1986

The first Run was a pretty low-key affair. The LSMOC was only a small club and there was no easy way to let people know about it. There were no Mini magazines back then and only a dozen clubs. Battersea Park and Preston Park in Brighton were booked for a nominal fee.

The first Run was held up by bikers protesting about being made to wear helmets. Once the cars were parked we managed to count them and there were just over 200 of them. There was little organised at Brighton and people just looked around the cars and chatted about the run. However, it was clear people really enjoyed driving down to Brighton together.

The Club certainly didn’t realise how important the first Run was, devoting just nine lines to it in the first newsletter after the event.

1987

The second Run was basically a carbon copy of the first. After the complete uncertainty about how many cars would turn up the previous year LSMOC members were asked to pay an advance entrance fee of £1! That said, most people still paid on the door.

The Club was keen to raise the profile of the Run and produced a lot of publicity material. This lead to the Club being asked to take part in ITV’s ‘6 O’clock Show’ on the Friday before the Run. As a result the second run was 50% larger than the first and well over 300 entrants enjoyed a very sunny trip to the coast.

1988

For the ’88 Run drivers were asked to assemble in Battersea Park by 9.45. Over 400 cars turned up and the allocated car park was packed to capacity. The official start was 11.00 and drivers were told that it would take 90 minutes to get to Preston Park.

This time the entrance fee was charged upon entering Preston Park. The fee was £2 per person and Club members were advised to take their membership cards to receive a discount. The Club advertised trade stands, competitions, club stands and refreshments.

Despite it being some months on from the ‘Great Storm’ some of the trees in Preston Park were still considered dangerous and the cars had to be parked on the grass. The Club’s co-founder Martin Pink left the Club after the third Run and he was made the first honorary member.

1989

By ’89 the Club was becoming concerned by how quickly the Run was growing and by how much it was costing (although the fee was still £2 per person). Brighton Council agreed that the Club could use Madeira Drive, but at the 11th hour they told the Club it would cost eight times more than they had originally stated because they had decided to class it as a commercial venture!

We were therefore forced back to Preston Park. By 10.00 the Parks Police had to open overflow areas. The Run was officially started at 11.00 and 600 cars set off with their headlights blazing. Unfortunately, there were three sets of road works before the cars had even left London.

For the first time entrance to Preston Park was controlled by the use of coloured window stickers.

1990

Despite awful weather 700 had been parked before the marshals lost count. For the first time the run had to start before everyone was parked up. The journey down to Brighton was tortuous with some cars arriving in time to see others leaving! Many cars missed the concours and there were lots of unhappy people quick to gripe.

For a couple of months a dark cloud hung over the Run’s future as the Club’s Committee realised the Run had become too big to be run the way it had been run for the first five years and that pre-booking would have to be introduced the following year.

1991

After the chaos of 1990 the Run was limited to just 400 cars. Cutting the size of a very popular event was a calculated gamble, but the Club’s Committee felt sure it would guarantee the Run’s future.

The start was changed from Battersea Park to Crystal Palace and the start was moved forward to 10.30. The finish was also moved from Preston Park to Madeira Drive, allowing a full concours and autotest to be held. The Club calculated exactly how much these changes would cost and fixed the price at £15 per car. As it transpired the 400 tickets sold quickly and the vast majority of people thought £15 really was great value for what they got. The London to Brighton Run had come of age!

Having packs to give people was a new experience, six people worked until 4.00am putting them together.

1992

The Club realised it needed heavy weight sponsorship to guarantee the future of the Run. This lead to deal with MiniWorld magazine and the entrance price being dropped to £10. With 1000 cars expected to take part in the ’92 Run it was clear that dealing with bookings would become a major task and a ‘Run Co-ordinator’ was appointed for the first time.

The Run was sold out within three weeks of MiniWorld publishing a booking form. At that time the Club put up its own direction signs and the people allocated this task managed to get to Brighton just before midnight on Saturday.

By 9.30 Sunday morning Crystal Palace was heaving. As the marshals and helpers struggled to cope with the growing queues it became clear that the 10.30 start would have to be delayed by thirty minutes. The cars made it as far as Purley before getting stuck in terrible traffic.

1993

The feedback on the ’92 was very mixed. Some felt the Run had got too big, but the Club could not have foreseen the awful traffic that blighted the ’92 Run. In the end the Club decided to stick to the 1000 car limit again for another year.

The fee went back up to £15 to avoid cutting corners (e.g. the prizes were rather poor in ’92). This didn’t put anyone off the Run and all 1000 spaces were booked within a month.

Fortunately, on the day the lessons from the previous year had been learnt and the organisation at Crystal Palace was vastly improved. The Mayor of Brighton started the run dead on time and thankfully there were no major road works and everything else ran pretty much to plan. As a result the ‘93 Run become the model for every Run since.

1994

The weather leading up to the ’94 Run was awful, but the first cars to arrive at Crystal were greeted by a clear cloudless sky. A number of cars were still turning up after the official start time, because they had been stuck behind a major accident on the M25. The cars left the park dead on 10.00 lead by Nick Paddy driving Paddy Hopkirk’s Monte Carlo Mini L33 EJB.

The Run down to Brighton was thankfully free of problems and cars started arriving from 11.30. By ‘94 the number of classes in the concours had grown from the original seven to fourteen and finding judges became a problem. People who stayed right to the very end of the day got to see the Monte Carlo winning car having to get a jump start.

1995

The weather for the 10th Run was truly amazing. Most people wondered around in shorts and T-shirts. The Mayor of Bromley cut the ribbon this time. Unfortunately, it was another bad year for road works!

