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"When asked what the use was of another invention, Ben Franklin said, &amp;#039;What is the use of a newborn baby?&amp;#039; Well, 19th century Britain hated babies (ever read Oliver Twist?) and, unsurprisingly, they also loathed the newly-invented motorcar. This early disdain for motoring is the reason a swarm of ancient cars drove through England on Sunday for the London to Brighton Veteran Car Rally. See, in the 1800s, railroad tycoons had serious political influence and were (rightly) concerned about competition from the burgeoning automobile. By 1865, all &amp;#039;small locomotives&amp;#039; in England were legally bound to 4 mph speed limits on the motorways, and a 2 mph crawl on country lanes. Laws also required every automobile to have a crew of three operators, one of which had to walk 90 feet ahead waving a red flag and honking a horn like a humiliating car clown. PHOTOS: Garry Sowerby Seriously. But in 1896, the UK Parliament finally saw the err of its ways: the &amp;#039;Locomotives on the Highway Act&amp;#039; upped motorway travel to a gasp-inducing 14 mph. Overjoyed British motoring enthusiasts donned their finest tweed hats and fanciest goggles, took to the streets, and celebrated by driving from Hyde Park to the UK&amp;#039;s southern coast in a torrential downpour - dubbed &amp;#039;Emancipation Run.&amp;#039; The London to Brighton Veteran Car Rally is an annual recreation of this 60-mile dash, and almost 400 cars were on hand for this year&amp;#039;s celebration. So what&amp;#039;s all the fuss over London to Brighton? Well, it&amp;#039;s one of the most outrageous rallies around, and the place to see early gasoline engines, steam power, and turn-of-the-century electric cars. Only pre-1905 cars are allowed, period-appropriate garb is encouraged, and a stiff upper-lip is mandatory. Remember, this is London, where cold and rain typically go the way of death and taxes. What you end up with is throngs of well-to-do Brits racing at 14 mph wearing animal pelts and, often times, getting poured on like the New York Giants defense. It&amp;#039;s all sort of hilarious, and sort of beautiful at the same time.  PHOTOS: 1978 Chevrolet Performance 4x4 pickup concept &amp;quot;It sounds bizarre getting up at the crack of dawn on what&amp;#039;s usually a really rather cold November morning but it&amp;#039;s great to run these old cars,&amp;quot; said Nick Mason. This year, Mason ran his twentieth London to Brighton Rally driving a 5-liter 1901 Panhard et Levassor Roi-des-Belges. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s actually a very good &amp;#039;old&amp;#039; car with some very advanced things for the period such as a steering wheel rather than a tiller!&amp;quot; he explained. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s also got a big engine and is terrific in terms of power considering its age.&amp;quot; A 1903 Darracq was first to finish Sunday and, amazingly, the weather remained mostly docile. In the end, though, a trio of orthogonal Napiers (led by a 6.5-liter with competition pedigree dating back to 1902) stole the show. Why? The long-defunct Napier nameplate is all kinds of nostalgic for London-to-Brighton&amp;#039;ers. As the first English marque to win an international motor race, it originated British Racing Green. PHOTOS: Dodge Scat Pack But our favorite participant this year was Sir Ray Tindle, driving his single-cylinder 1904 Speedwell Dogcart...the same car he&amp;#039;s driven London to Brighton in each of the last 50 years. Ever complain about an automatic gearbox or uncomfortable seating position? Just remember that this guy is 87-years old and spent a day slogging though England at 12 mph in something called the &amp;#039;Dogcart.&amp;#039; And that&amp;#039;s the beauty in the London to Brighton Rally. It combines a passion for automobiles, propensity for melodrama and upholding tradition with the freezing cold and a fair chance of being rained on mercilessly. Could anything be more British? Happy Motoring Independence Day, you loveable nuts. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/features/a5918/london-to-brighton-rally-2013/>