Robert Krickl is no ordinary car enthusiast.
Dressed in period clothing, with aviator goggles around his neck, the Austrian cuts a distinctive figure at the Car Collection of H.S.H. the Prince of Monaco, where he has just delivered his century-old automobile after a journey of more than 1,000 kilometers from Austria.
On paper, the idea was simple: restore a 100-year-old car and drive it all the way to the Principality.
But the journey was also intended to complete a story that began with the 1926 Monte Carlo Rally.
“Back then, the rally brought competitors together from all over Europe,” the 44-year-old explains.
“It wasn’t a speed competition like today. The main objective was simply to reach Monaco. The Austrian factory team, led by driver Josef Pompe and three others, left Vienna shortly after midnight on January 19, 1926.”
At first, everything went according to plan as they traveled through Lower Austria and Styria.
“Then the snow started falling. First a single flake, then a centimeter, 10 centimeters, a meter, several meters. In the end, they couldn’t cross the Alps into Italy.”
Although the rally was not a conventional race against the clock, competitors still had to maintain an average speed of 30 km/h.
The Avis Type 3 Krickl restored was the model intended to take part in the 1926 rally.
Yannis Dakik / Nice-Matin
“That was a real challenge at the time, especially because the roads weren’t paved,” Krickl says.
“They couldn’t simply decide to continue the next day, so they sent an official telegram to Monte-Carlo saying they were unable to go on. But what matters to me is that they tried, because many other competitors from Eastern Europe never even started.”
“It Was the Discovery of My Life”
Krickl’s fascination with the Avis Type 3 is deeply personal.
The car was built in Brunn am Gebirge, his hometown in Austria, where the country’s first aircraft factory was once based.
“They also built cars there and were pioneers in some respects in making automobiles accessible to a wider public,” he explains.
“For the first time, cars weren’t being built only for wealthy people, but for everyone.”
The brand eventually disappeared when the factory closed during the global economic crisis of the late 1920s.
For Krickl, a scientist and keen historian, preserving the memory of the people behind those vehicles matters as much as preserving the machines themselves.
“That is probably the most important part of my work. I want people to remember those who built these vehicles. The cars were handmade, not mass-produced, and many of those people have been forgotten.”
For Krickl, seeing the small Austrian vehicle displayed alongside some of the world’s most celebrated automotive brands is difficult to put into words.
Yannis Dakik / Nice-Matin
Krickl says the Avis Type 3 he restored was the model intended to take part in the 1926 rally and is the only known surviving example.
He found it in 2019 after years of false leads.
“It was the discovery of my life. My Indiana Jones moment,” he says with a laugh.
“You have to understand that people often confuse the brand with others, particularly Alvis, the British manufacturer. Every time I got a call, it turned out to be an Alvis or something else.”
Then came the call he had been waiting for.
“The owner had left it in a barn in the Swiss Alps and contacted me because I’m fairly well known as a specialist in the brand. I put all my savings into the project.”
He immediately knew he wanted the car to be seen again.
“I knew it had to go on public display. Its place wasn’t in a barn. So we restored it, and now it’s roadworthy.”
Up to 90% Original
Despite its age and the years spent in storage, the Avis was remarkably well preserved.
“We realized it was in truly excellent condition,” Krickl says.
“About 80 to 90% of the car as you see it today is original. The exterior paint and leather have been replaced, but the engine is period-correct.”
Krickl arrived in Monaco with his family on Friday, September 4, and plans to use his stay to continue researching the car’s history.
“I have an appointment with the Automobile Club de Monaco,” he says. “I hope to look through their archives and learn even more.”
The car will remain on display at the Prince’s Car Collection until Wednesday, September 9.
For Krickl, seeing the small Austrian vehicle displayed alongside some of the world’s most celebrated automotive brands is difficult to put into words.
“We never would have dared to dream of something like this,” he says.
“We are incredibly grateful to the Austrian Consulate for making it possible. It is such an honor to have this small car from a small country and a small town displayed here, alongside these famous brands, in one of the world’s capitals of motorsport.”
“And I hope it adds its own small chapter to history, and perhaps carries a message: never give up. Better late than never. One hundred years later, it may be the longest delay in history.”