The National Motor Museum in Beaulieu is working together with Fiat to ready the oldest Fiat in Britain for the famous London to Brighton vintage car run.
It was in 1934 that an early three-wheeler Fiat became the first car to represent an Italian manufacturer in the event, and this year the event’s organisers, the Royal Automobile Club, will honour Fiat’s 120-year anniversary by appointing the manufacturer as an official Patron of the run.
The world’s longest-running motoring event is exclusively for pre-1905 motor vehicles, representing the pioneering era of motoring. The 1899 Fiat being prepared to join the rest of the participating convoy is a 3.5 horsepower, 697cc, twin-cylinder four-seater. If all goes to plan, it will be chugging along towards its 22mph top speed on November 3.
Being 8mph in excess of the contemporary national speed limit, this was once no slow way to travel. In fact, the event was inspired by the first run in 1897 that celebrated the raising of the limit from 10mph to 14mph.
Since 1927, it’s been celebrated each year, and this year’s event starts in the early morning of November 3, when more than 400 pre-1905 vehicles will set off again on the 60-mile journey from Hyde Park to Brighton.
More information can be found at www.veterancarrun.com.
