History of the Run

1896
Harry Lawson formed the first motoring club in the UK. This Club celebrated the passing into law on 14 November 1896 of the Light Locomotives on the Highway Act by driving 60 miles from London to Brighton. The 1896 Act of Parliament raised the speed limit for 'light locomotives' not exceeding 3 tons, from 4 mph to 14 mph. The Act abolished the requirement for the cars to be preceded by a man on foot with a red flag.

1939-45
The Run has been run annually ever since with the exception of the war years and petrol rationing.

1971
More interest than usual was aroused, when Her Majesty the Queen entered (but did not drive) a 70-year-old Daimler originally owned by her great grandfather King Edward VII and once driven by her father, King George VI. The car has been on many Runs since and completed the 60 miles driven by HRH Prince Michael of Kent and staff from the Royal household.

2005
This was the first veteran car concours that took place on Regent Street in association with the Veteran Car Run.

2010
In December 2010 the Royal Automobile Club won a prestigious Federation Internationale de L'Automobile (FIA) Award for its dedicated promotion of the annual Veteran Car Run and its related protection of early motoring vehicles.

2013
For the very first time, the Run was headed by a trio of legendary racing Napiers. Although examples of these early competition cars have participated in the past, never before have three lined up together, thus recreating the pioneering British team that contested the famous Gordon Bennett Cup races held at the start of the last century.

2020
The turn of a new decade welcomes RM Sotheby's as the new title partner of the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run.

2020
The global covid-19 pandemic impacted on us all, and it was not possible to hold the Run in its traditional form. However, veteran car enthusiasts around the world embraced the opportunity to take part in the first-ever RM Sotheby's Virtual Veteran Car Run, sharing images and video of their adventures in their own home countries on 1 November.