A 1904 Rolls-Royce, early Daimler, Miura and Grand Prix display are among the cars coming to Pall Mall for the free October 31, 2026 event.
The Royal Automobile Club’s St James’s Motoring Spectacle returns to London’s Pall Mall on 31 October, with around 150 vehicles expected to take part in an event celebrating several significant motoring anniversaries. Among the confirmed exhibits are the world’s oldest surviving Rolls-Royce, an early British-built Daimler, a collection of mid-engined sports cars led by the Lamborghini Miura and a Grand Prix display marking 100 years since Britain’s first GP.
Now in its third year, the free event will take place outside the Royal Automobile Club’s headquarters, with Pall Mall closed to through traffic. The 2025 edition attracted more than 12,000 visitors, and this year’s event will again incorporate the St James’s Concours, featuring approximately 50 pre-1905 cars preparing to take part in the following day’s RM Sotheby’s London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, celebrating 130 years since the Emancipation Run, the precursor to the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run.
Among the veteran entries will be 1904 Rolls-Royce chassis 20154, the oldest known surviving example of the marque and the only known pre-1905 Rolls-Royce eligible for the London to Brighton run. Owned by Terry Bramall, the car has recently completed a three-year restoration that returned it to its original primrose-yellow finish, Barker Park Phaeton coachwork and M 612 registration. The work was recognised at this year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, where the car won its Antique class. Originally exhibited at the 1904 Paris Salon, chassis 20154 was the fourth of 17 Type A 10hp cars built, and its appearance on Pall Mall will mark its first public display in Britain since the restoration.
Another early British car appearing on Pall Mall will be the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust’s 1897 Daimler 4hp Phaeton, registration AD 1897, displayed to mark 130 years since the establishment of the Daimler Motor Company in Britain. Believed to be the oldest surviving Coventry-built Daimler, it was originally purchased by a Shropshire doctor, Dr Vickers, who returned the car to the factory in 1899 to have its tiller steering converted to a wheel. The car subsequently passed through several long-term custodians, including Commander Edward Woolley, whose journeys included crossing the Alps via the Col du Mont Cenis. Acquired by the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust in 1985, it underwent a further restoration ahead of Daimler’s centenary in 1996. Several other early Daimlers will participate in Sunday’s London to Brighton run.
A further veteran exhibit will be an 1899 Benz combination delivery vehicle from the Mercedes-Benz Classic collection, which will also take part in the following day’s run. The vehicle was built under licence in England by Hewetson’s Ltd of London and is known as the Ideal Van. Its body has been reconstructed using a Benz Velo from the Mercedes-Benz collection as a basis. The 3hp commercial vehicle originally had a payload capacity of approximately 100kg and will appear as part of the celebrations marking 130 years of Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles.
Competition machinery will form another major element of the event, with the Royal Automobile Club commemorating the centenary of the first British Grand Prix, held at Brooklands in 1926. A display of Grand Prix cars will span the century between the Brooklands era and contemporary hybrid Formula 1 machinery, including a Delage from the period of the original race. The Club’s British Grand Prix Trophy, presented annually to the winner at Silverstone, will also be on display. Another anniversary display will bring together four mid-engined sports cars associated with 1966, led by the Lamborghini Miura. It will be joined by a Lotus Europa, De Tomaso Mangusta and Unipower GT. The grouping will be complemented by a neighbouring Modern Design display featuring an Aston Martin Valhalla, Ferrari SF90 XX, Maserati MCPURA Cielo and Porsche Carrera GT, together with a Koenigsegg.
The St James’s Motoring Spectacle forms part of London Motor Week, which runs from 26 October to 1 November. The wider programme includes the Royal Automobile Club’s Motoring Book of the Year Awards, the Art of Motoring exhibition at the Iconic Images Gallery in Waterloo Place from 28 to 31 October and RM Sotheby’s London auction at The Peninsula London on 31 October. Among the cars announced for the latter are an Ayrton Senna Honda NSX, two bare-aluminium Ferraris and a Clément AC4R 12/16 HP with a history of participation in the London to Brighton event. London Motor Week concludes on 1 November, when more than 400 pre-1905 cars are scheduled to depart Hyde Park for Brighton. The St James’s Motoring Spectacle takes place on Saturday 31 October, from 10.00am to 3.00pm on Pall Mall, London. Admission is free, with no advance booking required. More details are available here.
