Jaguar Enthusiast Magazine Editor Wayne Scott and Classic XK Model Section Coordinator Michael Ballard are preparing to turn the clock back more than a century when they tackle the 2026 RM Sotheby’s London to Brighton Veteran Car Run aboard a remarkable 1904 Lanchester from the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust collection.
On Sunday, 1 November, Wayne and Michael will swap the Jaguars they know so well for something altogether more pioneering: the JDHT’s 1904 Lanchester 20 HP Tourer, registration O 1230. They will join a team of three cars, including a Daimler piloted by Jaguar Enthusiast Magazine columnist Michael Quinn, making up part of this year’s celebrations marking 130 years of Daimler.
It promises to be quite an adventure. The annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run is no gentle modern classic tour. More than 400 pre-1905 cars will assemble in Hyde Park before sunrise, then set out on the historic 60-mile journey to Brighton, recreating the spirit of the famous Emancipation Run of 1896.
And the car entrusted to Wayne and Michael is something very special indeed…
Meet O 1230
Although the 20hp Lanchester was not officially shown to the public until January 1905, a small batch of pre-production cars had already been constructed, meaning O 1230 is dated to 1904. Chassis number 578 is believed to be the oldest surviving Lanchester 20hp in existence and was acquired for the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust collection during the 1980s.
Designed largely under the influence of the brilliant engineer Frederick Lanchester, the 20hp represented an important step forward for the company. It was Lanchester’s first model to use a four-cylinder engine, with its vertical in-line unit mounted unusually ahead of the front seat and between the driver and passenger footwells. Cantilever springing and tiller steering continued the unconventional thinking found in earlier Lanchesters.
So, for two men more accustomed to Jaguars and XKs, there may be a little relearning involved before they point O 1230 towards Brighton!
The Lanchester connection is particularly appropriate during Daimler’s 130th anniversary year. Lanchester became part of Daimler in 1931 (some 27 years after 0 1230 was built); later, the Daimler and the Lanchester marque subsequently became part of Jaguar’s history when Jaguar acquired Daimler in 1960. Today, the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust preserves the histories and collections of all three marques.
Celebrating 130 years of motoring freedom
There is another important 130th anniversary at the heart of this year’s Run.
In 1896, the Locomotives on Highways Act transformed early motoring in Britain. Among its changes, the legal speed limit for light locomotives rose from 4mph to 14mph and, crucially, motorists were finally freed from the requirement to have a person carrying a red flag walking ahead of the vehicle.
The change was celebrated on 14 November 1896 when 33 pioneering motorists travelled from London to Brighton on what became known as the Emancipation Run.
The modern London to Brighton Veteran Car Run has commemorated that moment since 1927 and has become the world’s longest-running motoring event of its kind. Fittingly, 2026 also marks 130 years since the founding of the Daimler Motor Company Limited, whose own origins are closely intertwined with the pioneering years of British motoring and the Royal Automobile Club.
Following the traditional ceremonial tearing-up of the red flag in Hyde Park, the veteran cars will begin departing at 6.53 am, heading through some of London’s most famous landmarks before travelling south through Surrey and West Sussex.
The journey takes the cars past Buckingham Palace, along The Mall, through Whitehall and across Westminster Bridge before the route divides through South London. It later reunites north of Croydon before continuing towards Crawley, the South Downs and, ultimately, the finish on Brighton’s Madeira Drive.
The first cars are expected in Brighton shortly after 10 am, but simply getting there is an achievement. To earn a coveted finisher’s medal, crews and cars must reach Madeira Drive before the 4.30 pm dusk curfew.
For a 122-year-old car, that makes this considerably more than a Sunday morning drive.
Come and cheer them on!
We would love to see Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club members lining the route and giving Wayne and Michael a wave as O 1230 makes its way towards the coast.
With hundreds of veteran cars passing by, expect steam, petrol and electric propulsion, tiller steering, exposed mechanicals and machinery from the very dawn of motoring. It is one of those rare events where the history is not sitting silently inside a museum — it is being started, driven and enjoyed on the public road.
So, if you are anywhere near the route on Sunday 1 November, wrap up warm, bring the camera and look out for the JEC pair aboard the JDHT Lanchester.
Suggested viewing points
| Time | Location |
| 6.45am | Ceremonial tearing of red flag – Hyde Park, London |
| 6.53am | Start – Hyde Park, London |
| 7.00–8.45am | Constitution Hill, London |
| 7.00–8.45am | The Mall, London |
| 7.10–9.00am | Whitehall, London |
| 7.10–9.00am | Westminster Bridge, London |
| 7.10–9.00am | Lambeth Palace, London |
| 7.20–9.20am | Clapham Common, London |
| 7.25–9.50am | Mitcham, London |
| 7.35–11.05am | Coulsdon High Street, London |
| 7.40–11.05am | Merstham, Surrey |
| 7.55–11.35am | Redhill, Surrey |
| 8.10am–2.00pm | Three Bridges and Crawley, West Sussex |
| 8.25am–2.10pm | Handcross High Street, West Sussex |
| 8.30am–2.25pm | Staplefield, West Sussex |
| 8.50am–2.35pm | Cuckfield High Street, West Sussex |
| 10.00am–4.30pm | Brighton, West Sussex |
We will be following Wayne and Michael’s preparations and, of course, their progress from Hyde Park to Brighton through the Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club channels.
Good luck, gentlemen. Brighton or bust!
One Response
Good Luck and well done !!!