While the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run (LBVCR) has never been a race, the world's longest running motoring event, held on the first Sunday in November, has attracted a number of veteran cars that either have a great racing pedigree or have been driven by some of the world's racing legends over the years. 

The oldest car with a racing background is Australian Rodney Anderson's 1896 Peugeot (Start No 4), which is claimed to be the oldest racing Peugeot in private hands.  Nicknamed L'Arc en Ciel (Rainbow) the Peugeot was delivered to its first owner in Bordeaux on the 24 January 1896 and won the Bordeaux to Langon Essai (test) in April of that year and finished third in the Bordeaux-Agen-Bordeaux Course a month later.  The French car boasts a top speed of just 20kph from its two cylinder, 3¾hp engine, a far cry from the race cars of today but it was winning races in France seven months before the original London to Brighton Run 112 years ago.

Another veteran with a unique racing heritage is the 1901 Panhard et Levassor (No 140) owned by Nick Mason.  The car won the 1901 Paris to Nice race in the hands of one the racing stars at the turn of the century Léonce Giradot.

The 1902 Napier (no 227) was the first British car to score an international victory when Selwyn Francis Edge won the 1902 Gordon Bennett International Race, which was staged between Paris and Innsbruck that year.  The car was also the first to wear the British Racing Green colours that became the trademark of British drivers on the international stage.  The Napier is now owned by Daniel Sielecki from Buenos Aires in Argentina.

Tim Scott's 1903 Mercedes (No 369) two seat racer was supplied new to Sir Stanley Cochrane and in the same year Belgian racer Camille Jenatzy, the land speed record holder who was the first person to break the 100kph barrier, won the Gordon Bennett International Race that was held at Athy in Cochrane's native Ireland in the same model of car.  Tim Scott keeps up the Mercedes' competitive tradition by taking part in events across the globe, including finishing the grueling Peking to Paris Run last year.

Like Mercedes, another famous German manufacturer, Opel, was building race cars over 100 years ago.  The 1902 Opel (no 214) was raced by Kaiser's Prize Cup winner Carl Jörns, who won his very first race in the car. The historic vehicle has been restored and is owned and entered in the 2008 LBVCR by Opel.

Peter Bartley's 1903 Achilles (No 310) has the distinction of being a race winner at the final meeting held at Brooklands in 1939 and Ian Moore's 1899 Panhard et Levassor finished third in the Tour de France held that year.

Over the years famous drivers have from time to time been tempted to drive at a slower pace.  The late Phil Hill drove Roger Learmonth's 1904 Autocar (No 484) in the 1970's for an ABC television programme he was presenting.  Land speed record holder Sir Malcolm Campbell and Formula One's Bruce McLaren have sat in the driving seat of Alex Tanner's Sunbeam (No 606), while Sir Stirling Moss and Colin Chapman have driven Graham Gregory's 1904 Darracq (No 526).  The current land speed record holder Andy Green is also a regular participant on the Run in recent years, including an appearance in Daniel Nash's 1903 Haynes-Apperson on the 2007 event.