Veteran vehicles bring crowds and golden motoring age back to Brighton

Crowds lining the seafront and autumn sunshine greeted the glorious 2011 London to Brighton Veteran Car Run field, on Sunday 6 November, as participants concluded their historic journey at the ceremonial finish line on Brighton’s Madeira Drive.

The 115th anniversary Run was symbolically opened by Jutta Benz driving an 1880s Benz Patent-Motorwagen. The great granddaughter of Carl Benz, Jutta was in attendance as part of the celebrations surrounding the 125th anniversary of the first automobile while Mercedes-Benz, alongside Bosch, joined the event as partner sponsors

A rare occurrence in the history of the Run, this year’s participants had to detour from the established route due to an incident at Streatham in the early hours of Sunday morning which resulted in a slight delay to arrivals in Brighton.

London to Brighton Veteran Car Run countdown begins

The Royal Automobile Club’s flagship event has received entries from 22 countries, with the international contingent representing over twenty five per cent of the total field. Germany, the celebrated country in this year’s Run, has the most international entries with 26.

Countries represented include: Australia (11), Austria (5), Bahamas (1), Belgium (11), Canada (4), Channel Islands (10), China (1), Czech Republic (1), Finland (3), France (9), Germany (26), Ireland (15), Italy (2), Mexico (1), Netherlands (11), Poland (1), Portugal (1), South Africa (1), Sweden (1), Switzerland (7), United Kingdom (404), and the United States of America (17).

The first car to leave at precisely 7:02am, carrying the famed number one starting plaque, will be a 1894 Benz Velo driven by 17 year-old Oliver Wright from North Yorkshire. The only other car dated the same year is the German-entered Benz Victoria of Karl-Heinz Rehkopf. The pair help make up the 24 Benz (1894-1902), Daimler (1898-1903) and Mercedes (1902-1904) participating marques as event sponsors Mercedes-Benz and Bosch celebrate 125 year anniversaries in 2011.
Also helping to honour Germany as the celebrated country will be models representing eight additional German manufacturers including Adler, Beaufort, Bergmann, Lutzmann, NSU, Opel, Opel Darracq and Opel Lutzmann.

A four-cylinder 1903 Mercedes Simplex, owned by the Mercedes-Benz Classic collection in Germany, is also the car to boast the highest horsepower of the entire entry list, with 60hp, while a single cylinder 1897 Marot Gardon Tricycle of Matt Roberts (GB) is the lowest at just 1.25hp.

France’s De Dion Bouton will feature as the most-entered manufacturer with 86 models participating, the Vis-à-vis being the most popular with 22 entries, while the first car to register for this year’s special anniversary event is a 1904 Pope-Toledo from Sweden, owned by Carl Arrgard.

Also among the line-up will be 22 participants across nine manufacturers representing steam-engined Veteran vehicles in addition to three electric examples, a 1900 Cleveland Stanhope from Ireland, a 1902 Columbia Tonneau from the USA and a British-entered 1903 Waverley Surrey.

Spectators will have the first opportunity to see 100 of the Veteran cars in the annual international Concours d’Elegance, which this year joins the inaugural Regent Street Motor Show on Saturday, with many of the owners dressed in period costume.

A rare 1900 Lohner-Porsche, the world’s first electric front wheel drive hybrid car, is the latest International entry in this year’s London to Brighton Veteran Car Run.

The 19th Century pioneering hybrid design motor car known as “Mixte” was conceived and built by Ferdinand Porsche whilst working for Vienna coachbuilder Jacob Lohner.

Entered from Austria, the Veteran motor car will be famously driven on the Run by Ernst Piech, grandson of the late Austrian pioneer and Andreas Lohner of the coachbuilder family.

This unique car will also feature in the event’s Concours d’Elegance staged on the previous day in Regent Street.

By mounting electric motors in the wheels, Porsche had done away with any need for transmission or driveshafts. Unfortunately, battery technology at the time was rudimentary and made the car very heavy.

The concept however impressed customers, and the firm received orders for a different version of his first development car. It included a petrol engine to generate electricity, topping up the batteries and increasing the car’s range, making it the world’s first hybrid electric vehicle. This also reduced the weight of the batteries but retained the benefits of a transmissionless drive. It was a simple concept but one that has stood the test of time with the development of today’s low-energy hybrids.

Over 450 entries have already been received for the world’s greatest event celebrating the dawn of motoring. Owners of the world’s earliest motor cars, from over 20 countries, have already submitted their entries to secure their place on the 115th anniversary event of the Royal Automobile Club’s London to Brighton Veteran Car Run on Sunday 6 November.

The FIA award winning annual celebration sponsored by Tindle Newspapers and Bonhams Auctioneers continues to attract astonishing numbers of pre-1905 motor vehicles from around the globe and with over five months still to go a full-house of 550 entries is expected.

A wide variety of 19th Century motor cars are currently being prepared for shipping to London from as far as USA, Australia and China. Germany is this year’s country theme and with their 125 year celebration of the Benz, one of the biggest entries of early Benz, Daimler and Mercedes is expected. An 1894 Benz Victoria is currently standing as the earliest car to enter and face the 60 mile challenge.

On Saturday afternoon, around 100 of the 19th Century cars take over Regent Street in central London for a Concours d’Elegance. This display is a free-to-view show for the public and gives them their first opportunity to see the machines that will be taking part in the Run on Sunday. During the afternoon, these Veteran cars will be joined by today’s pioneering 21st Century new-energy (Electric, Hybrid, Hydrogen etc) cars taking part in the Royal Automobile Club’s RAC Future Car Challenge that will have just driven from Brighton covering Sunday’s route in reverse.