London to Brighton Veteran Car Run
{{short description|Annual automobile-driving event in England}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
File:London to Brighton Veteran Car Run.jpg
The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run is the world's longest-running motoring event, held on a course between London ({{Coord|51|30|31|N|00|09|49|W|region:GB|display=inline,title|name=Hyde Park}}) and Brighton ({{coord|50|49|42|N|00|08|22|W|region:GB|name=Brighton}}), England. To qualify, participating cars must have been built before 1905. It is also the world's largest gathering of veteran cars.{{efn|443 cars started the event in 2005, and 484 in 2009,Motor Sport, January 2010, Page 113. compared to 37 starters in 1927, 51 starters in 1930, and 131 in 1938.The Manchester Guardian, 24 November 1930, Page 9; The Scotsman, 15 November 1938, Page 14.}} The first edition, "The Emancipation Run" in 1896, celebrated the recently passed Locomotives on Highways Act 1896, which liberalised motor vehicle laws in the United Kingdom.
The run has taken place most years since its initial revival in 1927. It currently takes place on the first Sunday in November, starting at sunrise, about 7:00 AM,{{cite web|url=https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/@2646325 |title=November 2022 – Sun in Hyde Park|access-date=8 November 2022}} in Hyde Park, London, and mostly following the old A23 road to the finish at Brighton – a distance of {{cvt|54|mi}}. There are two official stops along the way: Crawley (for coffee) and Preston Park (in a suburb of Brighton). Preston Park is the official finishing point; the cars then proceed to Madeira Drive on the seafront, also the venue for Brighton's other big motoring event, the Brighton Speed Trials.
The event is organised on behalf of the Royal Automobile Club, who 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 {{cvt|20|mph}}. Any that finish (many do not) before 4:30 PM are awarded a medal.
There are a few other events preceding the Veteran Car Run, such as the Motoring Forum, the Veteran Car Run Sale, a motor show, and a participant reception.{{cite web|url=https://rove.me/to/england/london-to-brighton-veteran-car-run |title=London to Brighton Veteran Car Run |publisher=rove.me |access-date=7 December 2022}}
History
=1896 Emancipation Run=
The first run took place on 14 November 1896, a wet Saturday,{{cite magazine| title = Personal Memories of the First Brighton Run|magazine=Autocar | volume = 125 (nbr 3690)|page=978 |date = 4 November 1966}} Organised by Harry John Lawson,{{cite book
|author=Setright, L. J. K.
|title=Drive On!: A Social History of the Motor Car
|publisher=Granta Books
|year=2004
|isbn=1-86207-698-7
}} it was named "The Emancipation Run" as a celebration of the recently passed Locomotives on Highways Act 1896, which had replaced the restrictive Locomotive Acts of 1861, 1865 and 1878 and increased the speed limit to {{cvt|14|mph}}. Since 1878 the speed limit had been {{cvt|4|mph|}} in the country and {{cvt|2|mph}} in the town and an escort had been required to walk {{cvt|20|yd}} ahead of the vehicle.{{cite magazine |title = The long road south|magazine=The Motor| pages =38–39| date = 5 November 1966}} The run was also the first meet of the Motor Car Club, of which Lawson was president.
