London Brighton Run

                                    LONDON, HYDE PARK, SUNDAY NOVEMBER 7, 1982

I first became interested in the annual London to Brighton Commemoration Run soon after I bought my first antique automobile. In the city of London at the turn of the century there were very few automobiles. They were considered a hazard to the horse drawn conveyances of the times. The streets of London were so congested with horses and carriages that the arrival of steam powered 'light locomotives' and the "fire breathing, noisy horseless carriage" would so frighten the animals that parliament passed a law prohibiting them on the streets of London unless they were attended by at least three people; one of whom had to walk ahead of the engine carrying a red flag during the day and a red lamp at night. This procedure was in force throughout the kingdom. Soon there were so many automobiles in and around London that the "red flag" requirement was impractical.

In November of 1896 Parliament struck down the "red flag" requirement. Thirty three people who owned automobiles, got together and drove from Hyde Park in London all the way down to Brighton by the sea to celebrate the "emancipation". From what I understand, they had a great picnic. They founded the Automobile Club of Great Britain, which later became the Royal Automobile Club. The event has been celebrated each year on the first Sunday of November from that time on. It is my understanding that the only time the London Brighton run was interrupted was during the war years. It has since become the most prestigious antique automobile event on the planet. It is an event that attracts hundreds participants driving their cars and thousands of spectators who line both sides of the highway all the way from London to Brighton.

In order to qualify, the automobile has to be vintage 1904
or earlier. .It presented quite a challenge and I started to look
around for an antique car that not only would qualify but also
would be able to run for the entire distance. In 1975 I found a
wonderful old car that met all of the requirements. The 1901
U. S. Long Distance; a one-cylinder motorcar. I restored it
to the best of my ability and tried to get it into shape to be able
to run the 58 miles from London to Brighton. I never really had
enough confidence in it so I started to look around for another
vehicle. About that time I fell in love with steam powered
automobiles. I bought a 1904 Stanley Steamer from Carl
Amsly and tenderly and meticulously prepared the car for
a trouble-free run of any reasonable distance. It turned out to
be the right car for the run.

In October of 1982, we packed the car and everything that we thought we needed
into a trailer, sealed it, took it down to Baltimore, put it aboard a freighter and sent
it to England. My friend, Ray Thomas traveled with me to London and we went
to Portsmouth to pick up the car. It arrived two weeks later in reasonably good
condition but the trailer was quite banged up. With the help of Mr. Bernard Garrett
a long time member of the Royal Automobile Club, we got the car to London We
stayed at Hotel Gloucester. The hotel provided an underground parking garage;
It was quite a show 'firing up' the next morning.The management insisted that
a man with a fire extinguisher be on hand while I 'fired up' the burner and waited
to build up steam. At 4 a.m., Sunday, November 7, 1982, we managed to get the
car out of the garage and on the road towards Hyde Park. The cars filled Hyde
Park, 354 of them, (most did not finish), the oldest an 1892 BENZ. My 1904 Stanley
Steamer was car number 336. It was still dark when we arrived at Hyde Park and there were thousands of people gathered around the cars. A Yeoman Warder, resplendent in his cardinal red "Beefeater" costume was parading up   and down the line, telling the drivers to get their cars in proper order and prepare for the start.

The rules of the event are reasonably simple; drive out of Hyde Park, maneuver through the traffic and the crowds and arrive at Brighton before four o'clock in the afternoon. The route takes you out of the Serpentine road at Hyde Park; pass Hyde Park corner; pass by Parliament and Big Ben; across the Thames River via the Westminster Bridge and along the highways to Croydon, Gatwick, Pease Pottage, and finally pass through the Pylons at Brighton. It sounds easy but it isn't. The biggest problem is the crowd. Thousands of people offering hot coffee, beer, sweet rolls and all sorts of goodies. They are very well intentioned but they hold you back. Remember, these old cars don't move very fast and steam cars in particular need water every so often. The car was running very well so we decided to take our time and live the moment. We mingled with the people and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. About halfway to Brighton, the weather turned foul. It started to rain and what began as a mild drizzle became a howling downpour.. The temperature dropped and it got really cold. We had no problem filling the boiler with water but we could not find proper fuel for the burner. The 1904 is designed to burn high-grade kerosene or highly volatile fluids such as you would use for a Coleman burner. We ran out of the extra fuel that we brought with us and decided to attempt to use whatever high-grade gasoline we could find. It was the wrong thing to do because the fire went out just about a half a mile before we got to the Pylons at Brighton.

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