WE TAKE a peek back into automotive history today courtesy of new photographs from our archive from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

And not only do these black and white prints give an insight into what was happening 30 or more years ago... as we can see some of the automobiles photographed, especially those which took place in the London to Brighton Veteran’s Car Rally of years gone by, are considerably older still.

Our main photograph shows a car which was hand-built almost 100 years ago: a 1921 Humber.

Family-owned Humber Ltd was behind some of Britain’s grandest marques including the Hillman, although by the time the famous Imp was produced the two brands had parted company.

Humber was originally a cycle brand but following an interest in the nascent motor industry in the 1890s the company diversified and by 1913 was the second largest manufacturer of motor vehicles in the country.

Elsewhere on the page is the Model T Ford: the car about which arguably the most famous quote in the history of car making was uttered.

Henry Ford revolutionised the manufacturing industry by pioneering assembly-line techniques in his Detroit factories, standardising parts and processes to minimise costs and decrease his reliance on skilled labour.

He made the motor car available to millions of people for the first time but personalised touches or bespoke requests were out of the question.

He famously advertised the car by saying: “You can have it in any colour you want, as long as it’s black.”

Many of the pictures today were taken at the Veteran’s Car Rally over the decades which starts each year at sunrise in Hyde Park and finishes at Preston Park before the vehicles proceed to Madeira Drive.

The first run took place on November 14, 1896, as a celebration of the recently passed Locomotives on Highways Act 1896, which quadrupled the legal speed limit on the roads to a hair-raising 14 mph.

It is the world’s longest running motoring event.