The event started with a breakfast at the Charing Cross Hotel, which included the symbolic tearing in two by Lord Winchelsea of a red flag. It is sometimes claimed that the Emancipation Run celebrated the abandoning of the requirement for the escort to carry such a flag. However, the red flag requirement (from the 1865 act) had long since been removed by the 1878 act.{{Cite news |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/motors/a-red-flag-for-one-of-motoring-s-most-persistent-myths-1.709361 |title=A red flag for one of motoring's most persistent myths |newspaper=The Irish Times |access-date=7 December 2022}}
The competitors gathered outside the Metropole Hotel (now the Corinthia Hotel London),{{cite web|url=http://www.brooklands.org.uk/Montagu/MONT1.HTM |title=Just the weather for a seaside trip |work=The Times/Beaulieu |date=2 November 1996 |access-date=21 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830041450/http://www.brooklands.org.uk/Montagu/MONT1.HTM |archive-date=30 August 2008 }} with the cars accompanied by a "flying escort" – estimated 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. A total of 33 motorists set off from London for the coast and 17 arrived in Brighton. The first of the cars set off from London at 10:30 am and the first arrival in Brighton, by a Duryea Motor Wagon, beating the next closest Brighton arrivals by more than an hour. Two Duryea cars participated in the run, marking the first appearance of American motor vehicles in Europe.Automobile Manufacturers Association Inc., Automobiles of America, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1968, Page 18. Louise Bazalgette, one of the earliest women motorists in Britain, was photographed at the start of the event on an Arnold motor car, with her friend Henry Hewetson.{{Cite ODNB |title=Bazalgette [née Seville], Louise (1845/6–1918), motorist |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-74664 |access-date=2023-01-04 |year=2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/74664}}
=Subsequent runs=
During the next few years, Commemoration Run took place between Whitehall Place and Sheen House Club covering the distance of about {{cvt|8|mi}}.{{cite web|url=https://www.veterancarrun.com/event-info|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427063849/http://www.veterancarrun.com/event-info|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 April 2014|title=Event Info|publisher=The Royal Automobile Club}} The London to Brighton run was not staged again until 1927. Since then it has run annually, except from the onset of the Second World War up to 1947 owing to petrol rationing, and in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With all this considered, it is the world's longest running motoring event. Since 1930, the event has been controlled by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC).
Participants
File:De Dion-Bouton Veteran Car on London to Brighton Run 2005.jpg
Many racing drivers and celebrities have taken part in the event, including Richard Shuttleworth (1928–1934; 1936–1938),Kevin Desmond, Richard Shuttleworth: An Illustrated Biography, Jane’s Publishing Co Ltd., 1982, Pages 187–189. S. C. H. "Sammy" Davis, Sir Malcolm Campbell,The Manchester Guardian, 16 November 1931, Page 5. Prince Bira,The Manchester Guardian, 16 November 1936, Page 13. George Eyston, Richard Seaman, Kaye Don,The Observer, 20 November 1938, Page 23. George Formby, Phil Hill,{{Cite episode | title = Wide World of Sports: Part 3 | series = Cheap Seats | series-link = Cheap Seats (TV series) | network = ESPN Classic | date = 4 August 2004 | season = 1 | number = 15}} Stirling Moss, Jochen Mass,The Manchester Guardian, 2 November 1953, Page 2. Nigel Mansell{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-15612096|title=Veteran cars take part in London to Brighton rally|date=6 November 2011|publisher=BBC|access-date=5 June 2019}} and Damon Hill{{Cite web|url=https://inews.co.uk/essentials/lifestyle/cars/car-features/pictures-driving-london-brighton-victorian-car/|title=In pictures: Driving from London to Brighton in a Victorian car|last=Adams|first=Rob|date=15 November 2017|website=inews.co.uk|access-date=5 June 2019}}
The 72nd anniversary run took place in 1968 and was joined by celebrity participants Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco, in a 1903 De Dion-Bouton.{{cite magazine |title = Fun in the Sun|magazine=The Motor| volume = 3464|page=31| date = 9 November 1968}} That year Stirling Moss also participated, driving a 1903 four-cylinder Mercedes.
Some participants dress up in a late Victorian or Edwardian style of clothing. In 1971 Queen Elizabeth II was a passenger in a 1900 Daimler.The Guardian, 25 August 1971, Page 5. A regular participant is Prince Michael of Kent.
RAC Brighton to London Future Car Challenge
In 2010 the RAC launched the Brighton to London Future Car Challenge, following the same route as the veteran car run, but starting in Brighton and finishing at Regent Street, London – and taking place on the day prior to the veteran run. The event is intended to showcase low energy impact vehicles of various technologies – Electric, Hybrid and Low-Emission ICE (internal combustion engine). Participants compete to minimise energy consumption using "road legal" vehicles in "real world" conditions.
