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London to Brighton Veteran Car Run

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Emancipation Run)
1903 De Dion Bouton Model Q

The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run is the world's longest-running motoring event, held on a course between London (51°30′31″N 00°09′49″W / 51.50861°N 0.16361°W / 51.50861; -0.16361 (Hyde Park)) and Brighton (50°49′42″N 00°08′22″W / 50.82833°N 0.13944°W / 50.82833; -0.13944 (Brighton)), England. To qualify, participating cars must have been built before 1905. It is also the world's largest gathering of veteran cars.[a] The first edition, "The Emancipation Run" in 1896, celebrated the recently passed Locomotives on Highways Act 1896, which liberalised motor vehicle laws in the United Kingdom.

The first run, in November 1927, only for vehicles over thirty years old.

The run has taken place most years since its initial revival in 1927. It currently takes place on the first Sunday in November, starting at sunrise, about 7:00 AM,[3] in Hyde Park, London, and mostly following the old A23 road to the finish at Brighton – a distance of 54 mi (87 km). There is one 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, the venue for Brighton's Official Finishing Point.

Pre-1905 London to Brighton Rally automobile: 1902 Panhard et Levassor

The event is organized on behalf of the Royal Automobile Club, who 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 before 4:30 PM are awarded a medal.

There are a few other events preceding the Veteran Car Run, such as the Motoring Forum, the Veteran Car Run Sale, a motor show, and a participant reception.[4]

1896 Emancipation Run

[edit]
Bollée tandems under tow from Victoria to Holborn, London, 12 November 1896, to take part in the Emancipation Run

The first run took place on 14 November 1896, a wet Saturday.[5] Organised by Harry John Lawson,[6] it was named "The Emancipation Run" as a celebration of the recently passed Locomotives on Highways Act 1896, which had exempted motor vehicles weighing less than 3 tons unladen from the restrictive Locomotive Acts of 1861, 1865 and 1878 and increased the speed limit to 14 mph (23 km/h). Since 1865 the speed limit had been 4 mph (6.4 km/h) in the country and 2 mph (3.2 km/h) in the town with a man required to walk 20 yd (18 m) ahead of the vehicle to assist riders and drivers of horses.[7] The run was also the first meet of the Motor Car Club, of which Lawson was president.

As well as being a celebration, Lawson planned the event to promote his British Motor Syndicate and its patents, most of which had been acquired from French and German companies. His Commercial Manager, the fluent French speaker H.O.Duncan, arranged for the appearance of the Bollée brothers and several Panhard & Levassor cars, with their drivers, including the winners of notable races. However, Count de Dion refused to participate, smarting at having been paid half his fee for his patent rights in shares of the Syndicate, which he considered worthless.[8]: 707  Frederick Simms prevailed on his friend, Gottlieb Daimler to attend.

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.[5] The organisers of the Emancipation Run had made much of their claim that the man who walked ahead had to carry a red flag. The 1865 Act had imposed this requirement but the 1878 Act had lifted it.[9] The Bollée brothers had fallen foul of other provisions in the Acts and had had to be towed by horses from Victoria Station to Holborn, two days before the restrictions were lifted.

The participants gathered outside the Metropole Hotel (now the Corinthia Hotel London),[10] 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.[5] A total of 33 motorists set off from London for the coast and 17 arrived in Brighton.[7] The first of the cars set off from London at 10:30 am. The first to arrive in Brighton was a Duryea Motor Wagon, which beat Léon Bollée on his racing tricar by half an hour.[5] Two Duryea cars participated in the run, marking the first appearance of American motor vehicles in Europe.[11] Louise Bazalgette, one of the earliest women motorists in Britain, was photographed at the start of the event on an Arnold motor car, with her friend Henry Hewetson.[12]

1896 results

[edit]
Participants in the Emancipation Run at the Hotel Metropole, Brighton, 14 November 1896
Émile Mayade on Panhard No. 6 at the Hotel Metropole, Brighton, 14 November 1896

The event was organised as a procession, but some approached it as a race. The official result of the fastest finishers was:[8]: 715 

