Genevieve

St. James Concours to Brighton

November 27, 2023 By pete

Entrant 123, 1902 2 cylinder 10hp Georges Richard Tonneau.

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

To people of a certain age the London to Brighton Veteran Car run is still known as ‘the old croc’s race’ (that will be me then!) but for the one thing, it is definitely not a race but a run to celebrate the passing of the “Locomotives on the Highway Act” which came into force at midnight on the 14th November 1896, which raised the speed limit for light Locomotives (horseless carriages) from 4 mph to 14 mph (but lowered to 12 mph before the act came into force), and abolished the requirement for the Locomotive to be proceeded by a man on foot.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
Login Subscribe

St James’s Palace International Concours

November 28, 2022 By pete

1904 32HP 4 cylinder Mercedes Simplex.

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

In previous years, the day before the London to Brighton Veteran car run, (Saturday) has seen a large number of the entrants displayed on the busy Regent Street as part of the Regent Street Motor Show allowing members of the public to view the cars in detail prior to the following days run. This year things were different, with the introduction of a new event ‘The St James’s Palace International Concours’ held on November 5th. Approximately 75 vehicles from the more than 350 entrants for the run were displayed in Marlborough Road next door to St James’s Palace, just off the Mall a few hundred meters from Buckingham Palace.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
Login Subscribe

RM Sotheby’s London to Brighton Run

November 14, 2022 By pete

Made it! 1899 Wolseley single cylinder 3.5HP two seater Voiturette from the British Motor Museum, 1904 single cylinder 6hp De Dion Bouton two seater of John and Jez Field.

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

You may notice from the photos that the weather was not at its best. To say it rained would be an understatement, but as the entrants are not in any way trailer queens the rain did not stop play. Close to 350 ancient cars entered this year’s RM Sotheby’s London to Brighton Veteran Car Run (6 November) as crews faced one of the wettest trips ever in the famous event’s 126-year history. It wasn’t like this last year, or the year before. In fact, as long as I’ve been covering the event, I can’t recall rain like this. It was torrential.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
Login Subscribe

The Joys of Genevieve

November 12, 2019 By pete

This week we have a review of the movie Ford v Ferrari, and the story of a totally different movie, Genevieve.

From the VeloceToday Archives, November, 2015

By Pete Vack

Perhaps it is the lack of events and publicity that tends to keep the Veterans in the museums (ok, they are not very practical or streetable, but that applies to a lot of later cars as well). The ongoing successful Brighton run proves that enough people are interested to both participate and watch such events even in the usually cold early November dates. Without actually being there, another way to experience the excitement (of which there is plenty) of Veteran cars is to watch one of the best racing movies ever made, Genevieve. [Read more…] about The Joys of Genevieve

The Joys of Genevieve

November 10, 2015 By pete

Genevieve arrives in Brighton, 2015. Photo by Jonathan Sharp.

By Pete Vack

We wonder if there is something like a natural aversion to Veteran cars – those antiques made before 1904. After all, the Brighton Run aside, there are no weekly vintage car events held in their honor, no shows, no races, and the few that still exist are hidden in dark corners of museums and collections.* Perhaps it is because they are sooo ancient, so upright, so open, so slow, why they could even be thought of as carriages without horses! Can a true car nut really get into these, these horseless carriages? [Read more…] about The Joys of Genevieve