The results of the inaugural 2010 event showed that the electric vehicles used the least energy ({{cvt|0.62|MJ/km|lk=on}} on average, or {{cvt|141|mpgimp}} petrol equivalent), compared to the hybrid vehicles ({{cvt|1.14|MJ/km}} average, {{cvt|76|mpgimp}} petrol equivalent) and the largely diesel powered internal combustion engine vehicles ({{cvt|1.68|MJ/km}} average, {{cvt|52|mpgimp}} petrol equivalent).{{cite journal |author1=D.A. Howey |author2=R.F. Martinez-Botas |author3=L. Lytton |author4=B. Cussons | title=Comparative measurements of the energy consumption of 51 electric, hybrid and internal combustion engine vehicles | journal=Transportation Research D |volume=16 |issue=6 |pages=459–464 | year=2011 | doi=10.1016/j.trd.2011.04.001|hdl=10044/1/6839 |url=http://spiral.imperial.ac.uk/bitstream/10044/1/6839/1/Howeyetal_measurements.pdf |hdl-access=free }}
1896 results
The event was not organised as a race, but the general classification of the fastest finishers was:{{Cite web |url=http://www.teamdan.com/archive/gen/upto1903/1896.html |title=TeamDan Early results database – 1896 |access-date=25 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924113832/http://www.teamdan.com/archive/gen/upto1903/1896.html |archive-date=24 September 2015 |url-status=dead }}{{better source needed|reason=ref only mentions 3 finishers|date=November 2022}}
| class="wikitable" | ||||||
| Rank | Driver | Car | Type | Time hours:m:s | Speed | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Léon Bollée | Léon Bollée Automobiles | 3 hp tricycle, tandem 2-seater, petrol | 3:44:35 | {{convert|13.91|mph|abbr=on|kph}} | |
| 2 | Camille Bollée | Léon Bollée Automobiles | 3 hp tricycle, tandem 2-seater, petrol | 4:00:20 | ||
| 3 | Charles Duryea | Duryea | 2 seater, petrol | |||
| 4 | Henry Finch-Hatton | Panhard & Levassor | 4 hp, 1896, 4 seat, oil | 5:01:10 | ||
| 5 | Otto Mayer | Panhard & Levassor | 4 hp, 1895, 2 seat, petrol | 6:07:30 | ||
| 6 | Émile Mayade | Panhard & Levassor | 8 hp, 1896, phaeton 4 seater, petrol | 6:08:15 |
In popular culture
- The 1953 comedy film Genevieve is set during one of these runs.
- An episode of ChuckleVision, "Wheels of Misfortune", first aired on 15 January 1997, is set during one of these runs.
- In the 100th episode of Wheeler Dealers, Mike Brewer and Edd China restored a 1903 Darracq, borrowed from the Haynes International Motor Museum, to working order and drove it in the veteran car.
See also
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|London to Brighton veteran car run}}
- [http://www.veterancarrun.com/ Official website]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20100908052705/http://www.twilightblue.eu/en/articles/London-Brighton-Veteran-Car-Run.aspx LBVCR 2010 Information]
- [http://www.vccofgb.co.uk/lontobri/general.htm Veteran Car Club of Great Britain's page about LBVCR]
- [http://www.cuckfieldcompendium.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=44 Cuckfield Companion's page about LBVCR]
- [http://www.renaultsport.co.uk/heritage/heritagenews/heritagestory.asp?ArticleID=826 Sponsor Renault Sport's page about LBVCR]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeooSQrI8Qw 1950s cine film] (no sound)
- [https://www.flickr.com/groups/lbvcr/ London to Brighton Veteran Car Run (LBVCR) flickr.com group]
- [http://www.futurecarchallenge.com/ Future Car Challenge website]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20101026233435/http://www.lbvcr.com/news.cfm/title/All%20Charged%20Up%20/flag/2/id/265 LBVCR Press Release relating to Historic Electric Vehicles]
- [http://www.antiquecarrun.org/ A US version of the car run, from New London to New Brighton.]
{{Brighton and Hove}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:London To Brighton Veteran Car Run}}