John Hargreaves on a 12hp Daimler.
Seven manufacturers took part in Section I, including soon-to-be-famous names like Daimler and Wolseley. Section II, meanwhile, was for private individuals and included the Hon John Scott Montagu( the only MP taking part) whose son later opened the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, and the Hon Charles Rolls, co-founder of Rolls-Royce.
The first day saw the cars drive from London to Bath, pausing to enjoy a sumptuous champagne breakfast in a marquee at Calcot Park, Reading … Harmsworth’ s country pile. The second day’ s leg took in Bristol, Gloucester, Worcester and Birmingham, and on the third day the drivers reached Manchester, by way of Matlock and Buxton.
Not that they drove every day. The stints were interspersed with eight days when the cars were displayed to the public at mini motor shows, while the entrants attended local receptions. This downtime allowed for the mechanical attention that most vehicles constantly needed; plenty of nuts and bolts fell off along the way.
The fourth driving day saw the convoy head from Manchester to Kendal through Preston; the fifth had them rumbling on to Keswick and Carlisle; and by the end of the sixth day at the wheel the drivers had passed through Peebles to reach Edinburgh. Only 51
Procession of vehicles through Cheltenham.
vehicles were still running at this stage. One man had driven for 52 miles directing the wheel hub with his foot after the steering gear broke.
There were four hill climbing courses and two speed trials along the way, and for some cars these tests were simply too strenuous. On the way up to Scotland, the first hillclimb was at Taddington near Buxton, where Ariel Tricycles and Quadricycles were among the few vehicles able to maintain the required 12mph minimum speed. The course at Shap Fell in Cumbria was deemed so tough that tackling it was optional. Yet Rolls’ s Panhard made it look easy, and he repeated this effortless romp at the Dunmail Raise and Birkhill climbs.
Taking part was exhilarating and exhausting in about equal measure.
Pioneer motorist Frank Butler used his Panhard 6hp and recalled later:‘ The tour was most enjoyable, but involved hard work, as we had to be up in the morning every day at five o’ clock to get the cars ready. My daughter Vera travelled all the course with me. We had several punctures, piston rings working round lost a good deal of compression, a lift-pin of one of the valves put one cylinder out of action part of the time, and burners blew out up hill.’
The seventh day of driving saw the entourage begin to head back south through Berwick to Newcastle. The eighth and ninth covered the stretch from there down through Yorkshire, taking in Leeds, Harrogate, York, Bradford and Sheffield.
On the 10th day they zig-zagged to Lincoln and then to Nottingham and, once there, tackled a speed trial – as close as the cars came to actual racing – in Welbeck Park, the Duke of Portland’ s country estate. Then there was an unexpectedly punishing ascent, Bunny Hill near Nottingham, where many passengers had to get out to lighten the load or lend a hand by pushing.
20 The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run