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The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run is a popular event which attracts around four hundred pre-1905 vehicles every year. It commemorates the original Emancipation Run in 1896, which was held to celebrate the 'Locomotives on the Highway Act' raising the speed limit from 4 mph to 14 mph (yes, seriously!) and abolishing the need for every car to follow behind a man with a flag.
Strictly speaking it's not a race (100-year-old cars don't race) but seeing as the majority of drivers are men you can bet your life there will be plenty of them who want to arrive first! But most of all it's a fantastic spectacle as they set off on the 60-mile drive from Hyde Park to the Brighton seafront.
You'll have to get up early if you want to see them assemble in Hyde Park because the first tranche will set off at sunrise (usually around 7 AM) with the final runners leaving about one-and-a-half hours later.
Unfortunately they don't allow the public into the actual paddocks where the cars are kept, but you'll be able to watch them exit from the Serpentine Road (Hyde Park Corner) and drive past Wellington Arch before continuing down Constitution Hill. They will then pass Buckingham Palace and head up the Mall before crossing over Westminster Bridge.
The cars usually arrive in Brighton between 10 AM and 4.30 PM, and maybe even as late as 5 PM (which will be in darkness by that time).
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