To mark the 10th Run the LSMOC commissioned a video of the event, which it sold for some time after the Run. It’s thought this was also the first year of the T-shirt design competition.

1996

‘96 followed the well rehearsed routine. There was a very good European turnout, including an amazing 72 cars from Holland. Unfortunately, John Cooper was unable to attend due to illness.

At this time the Club began to use the Run to raise money for charity. In ‘96 £477 was sent to a heart charity based at St George’s hospital in Tooting. In addition to the Club’s charity efforts the The Italian Job Group, who raise money for a children’s charity, are normally have a stand at the Run.

1997

‘97 was also a good year on the international front, including another good showing from Holland, 20 cars from the Belgian Mini Owners Club and a smattering of French and German cars.

With more and more people camping at the Palace Saturday even arriving by 6.00am didn’t guarantee that drivers would be at the head of the queues. This year’s traffic problems were centred on Croydon and the top end of Brighton.

The day had started off with a few showers, but it was bright in Brighton. ‘97 saw the Run’s ‘concours’ (short for concours d’elegance) become a ‘Show and Shine’. The change was in fact made to make the competition slightly less formal and therefore more inclusive. Regardless of the competition’s name John Cooper was again more than happy to give out the prizes.

1998

Some superstitious participants in the ’98 Run might have feared something would go horrible wrong on the 13th Run, but it was a pretty trouble free year. Even increasing the size of the Run by 25% to 1,600 cars didn’t tempt fate. The Mayor of Bromley started the Run and radio DJ David Hamilton (a big Mini fan) lead the way. There were no major traffic problems and by the time the front-runners hit Brighton there was a nice sea breeze to temper the blazing sunshine.

Some people who attended that year’s Run may remember John Cooper talking about how Madeira Drive held special memories for him. John first met Alec Issigonis on the Drive during the 1946 Brighton speed trials.

1999

For the ‘99 number of entrants was whacked up again to a massive 1,999 (clever or what?). This meant the original four rows of cars in Crystal Palace had grown to an unbelievable eleven. Red Bull were there supplying drinks and a dozen of their amazing can Minis lead the way.

Unfortunately, it was another bad year for traffic and some cars were still trying to get onto the drive at 3.00! It was another cracking day in Brighton and John Cooper was again there to give out the prizes. He spoke about the work going into the new Mini and urged people to give the new Mini a chance. The person who won the T-shirt competition was presented with a jacket with their design on; another feature of the Run that started as a one off and become a standard.

2000

The Millennium Run in 2000 had, you’ve guessed it, 2000 spaces. When we started the Run we went to a ‘town’ on the south coast, but by 2000 Brighton had become a ‘City’. Again, eleven rows of Minis lined up behind the Red Bull Minis.

2000 was probably one of the worst as far as the weather is concerned. The Palace was very muddy and the people who camped Saturday looked very tired and bedraggled. Some of them got up late and found their tents surrounded by queuing cars. Of course the rain did mean there was less general traffic on the road to Brighton. At Brighton the weather changed back and forth from bright sunshine to torrential rain. Apart from the weather it was another really good year.

2001

The ‘01 Run was dedicated to the memory of John Cooper who had died a few months before the Run. John Cooper went on a good number of the Runs and I know he really enjoyed it. He was a very modest man and couldn’t understand why people on the Run wanted him to sign their cars.

The organisation of the Run went well, but soon after the first cars started to arrive in Brighton the stream of Minis ran dry. A caravan had flipped on the A23 and the bulk of the Run was stuck behind it. Mike Cooper gave the prizes out and he presented a special John Cooper Garage’s award for the best club display. Red Bull continued their association with the Run and sponsored the award for the best-dressed Mini.

2002

Just to prove the Run was not running out of steam the 2000 spaces for the ‘02 Run sold out even quicker than the previous year. The weather forecasters predicted another wet Run, but not for the first time they were confounded and it turned out to be a nice sunny day.

The organisers running the Palace end had something new to contend with. The Club decided to introduce a new Show and Shine rule to ensure cars entering the competition took part in the Run and weren’t taken to Brighton by trailer. Any car taking part in the Show and Shine that didn’t have a special sticker issued at the Palace were to be automatically marked down ten points. As one LSMOC member once commented looking at show cars that are never driven, ‘That’s not a car, it’s a one-to-one scale model’.

Mike Cooper was again there to present the Cooper trophy.

2003

By 2003 camping at Crystal Palace had become very popular. The Club didn’t want to turn the Run into a two day event, but felt they had to do something for the campers. The Club planned to show them a film, but the van carrying the giant screen broke down! The Club also tried to cater for all the kids that take part in the Run. They were treated to a bouncy castle at the Palace and a competition at Brighton.

Again 2000 cars took part in the ’03 Run and it was another trouble free event. There was a bit of rain at the Palace end, but nothing to dampen people’s enthusiasm. Brighton again went like clockwork.

One noticeable thing about the ‘03 Run was the number of BMW Minis taking part. This was not to everyone liking.

2004

For the ’04 Run the Club decided to add some more interest at the Brighton end. Clubs taking part in the Run were asked to enter a soapbox car challenge. A chopper bike challenge was also staged by the Raleigh Chopper Owners Club. Another new feature was the small band of buskers who wondered around the crowd doing impromptu performances.

The main group of cars left dead on 9.00 lead by Neil Burgess in his car Mildred. Mildred took part in the November 2003 Wales Rally GB and was the last Mini to take part in a FIA World Rally Championship.

It was a cracking day in Brighton and the charity auction did very well. The Club raised almost three times more money for charity than it had in ’03. The worst thing about ’04 was getting home. A huge crash on the A23 had killed 8 people.