London to Brighton Veteran Car Run
The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run is the longest-running motoring event in the world. The first run was in 1896, and has taken place most years since then. To qualify, the cars must have been built before 1905. It is also the world's largest gathering of veteran cars – 443 started in 2005, 484 in 2009,[1] compared to 37 starters in 1927, 51 starters in 1930 and 131 in 1938.[2]
It takes place, currently, on the first Sunday in November and starts at sunrise from Hyde Park, London and mostly follows the A23 road to finish at Brighton – a distance of 54 miles (87 km). 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 organisers 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 20 mph (32 km/h). Any that finish (many do not) before 4:30 pm are awarded a medal.
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[edit] History
The first run took place on 14 November 1896, a wet Saturday.[3] Organised by Harry J. Lawson,[4] and named "The Emancipation Run", it was 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 14 mph (23 km/h). Since 1878 the speed limit had been 4 mph (6 km/h) in the county and 2 mph (3 km/h) in the town and an escort had been required to walk 20 yards (20 m) ahead of the vehicle. The 1865 act had required the escort to carry a red flag at a distance of 60 yards (50 m).[5]
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.[3] The competitors gathered outside the Metropole Hotel,[6] 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.[3] A total of 33 motorists set off from London for the coast and 17 arrived in Brighton.[5] The first of the cars set off from London at 10:30 am and the first arrival in Brighton, by a Bollée, was timed at 2:30 pm.[3] However, all except three of the Brighton arrivals were more than two hours after that.[3] Two Duryea cars participated in the run, marking the first appearance of American motor vehicles in Europe.[7]
The run was next staged in 1927, and since then annually, with the exception of wartime years and also 1947, due to petrol rationing, making it the world's longest running motoring event. Since 1930, the event has been controlled by the Royal Automobile Club.
The 1953 comedy movie Genevieve is set during one of these runs.
[edit] Participants
Many racing drivers and celebrities have taken part in the event, including Richard Shuttleworth (1928–1934; 1936–1938),[8] S. C. H. "Sammy" Davis, Sir Malcolm Campbell,[9] Prince Bira,[10] George Eyston, Richard Seaman, Kaye Don,[11] George Formby, Stirling Moss and Jochen Mass.[12]
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.[13] That year Stirling Moss also participated, driving a 1903 four-cylinder Mercedes.[13]
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.[14] A regular participant is Prince Michael of Kent.
[edit] 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 of 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 (1.68 MJ/km on average, or 141 miles per imperial gallon petrol equivalent), compared to the hybrid vehicles (1.14 MJ/km average, 76 mpgimp petrol equivalent) and the largely diesel powered internal combustion engine vehicles (1.68 MJ/km average, 52 mpgimp petrol equivalent).[15]
[edit] The event in popular culture
[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Motor Sport, January 2010, Page 113.
- ^ The Manchester Guardian, November 24, 1930, Page 9; The Scotsman, November 15, 1938, Page 14.
- ^ a b c d e "Personal Memories of the First Brighton Run". Autocar 125 (nbr 3690): page 978. date 4 November 1966.
- ^ Setright, L. J. K. (2004). Drive On!: A Social History of the Motor Car. Granta Books. ISBN 1-86207-698-7.
- ^ a b "The long road south". The Motor (magazine): pages 38–39. 5 November 1966.
- ^ "Just the weather for a seaside trip". The Times/Beaulieu. 1996-11-02. http://www.brooklands.org.uk/Montagu/MONT1.HTM. Retrieved 2009-07-21.[dead link]
- ^ Automobile Manufacturers Association Inc., Automobiles of America, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1968, Page 18.
- ^ Kevin Desmond, Richard Shuttleworth: An Illustrated Biography, Jane’s Publishing Co Ltd., 1982, Pages 187–189.
- ^ The Manchester Guardian, November 16, 1931, Page 5.
- ^ The Manchester Guardian, November 16, 1936, Page 13.
- ^ The Observer, November 20, 1938, Page 23.
- ^ The Manchester Guardian, November 2, 1953, Page 2.
- ^ a b "Fun in the Sun". The Motor (magazine) 3464: page 31. 9 November 1968.
- ^ The Guardian, August 25, 1971, Page 5.
- ^ D.A. Howey, R.F. Martinez-Botas, L. Lytton, B. Cussons (2011). "Comparative measurements of the energy consumption of 51 electric, hybrid and internal combustion engine vehicles". Transportation Research D. doi:10.1016/j.trd.2011.04.001.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: London to Brighton veteran car run |
- Official website
- LBVCR 2010 Information
- Veteran Car Club of Great Britain's page about LBVCR
- Cuckfield Companion's page about LBVCR
- Sponsor Renault Sport's page about LBVCR
- 1950s cine film (no sound)
- London to Brighton Veteran Car Run (LBVCR) flickr.com group
- Future Car Challenge website
- LBVCR Press Release relating to Historic Electric Vehicles
