buYing a veteran

Fancy the thrill of taking part in the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run? Here’s how to pick up something eligible...

Very few events in the motoring calendar are as special as the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. It has its roots in the Emancipation Run of 14 November 1896, celebrating an Act of Parliament that removed the need for a man to walk in front of cars carrying a red flag. The event in its current form hasn’t missed a year since 1947, so it’s steeped in motoring history and you’re missing out if you haven’t yet

‘As well as finding the cash for a car, you’d have to learn to drive it’

braved a chilly November morning to see the cars waved away from Hyde Park at precisely 7.02am. More than 400 pre-1905 vehicles will set off on Sunday (5 November), aiming to complete the 60-mile journey to Madeira Drive on Brighton seafront without mishap – and if you’ve ever had a hankering to join them, something like the car here would be ideal, for around 60 entrants will be in De Dion-Boutons. However, while we’ve chosen to illustrate this guide with a De Dion-Bouton, many of the buying principles are the same whatever model you go for, assuming it’s petrol-powered and not a steam or electric car, examples of which also make the London to Brighton pilgrimage.

Not that making the trip is plain sailing. Apart from finding the cash for a car, you’d also have to learn how to drive it. Gone are all the controls we take for granted, and in comes learning to juggle a multitude of hand-controlled gadgets enabling you to change gear, brake, make adjustments to the ignition advance and retard and top up the engine’s lubrication system from a dashboard plunger.

But the satisfaction from rolling into Brighton is immense, so if you ever get the chance to take part in the run, grab it with both hands.