The global magazine and marketplace for classic car enthusiasts, by enthusiasts.
Filter
Make a choice:
- Cars
-
Make >>
- Bikes
-
Location >>
- Parts & more
-
Make of car >>
-
Manufacturer >>
-
Category >>
- Bicycles & more
-
Year >>
-
Countries
Brilliant Brighton: the 2024 Veteran Car Run in pictures
All over south-east England, thick, grey clouds cast a gloomy shadow over the road from London to Brighton, but even if the clouds were low and heavy, light-heartedness and high-spiritedness set the mood for the 2024 Veteran Car Run. As soon as the first cars chuffed away from the Serpentine, they were greeted with waves from the supporters who gathered at Hyde Park Corner and along Constitution Hill, and lined the route all the way to the seaside.
The PreWarCar.com entry was a 1902 Darracq 9hp with its original bodywork, a particularly lovely swing-seat tonneau. In fact, BEC 79 has a long history with the Veteran Car Club, but it was only in recent years that it became a Brighton Runner. Having seemingly come to the end of its life as a hard-working hack at a coal yard in Carlisle, it was saved from further abuse by the Potter family in the early 1950s. They treated it to a sympathetic restoration, which was completed in time for the car to appear in the V.C.C.'s Coronation Pageant in Northallerton in 1953. Over some 20 years or so, brothers Chris and Tom Potter enjoyed showing the Darracq at V.C.C events and steam rallies, but it only became a Brighton Runner in the 21st century. Leaving Hyde Park a few minutes after half past seven, Écurie PreWarCar began its drive and made it to Brighton around mid-afternoon, smiling and jovial, with no problems to speak of en route.
Our experience was like many other peoples'—we almost said "typical," but of course there is no such thing as a typical Brighton drive. Talking to the other finishers on Madeira Drive, there were those who, like us, had sailed along trouble-free, and there were those who arrived with oil under their fingernails after making frantic repairs to see that they made it to the finish. As usual, there were first-time entrants and plenty of old hands, too, and the same can be said for the cars; there were those which we have grown accustomed to seeing, and those which had never tackled the Brighton before. Some were débuting fresh restorations, and others appeared in a wonderful state of oily-rag preservation. We took a lot of pictures—please enjoy...
Words: Zack Stiling
Photographs: Milton Laarman and Morris Klein-Laarman
Published:
Thursday November 7th, 2024
Facebook
LinkedIn
Twitter
WhatsApp
Email
Copy