London to Brighton Veteran Car Run

Finish line of the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, 2005.

The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run is the longest-running motoring event in the world. The first run was in 1896, and has taken place most years since then. To qualify, the cars must have been built before 1905. It is also the world's largest gathering of veteran cars - 443 started in 2005.

It takes place on the first Sunday in November and starts at sunrise from Hyde Park, London and mostly follows the A23 road to finish at Brighton—a distance of 86 km (54 miles). There are two official stops along the way: Crawley (for coffee) and Preston Park (in a suburb of Brighton). Preston Park is in fact the official finishing point; the cars then proceed to Madeira Drive on the seafront at Brighton.

The organisers emphasise that the event is not a race—they do not even publish the order in which cars finish, and participants are not permitted to exceed an average speed of 20 mph (32 km/h). Any that finish (many don't) before 16.30 are awarded a medal.

Participants

A veteran car nearing the end of the 2005 run in inclement weather.

Some participants dress up in a late Victorian or Edwardian style of clothing. In 1971, The Queen was a passenger. A regular participant is Prince Michael of Kent.

History

The first run in 1896, organised by Harry J. Lawson, was named "The Emanicipation Run": it was originally a celebration of the lifting of the Locomotive Act which had required vehicles to travel no faster than 4 mph (6.4 km/h). This run was started by the symbolic burning of a red flag: the Locomotive Act was popularly known the "Red Flag Act" which had once required cars to be preceded by a person on foot carrying a red flag.

The run was next staged in 1927, and since then annually (with the exception of wartime years and due to petrol rationing in 1947), making it the world's longest running motoring event. From 1930, the event has been controlled by the Royal Automobile Club.

The 1953 comedy movie Genevieve takes place during one of these runs.

See also

• London to Brighton events

SOME EARLY MOTORING HISTORY And Surrey's Part In It

Introduction

Surrey is a county having a number of close links with historic vehicles and one, which, I believe, has contributed more to this country's motoring history than any other, albeit not always to its credit. The world's first motorcycle race took place at Sheen House, Richmond, on 29th November 1897 and it was in the west of the county that 'scrambling' now known as motocross, started in the 1920's.

These days, with Brighton the destination, the Pioneer Run for pre 1915 motorcycles leaves Epsom Downs in March and, in May; the Historic Commercial Vehicles are driven from Crystal Palace. But it is from Hyde Park on the first Sunday in November that the Veteran Car Run travels down through Surrey almost as the Emancipation Run did on 14th November 1896.

But how did it all begin? To understand what prompted the drivers of those fragile early vehicles to undertake a journey of over 50 miles on the sorry roads of the 19th century one should go back, not 100 years but 200 years!

Days of Steam

In the latter part of the 18th century, railway and stagecoach operators had a monopoly of public transport, although the railways were ousting stagecoaches. When, towards the turn of the century, steam vehicles appeared on our poor roads, they were hardly competitive being slow and having to stop frequently for fuel and water. Many countries were working on steam propulsion, but here James Watt had given a lead and names emerged such as Richard Trevithick who, in 1801, demonstrated a form of steam coach he had built which was capable of carrying 8 people at speeds of up to 12mph. A quarter of a century later, one Goldsworthy Gurney had a machine capable of transporting 21 people at up to 15mph. By the 1830's, steam was becoming a real threat to the established forms of public transport. Operators were buying Gurney’s coaches for inter city services in various parts and Walter Hancock, who also built steam coaches, had a regular service in London. By 1831, he was running a coach from London to Marlborough, a distance of 75 miles, in under 6 hours. He was claiming speeds of up to 20mph and, in three months in 1834, he carried over four hundred passengers between the City of London and Paddington without accident.

Many of Britain's main roads had tollgates owned by highway authorities that disliked heavy steam vehicles. Pressure from vested interests, prohibitive tolls and even organised attacks by thugs, saw a decline of steam transport at a time when this country was so far ahead. The death of public transport in the form of the steam coach may have acted as a deterrent, but did not retard progress for long. It became the aim to produce a form of personal transport, again using steam, so that one could travel totally independent of public transport. By 1860, Thomas Rickett had designed and built such a vehicle. It was a three wheeler requiring a driver at the front and a stoker at the rear. A passenger could be carried next to the driver, both sitting behind the single front wheel. In its first year the Marquis of Strafford took the machine on a tour of the Scottish Highlands. No road was too steep for it and, on the faster stretches, up to 20mph was attained. Steam propulsion was again making good progress but, as speeds increased, it was to be dealt a blow from which it would never recover Parliament passed the Red Flag Act.