Official Result Additional Data
RankVehicle/DriverTime
hours:m:s		 DriverManufacturerTypeNote
1Léon Bollée3:44:35 Léon BolléeLéon Bollée Automobiles6 hp racing tricycle, tandem 2-seater, petrolThe Bollée brothers drove their 6hp twin-cylinder racing tandems; the other Bollée tandem was the single-cylinder version[8]: 707–708 
2Camille Bollée4:00:20 Camille BolléeLéon Bollée Automobiles6 hp racing tricycle, tandem 2-seater, petrol
3. Panhard Wagonette No. 8 5:01:10 Lord Winchelsea Panhard & Levassor 4 hp, 1896, 4 seat, oil The vehicle finished second in the Paris-Marseilles race, 1895
4.Lawson's Landau6:07:30 Oscar MeyerPanhard & Levassor4 hp, 1895, 2 seat, petrolHarry Lawson was a passenger.
5.Panhard dog-cart No. 66:08:15 Emile MayadePanhard & Levassor8 hp, 1896, phaeton 4 seater, petrolMayade won the Paris-Marseilles race in 1895 on this vehicle.
6. Sherrin's electric bath-chair 6:12:10 Sherrin bath-chair, 1 seat, electric
7. Daimler Phaeton 6:12:25 Daimler
8.Pennington's tricycle6:17:00 E.J. PenningtonPennington4 seater tricycle
9.Bersey's electric landau6:19:40 Walter BerseyBersey Electric Car Company6 passenger seats + double-seat for driver
10. Panhard 6:22:00 Panhard & Levassor
Walter Bersey with his party on his Electric Landau which took part in the Emancipation Run 1896

At least two of these must be regarded as dubious: H.O.Duncan (who drove the third Bollée tricar, which did not finish) wrote:[8]: 715 

It is quite possible that the electric vehicles―Sherrin's bath-chair and Bersey's electric landau― were sent by train. I quite fail to believe that at that period any accumlator was capable of driving an electric vehicle a distance of over 50 miles at a stretch!!

Performance of the Duryea Cars

[edit]
Frank Duryea driving his car at the start of the Chicago Times-Herald race, 28 Nov 1895

Although one of the Duryea cars had been witnessed arriving in Brighton half an hour before Léon Bollée,[8]: 716  both of them were omitted from the official result. Some attributed this to Lawson's not having bought any patents from Duryea, and so having no interest in promoting their vehicles. H.O.Duncan wrote:[8]: 715 

Although it was said that two American Duryea cars were the first to arrive in Brighton, there seems to be some doubt about this. It is rather strange we never heard anything about these cars officially or unofficially before the event!! Whether they arrived by train or slipped in somewhere on the road, no one seems to know―and the mystery has never been solved.

Duryea's most notable previous success had been the Chicago Times-Herald Race in 1895. This had been conducted in a snow storm and neither of the cars which finished had stuck to the course. Most of the difference between Duryea's elapsed and running times was incurred in two stops for repairs, each requiring the use of a forge. In the earlier Exhibition Run, he had led initially before having another stop at a forge and then crashing out. His results were:

Date Event Distance (miles) Weather Time Average Speed (mph)
Chicago Times-Herald:
2 Nov 1895 Chicago – Waukegan – Chicago 100 Hot Did not finish <15[b][8]: 914 
28 Nov 1895 Chicago – Evanston – Chicago 54 Snow storm 10:23 (elapsed) 5.2
7:53 (running) 6.8
30 May 1896 Cosmopolitan Magazine:

NY City – Irvington – NY City

 62 7:13 8.6
14 Nov 1896 London – Brighton 54 Wet and windy 3:15 16.6

Mayade had won the 1896 Paris-Marseille-Paris race at an average speed of 15.6 mph, so his average speed of 8.8 mph on the same vehicle in the Emancipation Run indicates that he was not racing. The Bollée brothers' tricars were special twin-cylinder racing versions, not the standard single-cylinder version, but they carried an observer on the front seat (nicknamed le tue belle-mère), so they had to temper their speed.

The Emancipation Run was meant to be a procession. If the Duryeas had been following the course, they would have had to overtake the Bollée brothers. Had they done so, the brothers would probably have given chase; they would certainly have told Duncan afterwards. The absence of such reports reduces the credibility of the Duryeas' claims.

Subsequent runs

[edit]
Finish line of the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, 2005

During the next few years, Commemoration Run took place between Whitehall Place and Sheen House Club covering the distance of about 8 mi (13 km).[13] The London to Brighton run was not staged again until 1927. Since then it has run annually, except from the onset of the Second World War up to 1947 owing to petrol rationing, and in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With all this considered, it is the world's longest running motoring event. Since 1930, the event has been controlled by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC).

