The 129th Veteran Car Run left Hyde Park at dawn in November 2025 with 384 pre-1905 starters, and 340 of them reached Madeira Drive in Brighton.
The 129th London to Brighton Veteran Car Run gathered 384 cars built before 1905 in a damp Hyde Park before sunrise on Sunday 2 November 2025.
The run commemorates the Emancipation Run of 14 November 1896, when 30 cars drove from London to Brighton to celebrate a new law. The Locomotives on Highways Act raised the speed limit for light locomotives from 4mph to 14mph.
The Royal Automobile Club has organised the run since 1930, and Hyde Park has been its starting point since 1936. The field records the first decade of motoring: tillers beside steering wheels, and steam and battery power beside petrol.
The 2025 run saluted the 125th anniversary of the 1900 1000 Mile Trial. Alex Brundle and Charlotte Vowden tore the red flag. They then led the field away at 07:00 in OWL, the 1899 Wolseley that is the only surviving car from that trial.
Entrants came from 26 countries, and De Dion Bouton alone fielded more than 50 cars. The first to reach Madeira Drive was a Renaux tricycle. In all, 340 starters reached Brighton.