London to Brighton car rally

Nearly 500 vintage cars gathered for the start of the 100th London to Brighton Veteran Car Run in Hyde Park, central London.

The annual event takes place on the first Sunday of every November and commemorates the Emancipation Run of 14 November 1896 which celebrated the passing into law of the Locomotives on the Highway Act, which raised the speed limit for `light locomotives' from 4 mph to 14 mph and abolished the requirement for these vehicles to be preceded by a man on foot.

The law required the man on foot to carry a red flag but the requirement was actually abolished in 1878. However, the Locomotive Act was still widely known as the “Red Flag Act” and a red flag was symbolically destroyed at the start of the Emancipation Run, by Lord Winchilsea.

Over 30 pioneer motorists set off from London on the 1896 Run to endure the rough roads to the Sussex seaside resort but only 14 of the starters actually made the journey, and some evidence exists that one car was taken by rail and covered with mud before crossing the finishing line!

The next run was staged in 1927 as a re-enactment of the 1896 Run and organised by the motoring editor of the Daily Sketch. The Run has taken place every November thereafter, with the exception of the war years and 1947 when petrol rationing was in force. From 1930 to the present day the event has been owned and professionally organised by The Royal Automobile Club.