The annual RM Sotheby’s London to Brighton Veteran Car Run is one of the quirkier and most illustrious events running under a Motorsport UK ‘Certificate of Exemption’ Permit.

Taking place as tradition dictates on the first Sunday in November and lovingly curated by the Royal Automobile Club, it is the longest running motoring event on the planet and celebrates the moment motorists were given the freedom of the open road – in place of horse drawn carriages – when Locomotives on the Highway Act was passed in Parliament in November 1896. The Act raised the speed limit for ‘light locomotives’ from 4 to 14 mph and abolished the need for these vehicles to be preceded by a man on foot waving a red flag.

Celebrating that momentous moment, a group of plucky pioneers set off from London to Brighton – a 60-mile jaunt that is commemorated to this very day.

Marking the 128th anniversary, an extraordinary array of pre-1905 vehicles set off from Hyde Park at dawn last Sunday heading for the Sussex coast.

The magical character of the unique event has always attracted a wealth of motorsport interest. Back in the days when the F1 World Championship had a far shorter calendar, the likes of Stirling Moss, Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart and Jim Clark were regulars on the Run. In more recent times Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill have participated, amazed by the huge crowds that pack the roadsides to savour these wonderful machines dating back to the dawn of motoring.

Today, multiple world championship winner Ross Brawn OBE is a regular on the road to Brighton aboard his 1904 Wilson Pilcher. Andy Green OBE, the world’s fastest man is another devotee – he owns a 1904 Stanley steam car.

The biggest star this year, though, was the presence of the incredible flame-spitting Fiat 130HP, winner of the 1907 French Grand Prix. With its massive 16.2 litre, four-cylinder engine, it is the most powerful car to have ever taken part in the London to Brighton Run. Moreover, it was the first time the big, red, chain-driven leviathan had ever turned a wheel on these shores and its presence was a real treat for the tens of thousands of well-wishers lining the hallowed route from capital to coast.