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The DARTZ Prombron’ Nagel with its matching powerboat on a Monaco quay

Heritage

The Monte Carlo Rally: A Short History Since 1911

By DARTZ Editorial ·

The Monte Carlo Rally was founded in 1911 by Prince Albert I of Monaco. Crews set off from cities across Europe and converged on Monaco, a format that lasted until 1997. Henri Rougier won the first rally in a Turcat-Méry. In 1912 André Nágel drove a Russo-Balt from St Petersburg and arrived first, winning the endurance award. From 1973 to 2008 Monte Carlo opened the World Rally Championship each January, and it rejoined the WRC in 2012.

Every January, cars arrive in Monaco out of the snow of the Alps. They have been doing it for more than a century.

1911: a prince’s idea

The Monte Carlo Rally was created in 1911 by Prince Albert I of Monaco, through the Sport Automobile Vélocipédique de Monaco. Crews set out from several cities; Henri Rougier, one of nine who left Paris on a route of 1,020 kilometres, won in a Turcat-Méry 25 HP. (Monte Carlo Rally on Wikipedia)

Henri Rougier and his mechanic with the Turcat-Méry 25 HP before the first Monte Carlo Rally, 1911, archive photograph

A race to Monaco from everywhere

The early rally was a concentration run. Crews started from cities all over Europe and converged on Monaco, where the event continued with special stages. It was a test of car and crew over thousands of kilometres of winter roads, and the format lasted until 1997.

The wooden-spoked wheel of an antique touring car in snow chains on a snowy mountain pass

1912: the car from Riga

The longest drive of 1912 came from the east. André Nágel and Vadim Mikhailov drove a Russo-Balt, built in Riga, from St Petersburg to Monaco: 3,257 km in 195 hours and 23 minutes, in an open car, in temperatures down to minus 25 degrees. They arrived first. The judges placed them ninth overall, but Nágel won the endurance award. Read André Nágel and the 1912 Monte Carlo Rally.

The Russo-Balt C24/55 with its Monaco rally plate before the start of the 1912 Monte Carlo Rally

The Col de Turini

The rally’s most famous special stage is the Col de Turini, a pass in the mountains above Monaco, run over about 31 km of hairpins, often on ice and snow.

1966: the headlight affair

In 1966 the four leading finishers were disqualified over their headlight bulbs. The new winner, Pauli Toivonen, found the situation so embarrassing that he refused to accept his award.

The world championship

From 1973 to 2008 the Monte Carlo Rally opened the FIA World Rally Championship each January. After three years in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, it returned to the WRC in 2012.

Monte Carlo and DARTZ

DARTZ puts Nágel on its crest, beside Igor Sikorsky. It named its Imperial Prix 1912 caviar after the golden caviar bowl Nágel received in Monaco, and at the end of 2011, a hundred years after him, it retraced his route from St Petersburg to Monaco in its Century Run. Read the Spirit of Victors crest, Imperial Prix 1912 caviar and Russo-Balt cars, 1909 to 1915.

The 1912 Monte Carlo Rally poster beside a silver caviar bowl crowned with an imperial eagle

Golden DARTZ Prombron’ cars at the start of the DARTZ Century Run

About DARTZ

DARTZ is a Riga carrosserie that builds bespoke, opulent vehicles, armoured or non-armoured, in strictly limited numbers. It calls them BONDs: Bespoke Opulent Noble Drives.

Its heritage runs back to the Russo-Baltic Wagon Factory (RBVZ), founded in Riga in 1869, whose automobile department built its first car in 1909. Leonard F. Yankelovich revived that heritage as DARTZ in 1988. The group, DARTZ Grupa OÜ, is registered in Tallinn, Estonia.

Its Prombron’ models, from the Iron Diamond and Black Dragon to the Black Shark, Black Alligator and Black Stallion, have been covered by Top Gear, Forbes, Robb Report and Fox News, among many others.

Questions we are asked

When was the first Monte Carlo Rally?

In 1911. It was created by Prince Albert I of Monaco, and Henri Rougier won it in a Turcat-Méry 25 HP.

How did the original Monte Carlo Rally work?

As a concentration run. Crews started from cities across Europe and drove to Monaco, where the rally continued with special stages. The format was used until 1997.

What is the most famous stage of the Monte Carlo Rally?

The Col de Turini, a mountain pass in the Alps above Monaco, often run on ice and snow.

Who drove from Russia to the 1912 Monte Carlo Rally?

André Nágel, with Vadim Mikhailov, in a Russo-Balt built in Riga. They covered 3,257 km from St Petersburg in 195 hours and 23 minutes, arrived first and won the endurance award.

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