MEMORIES OF A BRIGHTON RUNNER
Top left: 1903 De Dion, my first finish in 1990. Above: Autographed image from Dinah Sheridan, star of‘ Genevieve’. Inset below: Original 1969 London to Brighton RAC programme.
David Burgess-Wise looks back at 75 years on the A23
It’ s a sobering thought that it’ s exactly 75 years since, as a very small boy, I first stood beside the Brighton Road to witness the veterans go by on their way to the sea. Fortunately, my boyhood home was only a short bus ride from the A23, and even though my father wasn’ t a motorist, he must have been enthusiast enough to take me to watch the event. As they say, I was hooked!
I’ ve witnessed virtually every Brighton Run since, first as a spectator and latterly over the years as reporter, passenger, driver, programme editor and commentator. I was, indeed, a fan of the Run two years before the film Genevieve made a worldwide audience aware of it.
I first reported on the Run in the early 1960s as a young journalist and well remember parking my 1927 Clyno tourer( my only car in those days) alongside entry No 128, Prince Rainier of Monaco’ s 1903 De Dion Bouton, on Madeira Drive at the end of the 1968 Run. The Prince’ s participation in the Run had been a closely-guarded secret; his wife Princess Grace – the former film star Grace Kelly – was his rearseat passenger.
I didn’ t get the chance to ride in the Brighton Run until 1979, when the grateful owner of a 1904 Canadian-built Ford Model C who I’ d provided with information that helped him with its restoration offered me a seat in his car. It rained hard on the way to Brighton, and I discovered the downside – or more accurately, the backside – of buttoned seat cushions when the indents round the buttons filled with water and I found myself sitting in a ring of little puddles...
In subsequent years I often rode aboard the 1904 swing-seat tonneau Peugeot of my friend Paul Foulkes-Halbard. Then, in the run-up to the 1983 Brighton Run, Paul rang me:‘ I’ ve just taken a 1903 Oldsmobile in part-exchange. I’ ve no idea how it runs, though it has a current MOT. You can borrow it for the Brighton Run – it’ s up to you to get it there.’
The Oldsmobile had an interesting history; it had been owned by a missionary in Australia and had steel-spoked wheels as a protection against white ants! Its previous owner, who claimed he had made many successful Brighton Runs, had replaced the original carburettor – a primitive“ mixer valve” –
22 The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run