The organisers of the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run (LBVCR) have announced the use of 21st Century marketing concepts to promote brand awareness for an event with its roots in the 19th Century.  A number of licensing programmes are being considered, with the first product likely to be a new children's animated series called �Beepo'.

�Beepo' is a pre-school children's programme developed in association with Roadsafe, the road safety charity.  The characters are based on LBVCR veteran cars, with each having its own driving traits, and star in tales about their exploits and adventures while delivering subtle messages about road safety.  If successful Beepo will be able to help bring brand awareness for the LBVCR to a whole new generation and another benefit would be the merchandising opportunities that this type of children's programme brings. 

�We see initiatives such as Beepo as the future direction to build brand awareness for the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run,� said LBVCR Event Director Roger Etcell.  �The plans for Beepo are at an advanced stage and we are confident that this idea will be taken to the next level.  If successful, this will present the LBVCR with countless branding and licensing opportunities and the increased awareness with the general public.  We are also developing and building on the relationships with our existing sponsors and we are currently using these to build a co-ordinated marketing and PR strategy for 2006 and beyond.�

The 2006 London to Brighton Veteran Car Run (LBVCR) is a celebration of the events of 1896 when a group of early motorists took to the roads to mark the passing into law of the Locomotives on the Highway Act.  What followed in the next 10 years was an explosion of innovation, with new ideas and inventions coming to the fore and the evolution of the motor car from the early horseless carriages to the more recognisable shape of the car today.  This year the LBVCR celebrates the 110th anniversary of the first run, making it the world's longest running motoring event.

However the LBVCR is not just a historical celebration of something that happened 110 years ago, it has become much more and is quickly becoming one of London's and the South of England's main tourist attractions.  The move to a three day event in 2004 to include an auction at Bonhams and the International Concours in Regent Street has broadened the appeal and an increase in spectator numbers is predicted for the 2006 event.

490 veteran cars, including 85 international entries and all pre 1905 vehicles, will participate in the 2006 LBVCR on Sunday 5th November starting in Hyde Park, with the first cars leaving at Sunrise (07:07am), and travelling the 60-miles to Brighton along the A23.  The event also includes a special LBVCR Auction at Bonhams New Bond Street salerooms on Friday 3rd November and on Saturday 4th Regent Street will be closed to allow over 100 of the veteran cars to be displayed in Central London in the 2006 LBVCR International Concours, with selected vehicles giving demonstration runs around Berkeley Square.

The LBVCR takes place on the first Sunday of every November (2006 event is on 5th November) and commemorates the Emancipation Run of 14 November 1896 which celebrated the passing into law of the Locomotives on the Highway Act, which raised the speed limit for `light locomotives' from 4 mph to 14 mph and abolished the requirement for these vehicles to be preceded by a man on foot carrying a red flag.