Tiller steering towards the South Downs, as StarterMotor Ambassadors complete the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run

On a cold November morning, an enthusiastic team of StarterMotor Ambassadors set off from Hyde Park at 7:23am as part of the 125th anniversary event for the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run 2021, held by the Royal Automobile Club. This historic event is a classic in the heritage car world, with something rather magical about engines firing up and steaming in the crisp autumnal air.

The StarterMotor Charity is based at our Bicester Heritage location in Oxfordshire, a driving force behind opening up the the historic motoring community to young people by supporting them in their ambitions and promoting access to classic cars.

The budding team manned the wheel of a 1902 Oldsmobile Curved Dash, having undertaken several hours of getting to grips with tiller steering here at our Bicester Heritage site. Callum Staff, Ecurie Bertelli apprentice, aged 22, and Ashley Carr, Gentry Restorations apprentice, 24, set off on the first leg of the run, setting off from Hyde Park before breaking in Crawley.

Taking to the tiller from Crawley to Brighton, the CDO was driven by Tom Lee, 23, Charles Ware Morris Minor Centre apprentice and Lewis Revell, 22, Blue Diamond Riley Services apprentice, who wriggled down to the South Downs and finished the route at 1.35pm.

Many thanks to our event partners for the run: Hagerty UK, The Royal Automobile Club, Brian James Trailers, Historit, Hero ERA, Classic Performance Engineering, Blue Diamond Riley Services and NP Veteran Engineering.

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