Sunday 1st November and the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car rally passed through Croydon town center on a very wet and windy morning.
The cars set off from Hyde Park at dawn and the first cars are passing through Croydon about an hour after they set off, the last ones coming through by mid morning (so you need to be up early on a Sunday to catch them).
Only cars made before 1st January 1905 are eligible to enter the rally! It's amazing to think that these ancient cars, some worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, are being driven in such bad conditions and alongside all the usual traffic, but it's great to see.
The rally commemorates the passing of the law in 1896 which raised the speed limit for motor vehicles from 4 to 14mph and no longer required that a man with a red flag walk in front of your horseless carriage as a warning to pedestrians! The first run was held that year as celebration then the idea was picked up again in 1927 and with a few exceptions it's been run every year since.
If you're into motorsport, forget Forumla 1 and come and watch this next year. Far more fun, much more risk and it's free!
Here are a few photos of the cars this year. For the black and white images I used a period camera, a 1902 Kodak Box Brownie.
Note - all photography copyright James Earley.
