U.K. Motoring Event to Feature ʼ86 Benz – As in 1886

This year’s London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, the world’s longest-running motoring event, will celebrate the 130^th anniversary of the world’s first automobile on Nov. 6.

Karl Benz’s 130-year old patent was granted Jan. 29, 1886 and this, along with the early days of German motoring, will be honored when the annual pilgrimage of veteran cars makes its way to England’s south coast.

The Benz Patent Motorwagen (patent No.37435) was a 3-wheel 2-seater powered by a single-cylinder, rear-mounted 4-stroke engine. In its first public demonstration run it proved difficult to control and hit a wall.

Significant modifications resulted in successful tests carried out on public roads in the summer of 1886. Two years and further improvements later, the Mk III version was offered for sale, becoming the world’s first commercially available automobile.

Alongside Benz, of which there were six examples on the 2015 Brighton run, organizers hope to see veteran cars from manufacturers such as Adler, Bergmann, Daimler, Lutzmann, Mercedes and Opel tackling the 60-mile (96-km) run from London’s Hyde Park to Brighton.

The Run itself also celebrates an anniversary this year.

The first Emancipation Run from London to Brighton was held 120 years ago in November 1896, marking the passing into law of the Locomotives on the Highway Act. The law raised the speed limit for so-called light locomotives from 4 mph (6.5 km/h) to 14 mph (22 km/h) and abolished the need for vehicles to be preceded by a man carrying a red flag.

“Karl Benz and his wife Bertha who, in 1888, undertook the first long-distance journey by car, were farsighted automobile pioneers,” Royal Automobile Club Chairman Tom Purves says in a statement. “But even they would be amazed by the role the car plays in 21st century life.”