Thursday 31st October 1895

John Henry Knight, who built Britain’s first petrol-powered motor vehicle, a three-wheeled, two-seater contraption with a top speed of 8 mph, was fined half a crown (2s 6d) plus 10 shillings costs at Farnham Petty Sessions for using a locomotive with neither a licence nor a man walking in front with a red flag. Knight was restricted to using the car only on farm roads until the Locomotive Act was replaced by the Locomotives on the Highway Act in November 1896. He was also later responsible for the repeal of the notorious Red Flag legislation. Knight’s single-cylinder vehicle, known as ‘Trusty’, was said to be ‘almost silent’ when it was running and entered a limited production run in 1896. It was the only British car at the 1896 Horseless Carriage display at Crystal Palace, and is now on display at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, Hampshire.