Date/Time
Date(s) - 26/04/2026
12:00 am
National Drive-It Day was created by the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs in 2005.
Please see the fund-raising website here https://www.driveitday.co.uk/ to buy your rally plaques and see events local to you
Drive-it Day History
Held each year on a Sunday in April, it is the day when historic vehicle enthusiasts and the public at large have the opportunity to celebrate the ‘One Thousand Mile Trial’. This was an 11-day round-Britain public test, that started on 23 April 1900 to “prove the viability” of the new-fangled invention – the motor car.
At the time, few believed that the invention would be suitable for use and most people had never even seen a car (much like ‘flying taxis’ today). The ‘trial’ started on 23 April 1900 and cars were limited to the then legal maximum of 14mph.
Organised by the Automobile Club, there were 83 entries of which 65 made it to the starting point at Grosvenor Place, London. Six days in, by the time Edinburgh was reached, 51 cars were still running and 35 vehicles made it back to London, having covered 1,000 miles in the 11 days.
Details of the original event, courtesy of Graces Guide to British Industrial History, are at www.gracesguide.co.uk/1900_One_Thousand_Mile_Trial and the site also has links to The Autocar magazine for the year of the event at www.gracesguide.co.uk/The_Autocar_1900
Today, Drive-it Day is an opportunity to raise awareness and support amongst the public for the historic vehicle movement, as part of our ongoing campaign to keep transport heritage on UK roads, without restriction.
In recent years we have entered a partnership with NSPCC to raise funds for its Childline service, focussed on ‘Drive-it Day’.
We do this by selling ‘rally plaques’ that people can buy to put on their car (or ‘Ride-it Day’ plates for motorcycles), to show their support.
All profit from these goes to Childline and in 2025 (donations included) we raised £37,580. So far, over the six years we’ve been working with Childline, we’ve raised £245,350 for the charity.
How to take part
Individual clubs organise their own runs (often to a venue of interest), while a number of locations – such as museums – host events to which you can take your vehicle.
Clubs normally welcome non-members to join in and a list of all the events and locations on the Sunday that we are aware of are here https://www.driveitday.co.uk/events – along with a handy map to help you find the nearest event to yourself.
Clubs and venues are encouraged to let the Federation know their plans. The easiest method is to post the event here https://www.fbhvc.co.uk/list-your-club-event
