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THE LONDON TO BRIGHTON VETERAN CAR
RUN 2005 - by Wendy Nash
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Napier 12/18 hp |
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1905 Star 70/90
hp Gordon Bennett
10108 cc |
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1903 Mors
rear-entrance tonneau
4 cyl 18 hp 4.6 ltr. Type N |
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This annual event takes place on the first Sunday of every November
– this year it will be the 6th November – to commemorate the
Emancipation Run of 14 November 1896, which celebrates the passing
into law the ‘Locomotives on the Highway’ Act. This act raised the
speed limit for ‘light locomotives’ (the early car!) from 4mph to
14mph and abolished the requirement for these vehicles to be preceded
by a man on foot.
The law then required the man on foot to carry a red flag but this was
abolished in 1878. As the Locomotive Act was still widely known as the
‘Red Flag Act’, Lord Winchilsea symbolically destroyed an actual
red flag at the start of the Emancipation Run.
Over 30 pioneer motorists set off from London on the 1896 Run to
endure the rough roads to the Sussex seaside resort of Brighton but
only 14 of the starters actually made the journey. There is some
evidence to suggest that one car was taken by rail and then covered
with mud before crossing the finishing line!
The next run was staged later in 1927 as a re-enactment of the 1896
Run and was organised by the motoring editor of the Daily Sketch. The
Run has taken place every November thereafter, with the exception of
the war years and 1947 when petrol rationing was in force. From 1930
to the present day the event has been owned and professionally
organised by The Royal Automobile Club.
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| 1899
International Benz 3.5 hp |
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11904
De Dion 10 hp Type W |
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| 1900
Peugeot Type 33 5 hp
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It is not a race but an endurance of women, men and machine! The
annual event today attracts some 500 automobiles, with eligibility
criteria that requires cars to be of four or three wheel design and
certified that they were built before 1 January 1905. Occasionally
however the organisers invite a small number of vehicles just out of
the period to join the celebrations.
Many famous celebrities including members of the Royal Family have
been seen on the Run and for many years the 60 mile route has been
lined with over one million spectators standing in the early winter
Sunday morning to cheer the drivers of this wonderful spectacle of
early motoring.
As the world’s longest running motoring event the LBVCR attracts
entrants from all over the world. In the 1996 Centenary Run some 680
cars and drivers took part with over 100 of the participants having
shipped their cars from all over Europe and across the globe from
America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
To owners of Veteran Cars worldwide it represents the high point of
the years’ many Veteran Car events and a rare opportunity to take
their extraordinary vehicles to a wider audience each year.
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The oldest
surviving Ford production
car in the world |
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1903
Gladiator 4 seat tonneau 12 hp
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1904
Mercedes 28/32 Sports
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For more information please visit www.lbvcr.com
or call 01280 841062.
Images kindly provided courtesy of Mike Timms at www.brighton-early.com
Article by Wendy Nash at
Motion Works UK Ltd
London to Brighton veteran car run.
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