lyons Maid feature identical card fronts with the same vintage vehicle illustrations and descriptive text for corresponding cards in their respective series.
The primary differences lie in the card backs, promotional branding (ice cream for Lyons Maid versus confectionery for Miranda), and minor production details, making many individual cards appear the same at first glance on the picture side despite being released nearly a decade apart by different British companies.
Here are the four cards from the 1964 Lyons Maid “100 Years of Motoring” set that directly relate to auto racing, spotlighting motorsport vehicles and milestones within this classic 50-card promotional series given away in ice lolly wrappers.
Peugeot Motor-Car of 1894
Daimler Racing Car – 1907
Fiat Racing Car – 1919
Jaguar XK-120-C Racing Car – 1953
