Mercedes-Simplex 28/32 hp touring car, year of construction 1904. Studio shot with driver’s seat and cockpit from behind. (Photo signature of the Mercedes-Benz Classic Archives: D147487)
The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run (LBVCR) is the oldest and arguably most diverse of all historic automotive events. At the current edition of this highlight of the classic season on 6 November 2022, Mercedes-Benz Classic will start with a Mercedes-Simplex 28/32 hp from 1904. The LBVCR is not only a particularly high-ranking event of classic automobiles, but also has an impressive history itself: it has been held since 1927, and only with vehicles built before 1905. The model of the “Run” dates back to 1896, when a liberalisation of the regulations on the maximum speed limit was celebrated with the “Emancipation Run”. Even then, the journey leads from London to Brighton, 60 miles (96 kilometres) away.
The birth of the modern automobile
Among the outstanding innovators in automotive history are the Mercedes Simplex models, which fundamentally changed the history of mobility from 1902 onwards. They follow the Mercedes 35 hp from 1901, the first modern automobile. At the suggestion of visionary Emil Jellinek, Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft developed this high-performance vehicle for the Nice Race Week, which consistently broke with designs common at the time, which were still closely related to motorised carriages. The Mercedes 35 hp, named after Jellinek’s daughter Mercédès, appeared in 1901 with a completely new vehicle architecture, featuring a flat vehicle design compared to other automobiles of the time, as well as a lightweight, high-performance engine installed deep in the frame and a honeycomb radiator organically integrated into the front. From 1902 onwards, the Mercedes-Simplex model family paved the way for brand success and served as a model for breathtaking development in the automotive industry as a whole.
“Our participation in this historic race with the Mercedes-Simplex is an expression of our active cultivation of the brand history and embedded in the current development of Mercedes-Benz Group AG,” says Marcus Breitschwerdt, Head of Mercedes-Benz Heritage. “The Mercedes-Simplex models were groundbreaking at the beginning of the last century. They created the blueprint for modern automotive engineering, which is still valid today. In addition, the models symbolise the continuous innovative ability of our brand. With electric mobility, we are currently experiencing another major upheaval that Mercedes-Benz has decisively shaped. With our all-electric EQ models, we are once again setting forward-looking standards in the luxury segment,” emphasises Breitschwerdt. The Mercedes-Simplex 28/32 hp participating in the London-Brighton Run 2022 was produced between 1904 and 1909, its four-cylinder engine has a displacement of 5,322 cubic centimetres and offers an output of 23.5 kW (32 hp) at 1,200 rpm.
Unique historical continuity
In 1886, Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler invented the automobile independently of each other and yet almost simultaneously. Today’s Mercedes-Benz brand emerges from this founding moment. In view of its 136-year history, it is one of the few car manufacturers allowed to take part in the spectacular event in the south of England.
The background of the “Emancipation Run” from London to Brighton goes back even further than in 1896, namely to the “Highway Act” of 1865, also called “Red Flag Act”. This limited the maximum speed for self-driving vehicles with steam drive to 6.4 km/h (4 miles per hour) – in urban areas even to 3.2 km/h (2 miles per hour). Until 1878, a person walking ahead with a red flag had to warn other road users such as pedestrians or horse-drawn carriages about the steam locomobiles. When the automobile arrived in Great Britain in the mid-1890s, the requirements of the “Highway Act” threatened to significantly hinder the technical progress of British individual mobility.
Liberalisation is the birth of the LBVCR
That changed in 1896, when the speed limit for road vehicles was raised to 19.2 km/h (12 miles per hour). This liberalisation (“decree amending the law relating to the use of locomotives on highways”) was celebrated by the first “Emancipation Run” on 14 November 1896 with a trip from London to the seaside resort of Brighton. Gottlieb Daimler personally attended the event as a foreign guest. Many of the participants relied on Daimler vehicles as well as on cars equipped with Daimler engines manufactured under licence. In addition, four Benz vehicles also took part in the race. Frederick Richard Simms was one of the co-organisers of the ride, Daimler’s close friend, business partner and licensee in the UK, and co-founder of the British automotive industry.
To commemorate this trip, the historic new edition of the 1896 event took place in 1927. This also includes the date at the beginning of November with mostly rather inhospitable weather. The first Sunday of this month quickly establishes itself for the ride, which is organized by the oldest British automobile club, the Royal Automobile Club (RAC). The collection of vehicles in London’s Hyde Park in the dim morning hours and the start of the drives from steam to combustion engines is already impressive. Only between 1940 and 1947 and in the pandemic year 2020 did the “run” fail. The start of the “RM Sotheby’s London to Brighton Veteran Car Run” – the current name – will take place in Hyde Park at sunrise, on 6 November 2022 at 7:03 am. Two-, three- or four-wheeled vehicles built before 1905 are permitted. The drives get their energy from steam, batteries, petrol or muscle power. Since 2017, historic bicycles have also been allowed to participate.
It’s not a race in the true sense of the word. Each participant who reaches the finish line on the Channel coast before 4:30 pm will be awarded a medal. At this largest gathering of veteran vehicles from the early days of automotive history, several hundred participants always start.
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