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, currently, 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] History

The first run took place on 14 November 1896, which was a wet Saturday^[1]: it was organised by Harry J. Lawson,^[2] and was named "The Emancipation Run": it was a celebration of the lifting of the 1865 Locomotive Act which had required vehicles to travel no faster than 4 mph (6.4 km/h), preceded by a person on foot, in the early years carrying a red flag.^[3] The 1896 run started with a breakfast at the Charing Cross Hotel which included the symbolic tearing in two by Lord Winchelsea of a red flag^[1].(The Locomotive Act was still popularly known the "Red Flag Act", even though the requirement for the man preceding the vehicle to carry a red flag had been removed when the Act was amended by an Amendment Act in 1878).^[1] The competitors gathered outside the Metropole Hotel,^[4] with the cars accompanied by a "flying escort" - numbered by one witness as "probably 10,000" - of pedal cyclists, recreational cycling having become popular with the English in the final decades of the 19th century^[1]. 33 motorists set off from London for the coast and 17 arrived in Brighton.^[3] The first of the cars set off from London at 10.30 am and the first arrival in Brighton, by a Bollée, was timed at 2.30 pm^[1] . However, all except three of the Brighton arrivals were more than two hours after that^[1].

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

The 1953 comedy movie Genevieve is set during one of these runs.

The 72nd^{[citation needed]} run took place in 1968 and was joined by celebrity participants Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco, in a 1903 De Dion-Bouton^[5]. That year Stirling Moss also participated, driving a 1903 four cylinder Mercedes^[5].

[edit] See also

• London to Brighton events

[edit] Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "Personal Memories of the First Brighton Run". Autocar 125 (nbr 3690): page 978. date 4 November 1966. 
2. ^ Setright, L. J. K. (2004). Drive On!: A Social History of the Motor Car. Granta Books. ISBN 1-86207-698-7. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "The long road south". The Motor (magazine): pages 38 - 39. 5 November 1966. 
4. ^ "Just the weather for a seaside trip". The Times/Beaulieu. 1996-11-02. http://www.brooklands.org.uk/Montagu/MONT1.HTM. Retrieved 2009-07-21. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "Fun in the Sun". The Motor (magazine) vol 3464: page 31. 9 November 1968. 

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: London to Brighton veteran car run

• 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)
• London to Brighton Veteran Car Run (LBVCR) flickr.com group