The great British weather did its best to upset the 76th running of the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run last Sunday but the true grit of the 484 participants who crossed the start line in Hyde Park shone through.  The veteran cars and their passengers endured the driving rain and gale force winds, with the extreme conditions causing some mechanical problems amongst the unique collection of late 19th and early 20th Century vehicles  However an impressive 375 vehicles shrugged off the challenges thrown at them to cross the finish line before the official 4:30pm close. 

The cars that finished included the youngest and oldest drivers on this year's event.  Sir Freddie Sowrey (85) crossed the line in his 1901 Darracq and Rowan Lawson (17) steered the family 1902 M.M.C. to Brighton, complete with ‘L' plates and father Henry at his side.  Sir Ray Tindle, Chairman of the event's title sponsors Tindle Newspapers, also completed his 46th London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, battling through the difficult conditions in his open top 1904 Speedwell alongside his son Owen.

Sir Ray Tindle said: “In my 46 years of taking part in the London to Brighton Run, this is certainly the worst weather we have ever faced. It is therefore a testament to the true grit, both of the participants and of all those involved in supporting them, that the Run went on to a successful finish.”

John Dennis was another of the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run's longest serving participants, and also crossed the finish line to record his 50th Run on the 1902 Dennis built by his Grandfather.  At the other end of the participation scale, world famous stunt rider Eddie Kidd also reached the finish line in Brighton to complete his first London to Brighton alongside Lloyd Bailey in a 1904 Pope-Tribune, raising plenty of funds for the Eddie Kidd Foundation in the process.

The bad weather did however bring some great national media coverage for the event.  Images of intrepid veteran car owners battling the elements adorned the Monday morning pages of the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, the Independent, the Sun and on the front page of The Times.  The BBC also broadcast a video clip on local, national and online news.

“This year the weather was certainly against us but this made the participants even more determined to reach Brighton and will probably go down in LBVCR folk law as ‘the great blow of '09,” said LBVCR Event Director Roger Etcell. “We were extremely pleased to see Sir Ray Tindle reach the finish line to complete his 46th Run and, on behalf of The Royal Automobile Club, I would like to thank Sir Ray and Tindle Newspapers for their continued support of this wonderful and unique event.  In fact the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run couldn't be staged without the support of all our sponsors and I'd like to take the opportunity to also thank Bonhams, Renault, Hagerty, RAC, Kuoni, Haymarket, Castrol, 3-IN-ONE, Baillie Gifford and Turtle Wax for their help in making the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run such a success.  The 77th LBVCR will be held on Sunday 7 November 2010 and we look forward to welcoming everyone back next year.”

A full list of starters and finishers can be found HERE.