RAC SUMMER RUN 2023
Thursday 20th July 2023 saw the 2nd edition of the RAC Summer Veteran Car Run. The weather was a very welcome change for those of us for endured hours of torrential rain on the 2022 London To Brighton Run. 30 Cars lined up on the RAC Clubhouse Woodcote Park 'Cedar Lawn' at 9am as the drivers were briefed on the order of play for the 54 Mile round trip through the Surrey Countryside.
Below some images of our day onboard our 1903 10HP Twin Cylinder Gladiator that appeared for the first time in 10 years.
The Cedar Lawn
An Early 7am start saw us trailer the 1903 Gladiator from East Sussex to The RAC 'HUT' car park next to Epsom Race Course. On arrival we saw many familiar faces and promptly unloaded and made our way down to Woodcote Park via the Captains Drive. Pulling up on the Cedar Lawn we were greeted with breakfast and admired several of the 30 participants vehicles. The image to the left shows 'Gladys' the Gladiator parked up next to a very familiar 1904 Napier.
On The Move
After briefing we were quickly given a starting number and were told to make our way to the cars. With 1 Minute intervals we were able to set off and begin our 54 Mile round trip. This Journey would be the first outing for the Gladiator in 10 years and some 30 years since my father Nigel Parrott found the car in a Chateau in Southern France completely neglected and in need of entire ground up rebuild and restoration. The condition of the car today is a true testament to my fathers painstaking attention to detail and workmanship. After some short lived traffic condition the image to the right shows us getting along at a steady 30mph.
Arriving For Lunch
In what seemed like the blink of an eye, we arrived at our lunch spot 'Gildings Barn'. A lovely looking venue where we parked up once more and hurried our way into the barn to grab what was left to eat! The Gladiator was performing excellently and the fact that we had dropped the oil, cleaned the Magneto and lapped the valves the day before had clearly made all the difference!
Back To East Sussex
After several stops on the way back to Woodcote Park (NP Veteran Engineering provided the mechanical/breakdown support for the Run) we arrived back at the front of the clubhouse and were treated to champagne and afternoon tea, before a short awards ceremony. We then proceeded to make our way back to the trailer after a memorable day in the summer sun. Overall a great day for not only us but for NP Veteran Engineering with our 14 entrants all performing excellently and completing the 54 Miles.
On to the London to Brighton Run!
