Sun shines for London to Brighton Veteran Car Run

WATCH: ITV Meridian's report is by Charlotte Wilkins

Described by one driver as the ultimate test of man and machine, the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run never fails to draw in the crowds.  First away this year were two very special movie star cars.

It is now exactly 70 years since the BAFTA-winning film Genevieve first hit the silver screens and, to mark that milestone, the eponymously named Darracq and the Spyker from the much-loved comedy caper have been reunited specially for this year’s Run.

Behind them, the evocative field of two, three and four wheelers all headed south through Wellington Arch.

The majority of the pre-1905 pioneers are petrol-driven but include a few powered by steam and even some very early electric vehicles.

This year increasing numbers of the veterans were also running on sustainable biofuels. Some of the 100+ makes represented such as Chevrolet, Ford, Renault, Peugeot and Mercedes will be familiar to today’s motorists.

But there are plenty of long-forgotten marques too: Mors, De Dion Bouton, Covert, Alldays and Gladiator.

From Hyde Park, the traditional starting point since 1936, the veterans headed down Constitution Hill, passing Buckingham Palace and on to The Mall, before making their way under Admiralty Arch and into Trafalgar Square.

They then turn right on to Whitehall, skirting The Cenotaph, towards Westminster Square.  The veterans passed Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament – where 127 years ago the Locomotives on the Highway Act was passed.

This raised the speed limit for ‘light locomotives’ from 4mph to 14mph and abolished the need for the vehicles to be preceded by a man carrying a red flag.  The issuing of the Act was celebrated by the first ‘Emancipation Run’ when 30 cars travelled from London to Brighton.

It was held on 14th November 1896, the very day the Act came into operation, and it is that original capital-to-coast escapade that the Run honours to this very day.