November 22, 2024

London to Brighton: Veteran cars celebrate the 1896 Locomotives on the Highway Act

More than 400 cars dating back to the dawn of motoring braved blustery – and often sodden conditions – to take part in Sunday’s Bonhams London to Brighton Veteran Car Run.

The 118th Anniversary Run set out from Hyde Park at day break and headed 60-miles south through London and onto a stormy Sussex coast. For only the second time in more than half a century, this year’s route took the intrepid participants – all driving pioneering cars from the pre-1905 era ­– past Buckingham Palace and down The Mall before heading past Big Ben and over Westminster Bridge.

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Among those turning back the clock were Olympic legends Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Ben Ainslie as well as  ex-F1 team principal Ross Brawn, multiple Le Mans winner Jochen Mass and TV baker Paul Hollywood.

Before the start Ainslie, Hollywood and Redgrave combined for the ceremonial tearing up of the red flag, the symbolic ritual that harks back to the original Emancipation Run, held on 14 November 1896. That marked the milestone Locomotives on the Highway Act, which raised the speed limit for ‘light locomotives’ from 4 to 14mph and abolished the need for a man walking ahead of the cars waving a red flag.

Remarkably one of the illustrious participating celebrities was in the first car to reach the ceremonial finish on Madeira Drive, as Lord Irvine Laidlaw’s 1904 Panhard-Levassor romped to the Brighton seafront with Ainslie onboard! Laidlaw is not only a Veteran Car Run regular but also a keen sailor, so it was little surprise to see the duo coping best with the challenging elements.

“It was such a pleasure,” enthused multiple Olympic and America’s Cup champion Ainslie. “As a huge car fan it is just very special and a huge privilege to get to ride in a car like this. The atmosphere at the start was fantastic and it was my kind of weather out there – it was a sailor’s day! I’m into water sports of course so we didn’t find the rain too much of a problem.”

There was high drama for another celebrity as motor racing legend Brawn swapped the high-octane world of Formula 1 for a rather more leisurely form of transport. Unfortunately for the motor sport mastermind his 1904 Wilson Pitcher – the last known surviving British built machine of its kind – had difficulties on its coast-bound run.

“It was very enjoyable,” said Brawn. “Obviously I don’t get the chance to actually drive the car in most of the automotive work that I’m involved in so that was a nice change. The mixed weather provided an extra challenge and edge but one that we enjoyed very much.

“We had a broken oil pipe just as we got to Crawley and the RAC Motoring Services volunteer patrolmen did a sterling job. They rescued us by fitting a piece of rubber pipe in the middle of the fractured one and it’s thanks to them that we got here!”

“The whole thing has been wonderful fun. I’d never experienced the sheer enthusiasm for the Run before – from leaving London at that time of the morning, to driving through the villages along the way and then indeed arriving in Brighton itself. It truly has been a wonderful experience.”

Another impressive entry was the steam-powered 1888 Truchutet – the oldest car on the run – but this was one of the machines that unfortunately failed to make the finish.

In total 357 of the starters completed the symbolic 60-mile journey from Hyde Park to the Sussex coast before the 4:30pm deadline, thus receiving a coveted finisher medal.

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