London to Brighton Veteran Car Run 2026: Stunning cars in pictures as they pass through Crawley

It saw more than 400 pioneering pre-1905 cars joining in one of the world’s most evocative celebrations of motoring history.

This year marks 140 years since Karl Benz introduced his revolutionary Patent-Motorwagen, widely regarded as the world’s first production car, while it is also 130 years since the landmark Emancipation Run of 1896 – the event that celebrated the liberation of the horseless carriage and effectively heralded the birth of motoring in Britain.

Now, over a century after motorists were officially liberated from the restrictions of the old legislation, the tradition continues with hundreds of veteran cars once again taking to the historic road from London to Brighton.

The cars passed through Three Bridges and Crawley, Staplefield, Handcross, and Cuckfield before heading to Brighton.

Duncan Wiltshire, chairman of the Royal Automobile Club, said: “Few events can claim such a direct connection with the birth of motoring itself as the RM Sotheby’s London to Brighton Veteran Car Run.

“The 1896 Emancipation Run was a defining moment in Britain’s motoring history, marking the freedom to travel by motor car and opening the road to the extraordinary development of the motor industry that followed.

“It is therefore particularly appropriate that, 130 years on, we are celebrating that landmark occasion with such a magnificent field of veteran cars."

Following the traditional ceremonial tearing up of the red flag, the field set off at 6.53am as the sun rises, beginning the historic 60-mile journey to the Sussex coast.

Starting from Hyde Park, the cars passed through central London past Buckingham Palace and Parliament before crossing Westminster Bridge, where the pack split via Brixton and Clapham Common ahead of the south-bound run.

The routes merged once again on the A236 north of Croydon, with the field reunited as it headed south through Surrey and towards Crawley for the official halfway break at The Hawth Theatre.

Spectators had the opportunity to get close to the veteran machinery all along the route, particularly in Three Bridges, Staplefield and Cuckfield.

Crews and cars then tackled the South Downs route before descending towards the finish at Brighton’s Madeira Drive.

For more details of the RM Sotheby’s London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, visit www.veterancarrun.com.