Monte Carlo Tribute 1939: in the Footsteps of Tadeusz Marek
Monte Carlo Tribute 1939 is a project organised by Śniadanie & Gablota Classic team, supported by Piotr Nowakowski and NOVOL, in memory of the Polish rally drivers who competed in the legendary Monte Carlo Rally before the Second World War. At the end of January 2026, we set off on an expedition in a pre-war Opel Olympia. Our goal was to cover the 3,800-kilometre route across Europe that had been driven in the 1939 Monte Carlo Rally by the Polish crew of Tadeusz Marek and Witold Pajewski, competing under entry number 122.
Few Poles have contributed as much to the history of the global automotive industry while remaining largely forgotten today as engineer Tadeusz Marek. Without his talent and engineering expertise, the history of Aston Martin would have looked very different. Marek was a modest man who avoided publicity and disliked being photographed, yet he secured his place in motoring history as both an outstanding engineer and a talented rally driver.
The story of Tadeusz Marek and his work for Aston Martin also inspired us to invite our friend and Aston Martin Owners Club member Marian Stoch to join the expedition. Together with Sławomir Poros Senior and Sławomir Poros Junior, he completed the journey from Tallinn to Monte Carlo behind the wheel.
The Polish Heart of Aston Martin
Tadeusz Marek’s years at Aston Martin proved to be the most important chapter of his professional career. He joined the company in 1953 and initially focused on improving the ageing six-cylinder Lagonda engine originally designed by W.O. Bentley, eliminating many of its most troublesome weaknesses.
His real breakthrough came with the development of an entirely new 3.7-litre straight-six engine, designed from scratch and introduced in the Aston Martin DB4. The unit was subsequently refined and developed further, eventually powering the DB5 – the car that became the most recognisable Aston Martin of all thanks to the James Bond films.
As the market demanded more power, Marek went on to design a completely new V8 engine. It debuted in the Aston Martin DBS and continued to evolve over the next three decades, remaining in production until the late 1990s. These two legendary engines ensured that the Polish engineer’s name became permanently woven into the history of Aston Martin.
The Olympian
From the very beginning, the Monte Carlo Rally stood apart thanks to its unusual format. Competitors started from different corners of Europe and converged on Monaco, with Tallinn being one of the most demanding starting points. It was from Tallinn that Tadeusz “Tadek” Marek and Witold Pajewski set off on 17 January 1939 in the final Monte Carlo Rally before the outbreak of the Second World War. Their car was an Opel Olympia (OL38) assembled at the Warsaw facilities of Lilpop, Rau & Loewenstein.
Although modest in appearance, the Olympia was a remarkably innovative car. First unveiled at the 1935 Berlin Motor Show, it had been developed to coincide with the 1936 Summer Olympic Games in Berlin. It was the first mass-produced car in Germany and the first mass-produced car in the world to feature a unitary body construction.
For Marek, this was already his third start in Europe’s toughest rally. Both he and Pajewski had accumulated extensive experience through countless motorsport events in Poland and abroad. Starting from Tallinn, the Polish crew finished an impressive fifth in the class up to 1,500 cc and 32nd overall. The story of this achievement became the inspiration for our Monte Carlo Tribute 1939 expedition, although first we needed to find the right car.
We found our Opel Olympia in Sweden. It is almost identical to the car driven by crew #122 in 1939. The vehicle was assembled in January 1939 at the General Motors Nordiska AB plant. With only minor interruptions, it spent virtually its entire life on the island of Gotland. The Opel was not restored in the traditional sense, because every imperfection tells part of the story written by its previous owners. We paid great attention to ensuring that the car remained as technically faithful as possible to the Olympia driven by Marek and Pajewski. After several months of preparation and an enormous amount of work from the entire team, the car was finally ready to face the challenge ahead.
Driven by People
The demands of the Monte Carlo Tribute route required an experienced team. Over the years we have met many remarkable enthusiasts who have shaped our views on classic motoring and shown us that historic cars are not marble monuments hidden away in garages, but machines that crave adventure and challenges just as much as we do.
One such person is Marian Stoch, an experienced competitor in international rallies and races for pre-war automobiles. Representing Ecurie Bertelli under the leadership of Andy Bell and Robert Blakemore, he has raced three pre-war Aston Martins: a 1937 Aston Martin 15/98 and two examples of the 1930 Aston Martin International Le Mans. Marian’s motorsport résumé includes appearances in such renowned events as the Mille Miglia, Le Mans Classic, Goodwood Members’ Meeting, Ennstal Classic, and races at Nürburgring, Spa-Francorchamps and Silverstone. Driving the Aston Martin 15/98, he completed four Mille Miglia events across four continents – in Argentina, Japan, the United States and Italy. In another car he also took part in the Mille Miglia events held in the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland.
Out of admiration for Marian’s passion, energy and experience, we invited him to join our expedition. As the first Polish member of the Aston Martin Owners Club (membership number 90964) and a devoted enthusiast of the British marque, he provided the perfect symbolic link to the story of Tadeusz Marek. We could not have wished for a better companion on our journey.
On the Road
The Monte Carlo Tribute 1939 expedition began on 27 January 2026 outside the Estonian National Opera in Tallinn. The location was chosen deliberately, as it was from here that crews had set off for Monte Carlo 87 years earlier.
The Baltic States welcomed us with exceptionally harsh conditions. Ice-covered roads, blizzards and temperatures approaching minus twenty degrees Celsius made driving through Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania a genuine challenge. Constantly freezing windscreens and a carburettor repair on the snow-covered Via Baltica gave us a real taste of what competitors faced in 1939.
The first rays of sunshine did not appear until we reached Poland. In Berlin, our Opel completed a symbolic circle through history when we visited the Olympic Stadium, built in 1936 for the Summer Olympic Games. It was this event that gave the Opel Olympia its name.
The Netherlands, Belgium and France rewarded us for the difficult start with beautiful weather and excellent roads. Only during the final three hundred kilometres before Nice did nature decide to test us once more. Heavy rain turned the roads into rushing streams, the tiny mechanical windscreen wipers struggled to cope, and a leaking windscreen seal did its best to make life difficult. Nevertheless, the Opel reached its destination safely.
Whether on the snow-covered roads of the Baltic States or the mountain routes of France, the Opel Olympia performed brilliantly. Cruising at an average speed of around 85 km/h, the car proved surprisingly comfortable, while its long fourth gear made it easy to forget the lack of synchromesh. Even the demanding climbs around Grenoble and Monaco posed little challenge for the 37-horsepower engine.
The Finish Line
Ten days. 3,800 kilometres. Nine countries. One pre-war Opel. One goal. One team. On 6 February 2026, welcomed by members of the Automobile Club de Monaco, we crossed the finish ramp of the 28th Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique. After 87 years, history had come full circle and the Opel Olympia once again proved its worth on the streets of Monaco. Monte Carlo Tribute 1939 was much more than a great adventure. It was an opportunity to tell the story of Poland across different parts of Europe. Through this journey, we wanted to remind people of the brave Polish rally drivers of the past and, above all, of the fascinating history of the Second Polish Republic.
Photo: Marian Stoch crossing the finish ramp of the 28th Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique, marking the completion of the Monte Carlo Tribute 1939 expedition.