The Locomotives Act of 1865

It was this act, affecting only steam vehicles, that introduces the dreaded red flag. The act, which required three people to form the crew of a locomotive, contained the following clause:

...one of such persons, while any locomotive is in motion, shall precede such locomotive on foot by not less than sixty yards, and shall carry a red flag constantly displayed, and shall warn the riders and drivers of horses of the approach of such locomotives and shall signal the driver thereof when it shall be necessary to stop, and shall assist horses and carriages drawn by horses, passing the same.

It was the 1878 Act, 13 years later, that took away the third man's red flag and perhaps much of his authority. It also reduced his lonely position from 60 yards ahead of the locomotive when it replaced the above regulation with the following:

...one of such persons, while the locomotive is in motion, shall precede by at least twenty yards the locomotive on foot, and shall in case of need assist horses and carriages drawn by horses passing the same

All mention of the red flag had been omitted!

It may have been the symbolic destruction of a red flag on the steps of London's Metropole Hotel before the Emancipation Run of 1896, which has led to the mistaken belief that the run was held to mark the repeal of the Red Flag Act. Yet, as can be seen from the above extracts, it was nearly ten years before the motor car was invented, and several more before any appeared on our roads, that the red flag ceased to be a legal requirement. It is known that the flag was carried voluntarily on occasions after the passing of the act, an indication that with it went some status. There were even stories of fines being imposed for failure to display a flag, but these could be apocryphal.

Presumably, we must expect to continue to read that the 1896 run was held to celebrate the abolition of the law requiring a man with a red flag to walk in front of a vehicle. In fact, for a few years we heard little about it until the RAC Motor Sports Association became responsible for the organisation and their publicity continued to perpetuate the myth. I recall having a letter published in a local paper about 3 years ago after it published the RAC press release. Unfortunately, they failed to publish the source of the information. Had they done so, I would have written to the RAC instead.

So, if the Emancipation Run of 1896 had little to do with a red flag, what was its purpose? The answer lies in the Locomotives on Highways Act of that Year.

The Locomotives on Highways Act of 1896

The foregoing should have given some idea of the frustrations that existed on our roads long before the first car appeared here in around 1894. Over the next year or two, there was a slow increase in the number of vehicles in this country yet, while our drivers were following the 'third man' at speeds of up to 4mph (2mph in built up areas), on the Continent they were racing on public roads. In 1894, a form of time trial took place from Paris to Rouen and the following year Lavassor won the 732 miles Paris Bordeaux Paris race at an average speed of 15mph. In 1896, Mayade won the 1,162 miles Paris Marseilles Paris race with an actual running time of nearly 68 hours, giving an average speed in the region of 17mph. Panhard & Lavassor cars won both races. Shortly after, Mayade became the first person to be killed in a motor race.

The passing of the 1896 Act did not give British motorists the right to race each other along country lanes, but it did exempt 'light locomotives', which now included motor cars, from the restrictions of the 1878 Act by making it no longer compulsory for a man to walk in front and increasing the speed limit from 4mph to 14mph. Unfortunately for the motorist, the Act gave Local Government Board the power to lower the limit if they thought it necessary and, of course, they thought it necessary! The maximum permitted speed became 12mph.

The last recorded case of a summons being served for unlawfully neglecting to have a person on foot preceding the locomotive by 20 yards was when Walter C. Bersey of Westminster was arrested on 20th October 1896.

The locomotive in question was an electric car Bersey had built. It has been claimed that, a few months earlier, he had been fined 40/ costs for proceeding twice round Parliament Square at more than 2mph without a man walking in front with a flag or a light! The magistrate is alleged to have told Bersey that people must learn that they could not drive motorcars in the street except under stringent regulations. For the next two years Bersey tried, not very successfully, to operate an electric taxi service. It was this country's first taxi service with other than horse drawn vehicles.

