Classic Car Buyer Magazine No.226 Insurance-Friendly Classics Back Issue

What, exactly, is it about
driving from London to
Brighton that attracts so
many event organisers? The bestknown
event of course is the ‘old
crocks run’ on the first weekend
in November, and while that’s
probably where the idea stems
from, it’s now one of dozens of
London to Brighton runs.
In fact, anyone wanting to
organise a new event may well
now have huge difficulty finding a
suitable ‘slot’! It’s just so popular!
Last weekend it was the London to
Brighton Jaguar Run, this coming
weekend it’s the excellent Historic
Commercial Vehicle Society
London to Brighton Run. The next
weekend it’s the MG Regency
Run, then there’s a Mini run
and two weeks after that it’s the
Classic, Kit and Sports Car Run.
And so it goes on.
In fact, driving in convoy from
London-the-Capital to London-on-
Sea is so popular that there’s even
a dedicated website; for details
of when everything London to
Brighton is happening, including
the ‘naked bike ride’, log on to:
www.brightonrun.co.uk
Being totally objective though,
driving directly from London to
Brighton isn’t that much fun in
a classic. First off you’re driving
through inner and then outer
London – make the most of the
Central London bit though, if Boris
gets his way and Central London
becomes a low-emissions-only
zone… Then there’s a reasonably
pleasant stretch out through
Purley and Hooley, bypassing the
M23 through Redhill. South of
Crawley though, the only real way
of avoiding the motorway-in-all-but
name A23 is by taking a massive
detour to the left or right.
There are alternatives that
I reckon would give a lot more
flexibility on dates, and provide
participants with a much more
enjoyable driving experience.