This year's RM Sotheby’s London to Brighton Veteran Car Run (Sunday 1 November) will celebrate the 140th anniversary of the birth of the world’s very first production car – a landmark moment in global history that changed the course of mankind forever.

It was in Mannheim, Germany, that Carl Benz conceived the very first motor car, for which he was granted a patent in 1886 – widely recognised as the birth certificate of the automobile. The pioneering Benz Patent-Motorwagen was a revolutionary three-wheeled carriage powered by a rear-mounted 954cc single-cylinder four-stroke engine.

To commemorate Benz’s life-changing innovation and the dawn of motoring for the masses, the Royal Automobile Club has commissioned a special painting by established automotive artist Neil Collins ahead of the commemorative London to Brighton.

Collins’ evocative watercolour depicts Bertha Benz and her two teenage sons aboard one of her husband’s early creations on what is widely regarded as the world’s first long-distance journey in a combustion-engined automobile. Bertha famously drove 65 miles from Mannheim to her home town of Pforzheim – only to discover that her parents were out when she arrived!

“It’s a truly fascinating story of how Bertha Benz completed this incredible journey and it was great fun using one’s imagination to paint what must have been an extraordinary scene,” explained Collins, who has combined his love of cars and painting throughout his retirement. “One can only imagine the consternation it would have caused travelling through German villages with thoroughfares lined by amazed onlookers as dogs and chickens ran for cover in the confusion.”

Adding further symbolism and drama, Collins has cleverly set the chaotic scene against a glowing sunrise to represent the dawn of motoring itself. Indeed, it was Bertha’s epic journey that truly demonstrated the potential of motorised travel and helped ignite international interest in the automobile.

Just a few years later, in 1896, the UK Parliament passed the landmark Light Locomotives on the Highway Act, raising the speed limit for mechanically propelled vehicles to 14mph. This pivotal legislation not only effectively signalled the end of the horse-drawn era and sparked the birth of the British automotive industry, but also encouraged a group of hardy early enthusiasts to drive their pioneering vehicles from London to Brighton on the famous Emancipation Run – the historic event honoured today by the Veteran Car Run.

Under the evocative 2026 event theme, ‘Germany: the Birth of the Motorcar’, Collins’ wonderfully nostalgic watercolour will grace the cover of the Veteran Car Run’s official programme along with other event documentation. Postcards and a limited run of signed and numbered prints will also be available from the Club Shop.

Further examples of Collins’ work will also be displayed at the Royal Automobile Club’s annual Art of Motoring exhibition, which showcases many of Britain’s finest automotive artists. The exhibition will be held at the Iconic Images Gallery in Piccadilly during London Motor Week, in the immediate run-up to the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run.

Other highlights during London Motor Week include a number of prestigious award ceremonies and the St James’s Motoring Spectacle – a free-to-attend event staged on Pall Mall in central London showcasing the full history of motoring in all its forms. Another cornerstone of London Motor Week is the RM Sotheby’s London Sale of collectors’ cars, taking place at the prestigious Peninsula Hotel.

More immediately, RM Sotheby’s will be holding its first UK auction of the year at Woodcote Park – one of the highlights of the Royal Automobile Club Concours on Wednesday 8 July.

Further celebrating the pivotal and pioneering role of the German automotive industry, the Concours includes a special Feature Display marking the centenary of when Benz and Daimler came together in 1926 to create Mercedes-Benz in one of the most successful motor industry mergers in history.