Fortunately, Bersey's summons of 20th October still exists, see figure 1.

Figure 1 Bersey’s Summons of 20th October 1896 The Emancipation Run is Planned

It may come as a surprise, but the Emancipation Run was not the impromptu gathering of motorcar enthusiasts one might imagine. On the contrary, it was a highly commercial though not very well organised event put on by 'The Motor Car Club' and masterminded by its president, Harry J. Lawson, one of the big names in British motoring, even then. Lawson had put on a demonstration of vehicles a few months earlier at Wembley Park attended by 10 cars and 3 motorcycles. In spite of the 1878 act, the police had insisted that the cars for demonstration arrive after dark and following a man with a red flag! In those early days Lawson bought up as many of the more promising patents relating to motorcars as he could. He was also behind the British Motor Syndicate and was the founder of the Great Horseless Wagon Carriage Company, but none was destined to last for long. Lawson's original idea was to celebrate the passing of the 1896 Act by a demonstration run from the Imperial Institute, down Whitehall, to the Houses of Parliament. However, it was put to Lawson that a run to Brighton would be far more convincing and he agreed.

It was decided to hold a rehearsal before the actual run and Saturday, 24 October, was chosen as a suitable day. Three county councils were approached, London, Surrey and Sussex. London and Sussex gave their consent, but Surrey County Council refused. After all, the Act did not come into force until 14th November! This was not the first indication that a period extending some 15 years had already begun which was to make the County of Surrey the one most hated by early motorists, but more of that later.

Emancipation Day

It had been known for some time that the Locomotives on Highways Act of 1896 would take effect on 14th November 1896 when the British motorist would be freed from the requirement of having to travel behind a man on foot at a speed not exceeding 4mph. This gave the Motor Car Club (also known as the MCC to the chagrin of certain cricket followers who wrote protesting letters to the press) the opportunity of publicising the event, not only here, but abroad. Invitations were sent to overseas motorists and this resulted in 5 American Duryeas being shipped over, two to be driven by the Duryea brothers and three to be kept and sold after the event if they had a successful run. It was Duryea who started the American automobile industry when the made 13 identical cars in 1896.

Also invited were the Panhard & Levassor that won the 1895 Paris Bordeaux race and the one that was successful in the Paris Marseilles. The secretary of the Motor Car Club, C. Harrington Moore, even before it was decided that a run to Brighton would be more convincing, had written to the then relatively new magazine The Autocar as follows:

To celebrate the passing of the Light Locomotive Act, the Motor Car Club are organising a procession of motorcars to proceed from the Imperial Institute to the Houses of Parliament as soon as the Act receives Royal Assent.... I shall be pleased to receive entries from, and give particulars to, any intending participants.

It is interesting to note the use of a different name for the Act in the above letter.

There were also 3 wheelers in those days, French Leon Bollées, a company taken over by William Morris in 1924. The Léon Bollées in the Emancipation Run were to be driven by Léon Bollée himself, Camille Bollée and a British motoring historian, H.O.Duncan.

Harry J. Lawson had issued instructions to entrants (Figure 2) setting out the route and itinerary. However, although it said he would drive the Pilot Car, he purchased the Paris Marseilles race winner and travelled as a passenger in that. In the instructions, he refers to the possibility of any rashness or carelessness injuring the industry in this country. In fact, the restrictions that this country's motorists had been subjected to meant there was little industry here and nearly all cars taking part were foreign. Perhaps Lawson was thinking about the money he still hoped to make from all the patents he owned. One of the very few British cars entered was an Arnold that still exists today and can be seen at Beaulieu.

Of interest is the fact that this could also be considered the first historic commercial vehicle run as it included a Daimler delivery van entered by Harrods and a Panhard van entered by Peter Robinson. Obviously two forward looking companies bearing in mind for how short a time motor vehicles had existed.

No less than 55 vehicles entered the 1896 Emancipation Run. If you think some of the pre 1905 veterans you see on today's Brighton Run look pretty primitive, bear in mind you are unlikely to see any that had been made when the 1896 Run took place!

