Bright skies, joyful crowds and a huge array of vintage cars - this year’s annual London to Brighton Veteran Car run was one to remember!
This year’s London to Brighton Veteran Car Run occurred on Sunday the 5th November, in unseasonably mild weather, with nearly 350 pioneering veteran cars gathered in Hyde Park at the run start line. Hordes of enthusiastic well-wishers gathered in Hyde Park, eagerly awaiting daybreak to mark the beginning of 127th annual run!
The original Emancipation Run of 1896 was established to celebrate the recently passed Locomotives on Highways act, which raised the speed limit for ‘light locomotives’ and therefore abolished the need for a man to walk ahead waving a red flag. To commemorate this history, the run always commences at exactly sunrise with the symbolic tearing up of the red flag and the cars are off!
With Vehicles of varying ages, bygone motoring technology, and from a myriad of countries, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, China and Sweden, as well as 25 coming from the USA, they chug along the course route, past Buckingham Palace and under the gaze of Big Ben. Once over Westminster Bridge, the plucky participants follow the A23 south via Kennington, Brixton, and my own neighbourhood of Streatham!
As we live on the High Road, from a young age, my family and I were able to have a bird’s eye view of the participants chugging their way through Streatham on the street below us. We always enjoyed the variety of different vehicles; the colours, wheel spokes, head lamps and sounds, and would wave back to the smiling faces as they passed us by to their final destination - Brighton! As the years passed, we grew to recognise the early morning sounds of the cars and so we instantly knew that Sunday race day had arrived again that year. As a young child, I would be gaze enthralled, with my nose pressed up against the window, as the race passed by, without ever knowing if those smiling faces eventually made it to see the rides and attractions of the Brighton Pier finish line!
The 2023 run was said to be “the best London to Brighton we’ve ever had” by Ross Brawn who drove his 1904 Wilson Pilcher 12hp, successfully completing the run with his wife for the fourth time! Ben Cussons on his untroubled journey aboard a 1901 Mors enthused that the “Veteran car run is so exhilarating…(with) celebrating the freedom of the road… it really embodies the true spirit of motoring, and it is always rewarding to see that the passion and enthusiasm for these pioneer motor cars is as strong as ever.”
With an astonishing number of spectators lining the route from start to finish, offering fabulous support and encouragement to all, this spectacular London to Brighton event, which passes through so many different neighbourhoods, will hopefully live long and prosper for another 127 years, so that future generations (like myself) can experience and enjoy the wonders of these beautiful, antique Veteran Cars!
