This year’s RM Sotheby’s London to Brighton Veteran Car Run which took place on Sunday 2nd November, paid a special tribute to the 1000 Mile Trial.
Some 384 pioneering veteran cars with their adventurous drivers and passengers, along with crowds of early-rising well-wishers gathered in Hyde Park awaiting daybreak and the start of the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, which is the world’s longest-running and most significant motoring event that celebrates the life-changing benefits that accompanied the birth of motorised transport at the end of the 19th century.
It’s been 129 years since the original Emancipation Run of 1896, which celebrated the passing of the Locomotives on Highways Act, raising the speed limit for “light locomotives” from 4 to 14 mph and did away with the requirement for a man to walk ahead waving a red flag.
In a nod to that new found freedom, the Veteran Car Run always begins with the pre-dawn ritual and symbolic tearing-up of the red flag. And this year it marked the 125th anniversary of the game-changing 1000 Mile Trial of 1900, an audacious 22-day journey that introduced the new-fangled motor car to communities across the nation.
To mark this particular milestone, the red flag was torn up by racing driver and broadcaster Alex Brundle and presenter Charlotte Vowden, who then led the field away from Hyde Park in a very special 1899 Wolseley 3.5hp Voiturette. The car is rather affectionately known as OWL (after its registration plate) and belongs to the British Motor Museum collection in Gaydon and is the only working survivor from the original 1000 Mile Trial.
It was an unseasonably warm and wet Sunday morning as the first cars set off for Brighton, flagged away by Duncan Wiltshire, Chairman of the Royal Automobile Club. It included a group of pre-1905 motor and pedal cycles, also bound for Brighton as well as a few brave penny-farthing riders!
The oldest Victorian ‘light locomotives’ led the way through Wellington Arch and down Constitution Hill, past Buckingham Palace, through Admiralty Arch and into Whitehall. They then made their way to Parliament Square and across Westminster Bridge where the 60-mile route divided in two to ease traffic flow in south London.
It was at this point that half of the cars followed the traditional A23 route via Kennington, Brixton and Streatham Common, while the other half travelled across Lambeth Bridge, through Vauxhall, Clapham Common and Tooting. The two routes then merge on the A236 north of Croydon where all participants headed towards the South Downs in Surrey and West Sussex.
As is tradition, the vehicles set off in age order, with the earliest starting first in OWL’s wheel tracks, giving the first pioneers and slowest cars the most time to reach Brighton.
Some of the first cars to set off included the much-loved Salvesen Steam Car, which is effectively a steam locomotive for the road, complete with a stoker shovelling coal into its furnace.
The rest of the field was made up with an impressive variety of antique machinery dating back to motoring’s earliest days. Some have steering wheels whilst others have naval-inspired tillers. Some are powered by petrol, others by steam and there were even a few powered by early electric batteries.
This diverse array of machinery very much reflects the pioneering spirit of innovation as different propulsion systems competed to define the future of transport. Reflecting the modern trend toward sustainability, a number of the veteran cars ran on SUSTAIN’s e-fuels, while the Salvesen operated on eCoal, made from a blend of olives, coffee and molasses.
This year, a total of more than 100 marques were represented on the run. They included the likes of Adler, Albion and Argyll to Waverley, Winton and Wolseley. Only a handful of names, such as Cadillac, Ford, Renault, Vauxhall and Mercedes-Benz are still going today, with most sadly long defunct and among these, De Dion Bouton had the largest turnout with over 50 entries.
As always, the eccentric charm of the Veteran Car Run drew huge crowds along the route with tens of thousands of spectators lining the pavements and verges to cheer on participants throughout their journey.
340 of the 384 starters completed the historic journey to Brighton before the 4:30pm deadline, collecting their coveted finisher’s medals as they crossed the finish line. The first car to reach the Sussex seafront was the No 46 Renaux tricycle, winner of the 1900 Paris-St Malo road race, completing the journey in just under four hours.
The Club’s Chairman Duncan Wiltshire enjoyed an untroubled run to Brighton aboard a 1901 Mors owned by the Royal Automobile Club, and commented:
“What a fantastic RM Sotheby’s London to Brighton Veteran Car Run it has been today. The turnout from spectators was mighty impressive, with some of the biggest crowds I’ve ever seen lining the route once the sun came out. You also have to marvel at the organisation. This is an incredibly complex event, seamlessly overseen by hundreds of wonderful volunteer marshals who ensure the smooth and safe progress of these extraordinary vehicles.
“This has been a fabulous way to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the 1000 Mile Trial. Our 60-mile journey from London to Brighton on modern roads felt pretty heroic, so it’s hard to overestimate the enormous challenge faced by those spirited early motorists on their nationwide adventure back in 1900 – a feat well worth saluting in this milestone year.”
The RM Sotheby’s Veteran Car Run marked the perfect ending to the Royal Automobile Club’s annual London Motor Week during which the Club held a large number motoring functions and events, including the free-to-view St James’s Motoring Spectacle that was held on Pall Mall for the second time.
Next year’s London to Brighton Veteran Car Run is scheduled to take place on Sunday 1st November 2026. For more information, please visit: www.veterancarrun.com.
Author Bio:
Simon Burrell is a UK-based motoring and travel journalist and editor, a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers and former saloon car racing driver.
Photographs by Gary Harman
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