The instructions make interesting reading. The section indicating where water can be obtained suggests Horley comes before Reigate. I wonder what they had for breakfast Tickets 10/ each, including wine. Doubtless, a few glasses of wine were necessary bearing in mind what they were about to face. I haven't seen a map, but I believe the cars did not actually enter Redhill town, but turned off just south of Merstham, probably down Gatton Park Road and Croydon Road. The 'Special Train', which was put on as much for the Press as for friends and relatives of entrants, stays at Redhill, yet leaves Reigate at 2.15 it says!!

Figure 2 Instructions to Entrants

The Emancipation Run

We saw in the last section that no less than 55 vehicles entered the 1896 Run, many of which had entered from abroad, but how many actually started and how many finished the run is questionable. I read sometime ago that an official report claimed 22 started and 20 finished. However, Lord Montagu, who must have access to newspaper and magazine reports which I haven't, reckons 33 turned up for the start at the Whitehall Entrance of the hotel Metropole, or was it the Metropole Hotel? The Instructions play safe with both. Some cars joined the run along the route and Bersey is believed to have driven straight to Victoria Station and put his car on a train to Brighton. Even today there are problems with electric cars, so there was no chance of getting to Brighton in 1896.

Lawson led off the cars, but there was no programme, the public and journalists getting little information from the organising club. Subsequent reports were in conflict on certain aspects of the run and the figure of 20 finishers is open to considerable doubt. At least 2 cars are know to have expired on the route so, perhaps 10 is more likely, although late arrivals may have been included in the figure of 20.

The weather was bad, it was bitterly cold and it rained all day. Doubtless, those who travelled on the specially chartered train were grateful for the comfort. There were occasional patches of fog but, worst of all, there was mud! Tarmac roads were yet to come and most crews in their open vehicles were very travel stained by the time they reached Reigate. Some cars, such as those driven by the Bollee brothers, continued down through Redhill instead of going to Reigate, via Merstham, for lunch. This was believed to be the result of a desire to demonstrate the speed of the cars and be first at Brighton.

In spite of the weather, the roads to Brighton were crowded, especially in Reigate. Many of the public, including Londoners, had never seen a motorcar before. There was no real check on runners or whether the whole journey was accomplished on the road, yet there were 3 timekeepers. One remained in Reigate and the other two went down on the train to Brighton.

Lawson had left at 9:15am, but did not reach Brixton until 11:30 where he stopped for water. He arrived in Reigate a little after 1pm and Brighton just before 5. The crowds slowed everyone down and the police were not exactly helpful. The first two cars to reach Brighton were, of course, the Bollees the first was timed in at 2:33 and the second at 2:47. Two more Bollees were driven by British drivers, but one retired after problems caused by the single rear wheel throwing sand into the carburettor. The other was withdrawn at Reigate.

Some of the late finishers were known to have left long after the official starting time because the roads were so blocked by spectators at the start. Some cars stopped when darkness fell and drove into Brighton the following morning.

An example of a trouble free run was that of the Panhard that Merkel had driven to second place in the Paris Marseilles Paris race. He also drove in the run and his passengers included the Earl of Winchelsea and a reporter from the Daily Telegraph that published a report. The car reached Brixton in under an hour and was at Croydon town hall at noon. Purley was made 10 minutes later and Reigate, via Redhill, at 1pm. They left after a 50-minute lunch break and arrived at Preston Park at 4:15, just 15 minutes before finishers were to gather together for the run into Brighton. They were timed in at the Brighton Metropole at 5:04.

The official report does not say which car was first in having obeyed the rules, but JF Duryea driving an American Duryea, claimed the position having been first at Merstham (12:15), Reigate (12:40), where the crew took a 65 minute lunch break, and Brighton (3:45). Doubtless, the failure of the official report to give credit to the Duryea was because it was not using any of Lawson's patents! It was at Crawley that a Duryea knocked down little Mary Dyer, daughter of a Three Bridges publican, when she ran out in front of the car. A cyclist riding behind then fell over her. I am not aware of whether Mary suffered any injuries, but the driver was exonerated of all blame. If she were still alive, Mary would now be a centenarian!

