This year marks the 128th edition of the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. Imagine a world in which the maximum speed limit is just 4mph and you’re required to drive in the footsteps of a man waving a red flag to warn fellow road users of your presence. Seems bizarre, eccentric even. After all, there are currently around one billion cars traversing the world’s roads, and flag-waving pedestrians would be patently unwelcome for all of them.
But that was exactly what was happening in England at the advent of the motor car in the 19th century. Until 1896 at least, when the British Government passed the Locomotives on Highway Act, thrusting the world into a brave new era of liberating piston-powered transportation.
“It was a seminal moment in time,” says Ben Cussons, chairman of the Royal Automobile Club, which has curated event entrants since 1930. “The new law was a life-changer in so many ways – it totally transformed the perspectives of social mobility and personal freedoms and, of course, spawned exciting new industries.”
The 60-mile pilgrimage has become an automotive tradition and is the world’s longest-running motoring event
To celebrate the car’s new-found freedom, our motoring ancestry participated in the first Emancipation Run, a celebratory jaunt from London to Brighton. Now known as the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, the 60-mile pilgrimage has become an automotive tradition and is the world’s longest-running motoring event. “It’s those visionary trailblazers on the very first Emancipation Run that we continue to celebrate today,” says Cussons. Around 300 cars participate annually, and each has to pre-date 1905 to be eligible.
So, when dawn breaks on November 3, 2024, more than 300 horseless carriages will depart from Hyde Park in London to retrace the wheel-tracks of those who took the same journey 128 years earlier to the coastal city of Brighton.
One surprising aspect of the participating automobiles is the diversity of their powertrains – back in the day, early combustion-powered cars were joined by steam and electricity-powered models as each vied to preside over the next century of the car’s development. Ironically, we find ourselves in a similar position today.
The marques represented in the entry list are also an eclectic mix. Some are familiar and have been fortunate enough to survive the various challenges of the past century; vintage models from Vauxhall, Fiat, Renault, Peugeot and Mercedes will trundle past many of their advanced 21st century descendants.
But there are also plenty of curious, forgotten manufacturers joining them: Napoleon, Yale, Dennis, Flint, Maxwell, Star, Lambert and Gladiator to name a few. A single-cylinder 1894 Benz is the oldest car to embark on the journey.
Many of these pioneering machines will be steered by famous drivers who are keen to soak in the unique, historic atmosphere of the Veteran Car Run. Names such as World Land Speed Record holder Andy Green OBE, former Formula 1 team principal Ross Brawn and McLaren F1 designer Peter Stevens, who this year will be piloting a 1904 Stanley, a 1904 Wilson Pilcher and a 1902 Renault respectively.
Once Green, Brawn, Stevens and their fellow competitors have set off at day-break, the streets will be lined with spectators as the cars drive through Wellington Arch, down Constitution Hill, past Buckingham Palace and onto the Mall, before heading down Whitehall to Parliament Square.
The real challenge then begins as the archaic cavalcade makes its way out of the confines of the British capital. The route will be split into two to alleviate congestion, with half continuing from Westminster Bridge to join the A23 via Kennington, Brixton and Streatham. The remaining cars will peel off Westminster Bridge and follow the A3, A24, A217 and A236 over Clapham Common and then onto Tooting and Mitcham.
The divergent routes will reunite on the A236 north of Croydon, with all the cars travelling together as they continue their journey south through Surrey. This section of the route also includes the only competitive aspect of the event: the A. Lange & Söhne Regularity Time Trial, in which drivers aim to get as close to a chosen average speed as possible.
The final leg of the route snakes down the A23 into Brighton, where competitors will be welcomed at the finish line on Madeira Drive with a warming wintry hot toddy of Aberfeldy single-malt whisky.
The fastest finishers are expected to reach their destination at around 10:00am, although there is a 4:30pm cut-off for those who wish to receive a finisher’s medal. There are no awards based on finishing order or specific timings.
Event organisers recommend the following locations as excellent viewing points for spectators, as well as the paddocks of London’s Hyde Park and Brighton’s Madeira Drive:
7:00am-8:45am: Hyde Park, London
Wellington Arch
Constitution Hill
Buckingham Palace, The Mall
Whitehall
Westminster Bridge
7:10am-9:20am: Lambeth North, A302 (route split A)
Kennington, A23
Brixton, A23
Streatham, A23
7:10am-9:20am: Lambeth (route split B)
Vauxhall, A3036
Stockwell, A203
Clapham Common, A3
Tooting, A217
7:25am-9:50am: Norbury, A23 (route split A)
Thornton Heath, A23
7:20am-9:50am: Mitcham, A217 (route split B)
Mitcham Common
7:40am-11:05am: Croydon, A236 – A235 – A23. A. Lange & Söhne Regularity Time Trial starts
Coulsdon, A237 – A23
Merstham, A23
7:55am-11:35am: Redhill, A23
White Bushes, A23
Salfords, A23
Horley, A23
8:05am-12:20am: Gatwick, A23
8:10am-2:05pm: Crawley – A2219 – College Road
Pease Pottage, B2114
Handcross, B2114
8:25am-2:05pm: Staplefield Green
Head to Staplefield Green to enjoy hospitality and see the Veteran Cars on their journey to Brighton
8:35am-2:20pm: Hammer Hill, Cuckfield Road, B2114
Whitemans Green, B2115 – B2036 – A272
Ansty, B2036
9:00am-3:05pm: Burgess Hill, B2036
Hassock, A273
9:05am-3:10pm: Clayton Hill, A273
Pyecombe, A273 – A23
Brighton, A23
10:00am-4:30pm: Madeira Drive
“Seeing all these lovingly maintained cars is more than a spectacle – it’s a piece of living history; a reminder of the fearless motoring pioneers who, literally, paved the way for all of us,” concluded Cussons, who will be driving a 1901 Mors entered by the Royal Automobile Club.
The RM Sotheby’s Veteran Car Run is the grand finale of the Royal Automobile Club’s annual London Motor Week, which brings together a range of motoring events to appeal to a wide range of enthusiasts, including the new St James’s Motoring Spectacle (November 2) and RM Sotheby’s London Sale on November 1-2.
For more information, see here.
