NOVEMBER 1971 WESTMINSTER BRIDGE, LONDON
The weather is fine, most of the veteran cars have already left Hyde Park, and the traffic seems amazed by that intrepid driver of the Rexette 5HP. We look back on what the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run looked like 50 years ago
‘Much attention was focused on the 1900 Daimler 56C in 1971 because it was the property of HM Queen Elizabeth II’
It’s the 75th anniversary of the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run and a young spectator watches a 1904 Rexette 5HP Forecar crossing Westminster Bridge. To its right is a now incredibly rare Fiat 1100/103D ‘Millecento’ and bringing up the rear is a Humber Hawk, a Ford Consul Cortina MkI, an Austin A35 Van, a Morris Minor 1000 and a Ford Anglia 105E.
The first runs were staged from 1896 to 1903, with The Daily Sketch and The Sunday Graphic newspapers reviving the event in 1927. The Royal Automobile Club commenced its long tradition of organising the London to Brighton three years later and the start point was Hyde Park by 1936. More than 6000 enthusiasts watched the 250 pre-1905 vehicles set off from the capital four and a half decades on.
Much attention was focused on the 1900 Daimler 56C in 1971 because it was the property of HM Queen Elizabeth II and marked the first time that the House of Windsor had entered a vehicle in the event. The four-seater tonneau, registration A7, was also the Royal Family’s first motor vehicle. The Veteran Car Club had spent three years restoring it while Mr Evelyn Mawer, a past President of the VCC, drove it to Brighton.
Famous participants included Pat Moss and Erik Carlsson in a 1901 Panhard et Levassor while Jackie Stewart piloted a 1903 24hp De Dietrich owned by Lord Montagu with Larry Adler (of The Genevieve Waltz fame) as a passenger. He later told the press: ‘I lost my hat on the way but I never lost control of the car.’ Bill Boddy of Motor Sport magazine lamented the presence of a ‘ bogus yellow plastic veteran’ and remarked: ‘I would have booted the thing back down the Madeira Drive and told the onlookers to lynch it!’
Meanwhile, the Rexette is a prime example of the ‘Forecar’, a late Victorian/early Edwardian form of lightweight transport where the passenger seat was placed in front of the engine. The Autocar magazine described it as ‘on the borderline of a voiturette and a motorcycle’. A 8912 would have cost 100 guineas new and many drivers regarded the products of the Rex Motor Manufacturing Company Ltd. of Coventry as some of the best vehicles in their class. The 612cc single-cylinder engine was capable of 30mph and The Motor praised its ‘ease of manipulation, easy steering and vibration-less running.’
Only 17 veterans failed to complete the run to Brighton, with the owner of a 1902 Arroll
Johnson obliged to use insulating tape after one of his rear tyres fell off. Neil Corner was the first to reach Madeira Drive in his 1901 Mors. As for A 8912, it reportedly had a tendency to stall, including on the finishing line, but at least it completed the journey to East Sussex. It sold for £14,375 at a Bonhams auction 34 years later.
Two final thoughts to ponder before we leave this evocative scene. Firstly, the late 20th century in this image seems more akin to a 1960s Rank Look at Life travelogue than popular images of 1971; there appears to be a dearth of Ford Cortina MkIIIs, Hillman Avengers and Vauxhall Viva HCs. This Movietone newsreel of the run (tinyurl.com/3v49nykf ) only intensifies the feeling that the 1970s have not yet really commenced.
And, secondly, the Fiat, Humber and Austin featured in this image now look even more remote than the Rexette would have done to that schoolboy all those years ago. Indeed, the eponymous Darracq would have been just 48 years old when Genevieve entered production in late 1952 while its rival Spyker was a mere 47 years of age.
Perhaps the 2021 equivalent would be the marvellous spectacle of a 1973 Triumph 2.5 PI MkII acing a 1974 Rover 2200TC through the Home Counties…
A RIGHT ROYAL ENTRY TO A RIGHT ROYAL (AUTOMOBILE CLUB) RUN