So the first Brighton Run came to an end leaving a number of loose ends for historians to wonder about. The motorcar was so new that manufacturers names meant little and there was confusion on several points. Regarding Lawson, within a few years his empire collapsed. A High Court action went against him in 1900 and the British Motor Syndicate went into liquidation. In spite of his faults and selfishness, Lawson started something that, indirectly, must have resulted in the preservation of so many of the cars we see in Veteran Car Runs today.

The Next Few Years and the 1903 Motor Car Act

There was no London to Brighton Run in 1897 or 1898. For the first and second anniversaries Lawson organised runs to Sheen and back with 45 cars lining up for the first and 89 for the second. There were mixed feelings about the value of short runs in view of the increase in the number of cars.

By 1899, motoring events were catching on and that year the Motor Car Club held its last celebration run to mark the passing of the 1896 Act. Monday, 13th November, was chosen (Lawson never approved of Sunday events) with the same route as for the 1896 Run. The run started from the Metropole Hotel down to Reigate, via Merstham, where they stopped for lunch. 135 cars started and 95 reached Brighton by evening. This time the weather was good, the roads dry and the day a success. Drivers included two were destined to make large contributions to British motoring, the Hon. C.S.Rolls in a Peugeot and S.F.Edge in a Panhard. Edge had bought Lawson's Panhard after the Emancipation Run.

The following year a run was held again, but this time there were changes. Lawson's Motor Car Club was out and the event was organised by the Automobile Club of Great Britain that had been founded in 1897 and later became the Royal Automobile Club. The police, especially in Brighton, had thrown their weight about too much for drivers in the past and so, in 1900, 120 cars set out for Southsea! A number of unofficial entries joined in, but the horseless carriage no longer held the rapt attention of the general public and the runs were losing their appeal. It was London to Southsea again in 1901 with 143 cars starting, whereas 1902 saw another change when 193 cars left London for a two-day trip to Oxford and back. 150 cars left Oxford the following day for the return trip.

In 1903, motoring was still an adventure, but the runs had served their purpose. As a result, it was not a celebration run that 1903 is noted for, it is something very different.

The 1903 Motor Car Act

The first thing one notices is that these are no longer Locomotives on Highways Acts. The motorcar had arrived.

The 12 mph speed limit introduced in 1896 was acceptable for a time, but cars were getting faster and motorists became restless as they learned of the unrestricted progress of drivers in other countries. In 1902, the Automobile Club sent letters to newspapers calling for an easing of the speed limit. The press was generally in favour of a relaxation and, the following year, an Act was passed which raised the speed limit to 20 mph from 1st January 1904. At last, the British motor industry could come into its own, but it would take time. For example, in 1905, this country imported an average of 38 cars each month from France alone, yet the monthly average of exports to all countries was two!

Unfortunately, the 1903 Act had another feature that motorists had to accept as part of the deal compulsory registration of motor vehicles. Great Britain was not the first country to introduce national registration, far from it. However, it would have been if Surrey County Council had had its way.

Paris brought in registration as early as August 1893 and Budapest in 1898. Munich followed in 1899, which was all too much for our anti motoring council. That year they pressed for the compulsory registration of cars and motorcycles, such registration to include the issue of a distinctive number to be displayed on the vehicle at all times. They received a certain amount of support from other districts and organisations, mainly those who felt such identification would make police work easier, but Surrey County Council had to wait four years before they saw compulsory registration introduced. It fell to Belgium in 1900 to be the first country to enforce it nationally, with Spain later that year. France, Italy, Portugal and Holland followed in 1901.

It is interesting to note that, even before the 1903 Act took effect, there were motorists in favour of identification. Some named their cars as one does a boat (some still do) and in 1903, a Wiltshire JP numbered his Wolseley 01". Doubtless, he had to change it on the 1st January 1904, especially as Earl Russell, the LCC chairman, waited up all night (or so it is said) to get A1 when issued.

The cost to the British motorist to buy a carriage licence, provided his car weighed less that 1 ton, was £2.2.2d and his driving licence a further 5/ d. In 1904, he had to find the additional sum of £1 to register his vehicle when he was given a number.

