Restored Austrian sports car begins 1,200-kilometre Monte Carlo journey

A 100-year-old Avis 3 sports car has set out from St. Pölten for Monte Carlo, a century after an attempt to enter the rally ended in heavy snow. ORF reported that local historian and materials scientist Robert Krickl hopes to complete the journey with the restored vehicle.

Krickl and his father began the trip on Tuesday in front of the Lower Austria State Museum in St. Pölten, watched by about three dozen vintage-car enthusiasts and media representatives. The car, whose name means “bird” in Latin, started after several attempts.

The Avis 3 was built in Brunn am Gebirge in the Mödling district during the 1920s. Krickl described it as a pioneering example of locally developed engineering, particularly for its attempt to combine simple, affordable construction and maintenance with useful everyday performance.

The brand disappeared during the global economic crisis. The Avis 3 was long thought to have been lost until Krickl found an example in a shed in Tyrol seven years ago and began restoring it.

An Austrian factory team first entered the Monte Carlo Rally with the car on January 19, 1926. The attempt ended at the Italian border when heavy snowfall made it impossible to continue across the Alpine passes. Krickl said he now wants to fulfil that unfinished journey.

The pair plan to cover 1,200 kilometres over the next two weeks at a maximum speed of 50 kilometres per hour. The car has no seat belts or fuel gauge, and replacement parts are unavailable. Krickl said the team had prepared as well as possible but accepted that a 100-year-old vehicle always involved some risk.

The journey is also intended to highlight the history of mobility and the work of the engineers who developed the car. Stops are planned in Lower Austria, including Wiener Neustadt and the Semmering, where the organisers are inviting people to see the vehicle.

The Avis 3 will return to the Lower Austria State Museum next year. It is due to feature in the planned exhibition “1927. A Year on the Edge”, which will run at the House of History from March 5, 2027, to January 30, 2028.