Gallery: Little cars and little racers – the 2018 Settrington Cup

Dubbed ‘the world’s tiniest race’, it is utterly brilliant. There are two Settrington Cup races across each Revival weekend, one on Saturday and another on Sunday, and it is unique in that none of the drivers need a racing licence. The reason? Because they’re all aged between six and ten years old, at the wheel of dinky Austin J40 pedal cars.

The grid is settled by pulling numbers out of a hat, and whoever is on pole position on Saturday starts at the back on Sunday in a reverse-grid race.

More than 30,000 J40 pedal cars, based on the design of the Austin A40 Dorset, were made between 1949-1971 in a not-for-profit operation set up in South Wales to keep disabled former mine workers employed. Back in the day they were sold for £33. Since the first Settrington Cup in 2012, however, you’d be lucky to find a good one for less than £5,000.

So if you’re looking for a cuteness overload today, you have to have a look through our gallery from the 2018 Settrington Cup. Your heart might actually melt.

Images by Adam Beresford, Chris Ison, Dominic James, Drew Gibson, Nick Dungan, Nigel Harniman, Stephanie O’Calaghan, Toby Adamson.