Surrey County Council reported a total of 900 motorcars and motorcycles and 1,100 drivers registered with effect from 1st January 1904, the latter figure including chauffeurs. The number I have on my car, P641, was obviously issued on the 1st January 1904, but I cannot say what it was on. Although many county records still exist, bombing during the war destroyed Surrey’s. I bought the number from a woman where I used to work. She had originally acquired it when she bought a Marina from someone's estate, at no extra cost. As a result of my interest in motoring history, especially Surrey's, I always coveted the number as she transferred it from one car to another. I, then, just happened to be in the right place at the right time when she decided to sell it.

I mentioned 900 vehicles being registered in Surrey on the 1st January 1904, but this did not represent the total number of registered vehicles in the county because of an omission in the Act. It failed to specify that one had to register with one's own authority. As Surrey was noted for the attitude of its police and the bias of its magistrates, as also was Sussex, it is understood that a number of motorists registered with the more progressive counties of London, Kent and Hampshire rather than contribute to the funds of their own.

London, which was given the letter A, had the largest number of registrations in the first month with 1,714 and, in February, this increased to 3,741 with 2,356 cars and 1,385 motorcycles. Only 8 counties and 3 boroughs had more than 100 cars registered in the first month.

Registration letter P went to Surrey and, eventually PA to PL with the exception of PI which found its way to Cork. PA 1" was on a Mercedes in the Redhill area and, once, I tried to chat to the driver about the historical significance of the number. However, he didn't know what I was talking about, so I assumed he was just a proud father!

It took Surrey about 10 years to use up the 9,999 numbers covered by the letter P before starting on PA. In fact, in 1905, Surrey County Council sent out a request asking residents to register with them. Residents, because, not only did they want drivers and their vehicles to be registered with them, but also servants and dogs. 10 years later, they were still appealing to the motorist to register with them.

Surrey Constabulary

As we have seen, Surrey County Council did not endear itself to the pioneer motorist when it refused to permit the Emancipation Run rehearsal to take place in 1896. But why, a decade later, was there still so much antagonism towards the county's police? The reason lies in the power wielded by Captain Mowbray Sant, the Chief Constable of Surrey.

Today's motorist may feel that, at times, they are being victimised and treated as criminals. In Sant's day, if a motorist put a wheel out of place, he was usually left in little doubt. Sant was made Chief Constable in 1899 and, in 1900, issued this statement to the force:

Having given cyclists and motor car drivers due notice, I am now anxious to take such steps as may be practicable to put an end to the nuisance and danger caused by reckless riders and drivers and show them that the warnings were not idle ones.

I leave it in your hands to take what action you consider necessary, but I would suggest, if possible, you place two constables (two together, on in uniform and out of sight, and one in plain clothes) at intervals so that if any motors are driven too fast or cyclists ride at a dangerous pace, one set of constables could signal the other to stop the offender. These men should only be placed at points on the road such as villages, hills, etc where rapid travelling would be dangerous, and where there are many inhabitants.

Perhaps, to Sant, speeds in excess of 12mph were dangerous and, after all, the law was being broken. There was dust, noise and the danger to horses and cattle, but in those days, one was either pro or anti motoring, and the Surrey police were anti . They obeyed Sant so well that another name has found its way into Surrey's motoring history, that of sergeant Jarrett. The sergeant operated in an area extending from Guildford and including the Hog's Back where he set up many speed traps. Hardly the type of dangerous inhabited countryside that Sant appeared to refer to in his instructions. It is ironical that many of the drivers caught in the traps were not from Surrey, but merely visiting or passing through.

The feeling of victimisation grew and many an irate motorist that something just had to be done. As a result, in 1905, the Automobile Association was formed and, by the end of 1906, had 3,000 members, a sure indication of the resentment existing. None more than the Surrey police in general, and Sant in particular can claim to the reason for its formation. How, in those early days, cyclists were employed to warn drivers of speed traps, and the AA's 87 years' history, is another story. Yet up to 5 years after it was formed and with the membership standing at 12,000, it was still battling with Captain Sant.

