NEWS
Exciting new mission for Wing Commander Andy Green OBE
Driving an Edwardian steam car might appear a somewhat slow-moving assignment for a former RAF jet-fighter pilot and the current World Land Speed Record holder , but for Wing Commander Andy Green OBE he is embarking on an equally exciting mission .
Having been a passenger on many previous occasions , the fastest man on the planet has now acquired his own 1904 Stanley Runabout .
“ I ’ ve been lucky enough to be involved in all sorts of different motoring events , from driving supersonic cars all the way down to local track racing and there is nothing quite like the magic of the London to Brighton Run ,” enthused Green who was the first person to break the sound barrier on Earth when topping 760mph in Thrust SSC back in 1997 .
Over the years , the fascination of the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run has attracted many land and water world speed record holders and Green will be following in the wheel tracks of others including Sir Malcolm Campbell , George Eyston , Kaye Don and Richard Noble .
Born in the USA : American automotive legend makes its London to Brighton debut
There are not many rookie debutants which are also centenarians but such is the magical appeal of the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run that , even now , pioneering pre-1905 vehicles are still being rediscovered , restored and readied to join the regulars on the Run . And there is at least one never-seenbefore newcomer on this year ’ s 125th anniversary event : a 1903 Haynes Apperson .
Like so many on the road to Brighton , the 1903 Haynes Apperson making its first appearance has many stories to tell … and , no doubt , many deep secrets which will never be told .
What is known , though , is that the smart two-seater runabout spent most of its life in the USA before being shipped from New York to Holland in 1979 . It was then sold at a Brooks Auction in 2000 and subsequently spent most of the next 16 years pottering about on an estate in East Sussex without being registered for the public road .
By the time its existence was made known to veteran car collector Martin Bodenham , the Haynes Apperson was in ignominious pieces undergoing a stalled restoration . “ All I saw was the chassis as all the body parts had been stored away in a loft ,” he recalls .
Even after the restoration Bodenham encountered one final and totally unexpected obstacle : the Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency .
“ It took me eight or nine months to get the car registered with the DVLA ,” he reports . “ As there was no official history , they wanted me to get further information from the manufacturers … and they went out of business in 1905 !”
Eventually common sense prevailed and the Haynes Apperson was road registered , dated by the Veteran Car Club and is now ready to make its first trip to Brighton .
For wayside spectators eager to spot the ‘ new ’ 1903 Haynes Apperson on its somewhat overdue debut , the rather resplendent dark green machine from Indiana will be wearing start number 151 .
www . veterancarrun . com f / veterancarrun . I @ veterancarrun 17