Car enthusiasts will be getting behind their wheels for a road trial which has a vintage history of its own.

Saffron Walden Reporter: The Layer Marney Cup at a previous event. Picture: CONTRIBUTEDThe Layer Marney Cup at a previous event. Picture: CONTRIBUTED (Image: Archant)

Vintage, classic and modern vehicles will line up on the front lawn at Audley End House, near Saffron Walden, on Sunday, August 13, at 10.30am for the beginning of the Layer Marney Cup, a petrol consumption trial first run in 1914.

Around 60 drivers will spin – slowly – around 60 miles of picturesque roads in Essex and finish at Layer Marney Tower near Tiptree in time for afternoon tea and the awards ceremony.

They will stop off for lunch at Colne Valley railway, Castle Hedingham.

The cavalcade will include a top up for fuel at Central Garage in Newport, before embarking on the rest of the route.

Saffron Walden Reporter: A 1913 Unic at a previous running of The Layer Marney Cup. Picture: CONTRIBUTEDA 1913 Unic at a previous running of The Layer Marney Cup. Picture: CONTRIBUTED (Image: Archant)

The oldest registered cars of the Gulf-sponsored event will be a 1920 Bugatti T13 and 1923 Vauxhall 30 -98. Almost every era of motoring is represented.

Organiser Sheila Charrington resurrected the Layer Marney Cup in 2014.

She said: “The original event, which took place just two months after the start of the First World War, was a more serious challenge of consumption, whereas many of today’s participants enter for fun and nostalgia. The Cup is open to the latest petrol hybrids as well as the earliest road cars and each category is judged upon a fuel consumption to weight ratio.

“The trials attract a magnificent collection of cars and such a happy and friendly bunch of participants, all proudly showing off their machinery. “This year we have around 60 cars including a magnificent 90-year-old Austin 7 Chummy and Ford Y Model and a 1930s Rolls Royce 20/25.”

Jon McGee, of Central Garage, is excited by the prospect of serving fuel to such a collection of vehicles.

“We thought this would be a great initiative for the village and I am sure that many of our customers will come to see the cars at close quarters. It’s something very different and interesting and we are delighted to be offering our support.”