Today, the co operation of the Metropolitan, Surrey and Sussex police forces is such during a London to Brighton Run that one can hardly ask for more although, as recently as 1969, the then Mayor of Brighton travelling as a passenger on the Run, suggested that the indifferent Brighton police could learn from London and Surrey as to how Veteran cars should be treated. Naturally, there are a few drivers in the Runs who take advantage of the freedom available to bend a few laws, but more recently the police have taken photographs and issued a gentle Watch it! warning. The organisers also get rather unhappy when somebody overdoes it.

Although, in the days of Sant, Surrey might be considered the county to stay away from, paradoxically, it became the one to visit. For this, we owe an everlasting debt to H.F.Locke King who, in 1907, saw a dream realised when the world's first motor course was opened at Brooklands, near Weybridge. It continued to make a major contribution to British motor sport until its closure when war broke out in 1939. Regrettably, it never re opened for racing. That too is part of Surrey's motoring history.

The Run Returns

A quarter of a century was to pass before the celebration run was revived. It came back to the old London Brighton route on the 13th November 1927, when the Daily Sketch and the Sunday Graphic decided to hold a light-hearted event. Eligible cars were those built not later than 1906 and cash prizes were presented. Points were awarded according to the age of the car, mechanical condition, etc., and points lost for things such as non standard features and problems on route.

Judges and observers were appointed and 44 cars started from Victoria Embankment at 9am. An average sped of 20mph was imposed (the legal limit in 1904) and a pilot car travelled at this speed which was not to be overtaken. No car was less than 21 years old and there had been little incentive to keep them in good order, or restore them as there is today, yet 37 cars completed the run. The finish was at Patcham, and at 3pm the finishers drove in procession into Brighton as the first run had done from Preston Park, 31 years before.

The event was held to provide publicity for the newspapers, making it no less commercial than the original run and not one to be taken seriously. Ridiculous clothes were worn and cars carried frivolous notices to make people laugh. It is not surprising that, to the vast majority, they were just old crocks. Nevertheless, in spite of all the ridicule, the Brighton Run was back.

The Brighton Run The Future

The return of the Run had created interest in old cars and the two newspapers continued to be associated with it for a further year or two. Autocar, which had printed its 14th November 1896 issue in red to mark the emancipation of the motorist and had recorded so much of the early days of motoring, became involved perhaps to inject a little dignity into the venture. Eligibility was changed to cars made prior to 1905 where it remains to this day. However, cars were not 'dated' in those days and, doubtless, later models took part.

At the end of the 1930 Run, a handful of individuals got together and formed the Veteran Car Club. They had hoped to organise future runs but it was found to be impracticable and the RAC became responsible. Apart from a break during war years, they have continued to organise each run in close association with the Veteran Car Club. In 1947, the VCC began establishing the years of manufacture of Veteran Cars and issuing dating certificates.

There were 54 entries in the 1930 run and 100 were reached in 1934. In fact, the 1930's saw a considerable increase in interest and many a barn had its darkest corner searched for the forgotten Veteran. Twenty years later, in 1954, the number increased to 200 and, in the 1960s, a 250 limit was imposed which, in the 1970s was raised to 300. There is now no limit and over 400 took part in 1992.

The run now take place on the first Sunday in November and the route has changed a little over the years. Redhill was included in the 1930s and, in the 1950s, sixty years after the Emancipation Run; Reigate ceased to be part of the run. For the last 40 years cars have followed the Bollee Brothers route of 1896.

With the original and early-revived runs being so commercial, the RAC have endeavoured to avoid such links. However, with costs escalating, sponsorship has had to come. In 1972 and 1973 the event was sponsored by Unipart. Castrol helped in 1974 and in 1975, Renault. More recently we have seen Kenco and Benson & Hedges. This year the London to Brighton run takes place on the 2nd November. As you stand and watch the cars go by on smooth tarmac roads, spare a thought for those intrepid pioneers who battled through the mud of 1896. If you think that many of the cars look somewhat primitive and fragile for the conditions of that year bear in mind that, of the 400 cars you may see, probably less than half a dozen of them had been built when the Emancipation Run took place!

External links

• Official website
• Veteran Car Club of Great Britain's page about LBVCR
• Cuckfield Companion's page about LBVCR
• Sponsor Renault Sport's page about LBVCR
• 1950s cine film (no sound)