Four young motoring apprentices have won a drive in a 1904 Thornycroft Tourer in the Veteran Car Club’s London to Brighton Run on Sunday 2 November.
The apprentices are the winners of a competition run to mark National Apprenticeship Week in conjunction with the British Motor Museum.
The winners are Matthew Cresswell, Product Design & Development Engineer Apprentice at Caterpillar; Matt Ferley, Panel Shop Apprentice at Aston Martin Works; Connor Heath, Applied Professional Engineering Apprentice at JLR; and Sophie Reynolds, Project Management Apprentice at Bentley.
The apprentices now have the chance to learn how to drive the Tourer and operate its Edwardian-era transmission, steering and braking systems during a visit to the British Motor Museum this Summer, before embarking on the 60-mile run between London and Brighton.
The Basingstoke-built Tourer was a cutting-edge innovation upon its debut in 1904, fitted with a prop shaft instead of a chain drive to enhance its smoothness and helping it finish first in the Veteran Car Run – previously called the Commemoration Run – on several occasions prior to the Second World War.
Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said: ‘It is immensely inspiring to see a new generation of apprentices embrace the challenges facing the industry but also retain a keen interest in its illustrious British history.’
Stephen Laing, British Motor Museum’s Head of Collections and Engagement, said: ‘Cars like the Thornycroft represent an era of rapid change in the early 1900s, employing the brightest of minds to design, build and sell the latest in technology, the motor car. How history repeats itself! We’re delighted that some of 2025’s top-level apprentices will be joining us on the unique experience that is the Veteran Car Run.’
