Vintage cars take to the road
November 5th, 2008 by Alex Jeffery
Hundreds of vintage cars headed for the south coast as the 75th annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run got under way at the weekend.
Around 550 classic motors set off in waves from Hyde Park at sunrise on Sunday.
Organiser Jeff Carter said: “It is a quintessentially English event, we love to celebrate our heritage. These cars could have ended up in a museum gathering dust, but they have been loved, brought back to life and are out on the road where they should be.
“It is not a race, but a test of endurance.”
The annual rally commemorates the first “Emancipation Run” in 1896, held to mark the passing of the Locomotives on the Highway Act, which increased cars’ speed from 4mph and 14mph and scrapped the requirement for vehicles to be preceded by a man on foot carrying a red flag.
The vintage motors, including early models of familiar makes such as Peugeot, Renault, Cadillac and Vauxhall, crossed Westminster Bridge and followed the A23 via Croydon and Crawley, before travelling across country at a steady 20mph to Brighton.
By lunchtime around 40 breakdowns had been reported, but technicians lined the route alongside the crowds to re-start struggling cars.
Around 120 of classic cars, the oldest of which is 113 years, took part in a pre-run open air display in Regent Street on Saturday.
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