Participants

[edit]
A veteran car nearing the end of the 2005 run in inclement weather

Many racing drivers and celebrities have taken part in the event, including Richard Shuttleworth (1928–1934; 1936–1938),[14] S. C. H. "Sammy" Davis, Sir Malcolm Campbell,[15] Prince Bira,[16] George Eyston, Richard Seaman, Kaye Don,[17] George Formby, Phil Hill,[18] Stirling Moss, Jochen Mass,[19] Nigel Mansell[20] and Damon Hill[21]

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.[22] That year Stirling Moss also participated, driving a 1903 four-cylinder Mercedes.[22]

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.[23] A regular participant is Prince Michael of Kent.

RAC Brighton to London Future Car Challenge

[edit]

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 on 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 (0.62 MJ/km (950 BTU/mi) on average, or 141 mpg‑imp (2.00 L/100 km; 117 mpg‑US) petrol equivalent), compared to the hybrid vehicles (1.14 MJ/km (1,740 BTU/mi) average, 76 mpg‑imp (3.7 L/100 km; 63 mpg‑US) petrol equivalent) and the largely diesel powered internal combustion engine vehicles (1.68 MJ/km (2,560 BTU/mi) average, 52 mpg‑imp (5.4 L/100 km; 43 mpg‑US) petrol equivalent).[24]

[edit]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ↑ 443 cars started the event in 2005, and 484 in 2009,[1] compared to 37 starters in 1927, 51 starters in 1930, and 131 in 1938.[2]
  2. ↑ Average speed is upper limit before crashing out at Prairie View (39 miles) having failed to catch up with Oscar Mueller's Benz (elapsed time for 100 miles = 9h. 30m; running time = 8h. 44m). Duryea had a 48-minute stoppage after a broken chain. Assumes Mueller travelled continuously at his average running speed from start to Prairie View.

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ Motor Sport, January 2010, Page 113.
  2. ↑ The Manchester Guardian, 24 November 1930, Page 9; The Scotsman, 15 November 1938, Page 14.
  3. ↑ "November 2022 – Sun in Hyde Park". Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  4. ↑ "London to Brighton Veteran Car Run". rove.me. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Personal Memories of the First Brighton Run". Autocar. Vol. 125 (nbr 3690). 4 November 1966. p. 978.
  6. ↑ Setright, L. J. K. (2004). Drive On!: A Social History of the Motor Car. Granta Books. ISBN 1-86207-698-7.
  7. 1 2 "The long road south". The Motor. 5 November 1966. pp. 38–39.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Duncan, H.O. (1926). The World on Wheels. Paris, France: H.O.Duncan.
  9. ↑ "A red flag for one of motoring's most persistent myths". The Irish Times. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  10. ↑ "Just the weather for a seaside trip". The Times/Beaulieu. 2 November 1996. Archived from the original on 30 August 2008. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
  11. ↑ Automobile Manufacturers Association Inc., Automobiles of America, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1968, Page 18.
  12. ↑ "Bazalgette [née Seville], Louise (1845/6–1918), motorist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/74664. Retrieved 4 January 2023. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  13. ↑ "Event Info". The Royal Automobile Club. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014.
  14. ↑ Kevin Desmond, Richard Shuttleworth: An Illustrated Biography, Jane’s Publishing Co Ltd., 1982, Pages 187–189.
  15. ↑ The Manchester Guardian, 16 November 1931, Page 5.
  16. ↑ The Manchester Guardian, 16 November 1936, Page 13.
  17. ↑ The Observer, 20 November 1938, Page 23.
  18. ↑ "Wide World of Sports: Part 3". Cheap Seats. Season 1. Episode 15. 4 August 2004. ESPN Classic.
  19. ↑ The Manchester Guardian, 2 November 1953, Page 2.
  20. ↑ "Veteran cars take part in London to Brighton rally". BBC. 6 November 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  21. ↑ Adams, Rob (15 November 2017). "In pictures: Driving from London to Brighton in a Victorian car". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  22. 1 2 "Fun in the Sun". The Motor. Vol. 3464. 9 November 1968. p. 31.
  23. ↑ The Guardian, 25 August 1971, Page 5.
  24. ↑ 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" (PDF). Transportation Research D. 16 (6): 459–464. doi:10.1016/j.trd.2011.04.001. hdl:10044/1/6839.
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