The Avia Streamliner (specifically the 1956 Avia Mk3 Monoposto Streamliner, also known as the Avia III) is an incredibly rare, custom-built Czechoslovakian race car. It was created by Miroslav Jurca, a Czechoslovakian racer, pilot, and engineer with connections to the Avia aircraft factory near Prague. Owned since 2010 by Mark Sange, known as Captain Marco, a highly regarded collector and vintage race car driver from Bolinas in Northern California.
Engine: Powered by an air-cooled, 750cc BMW four-stroke motorcycle engine.
Body: Features an envelope-style body made of aircraft-grade aluminum and magnesium over a steel frame, resulting in a feather-light weight of under 900 pounds.
Engineering: It was highly advanced for the 1950s, boasting fully independent suspension on the front and rear and a trans-axial gearbox.
Design Inspiration: The aerodynamic, sweeping fenders were heavily inspired by 1920s aircraft design and resemble a half-scale Auto Union streamliner
Early Racing: The car was successfully raced in the Eastern bloc and Austria by Jurca himself, proving surprisingly faster than larger, more powerful cars.Confiscation: In the late 1950s, the car was seized by communist authorities and disappeared for decades.
Rediscovery & Restoration: It eventually surfaced in a German museum, incorrectly misidentified as an unknown 1948 BMW race car. In 1987, the car was shipped to the United States, purchased by collector Bruce McCaw, and meticulously restored in New Zealand by Barry Leitch.
Vintage Competition: Since its restoration, the streamliner has been a standout at prestigious historic events such as the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the Monterey Historics, and other CSRG/HMSA classic races.
This is an extremely rare Czechoslovakian built race car. Miroslav Jurca, a very talented driver with good connections to the Avia airplane and car facility was given permission to build himself a highly developed race car. He built a streamliner with steel frames and an aluminum and magnesium skin, powered by a BMW 750 cc 4 stroke, opposed piston motorcycle engine. The design of the body is clearly inspired by the aircraft experience gained by Avia from the 1920’s up to the time of this cars construction. The car is quite sophisticated for its time featuring fully independent front and rear suspension and a trans-axial gearbox. The Avia is low to the ground and aerodynamically clean weighing under 900lbs. It was raced in the Eastern bloc and Austria.
During the late 50’s the Avia was seized by the communist authorities. It surfaced in a German museum where it was misidentified as 1948 BMW race car with unknown history. It passed through the hands of various collectors and in 1987 was shipped to the USA and purchased by Bruce McCaw who then sold it to the Pat Hart Collection. It was shown at Pebble Beach in 1996.
The restoration was done in Neracephotos@hotmail.com in New Zealand by Barry Leitch. In 2010 Mark Sange bought the car and he shows and races the Avia.
Avia Motors s.r.o. is a Czech automotive manufacturer. Founded in 1919 as an aircraft maker, it diversified into trucks after 1945. As an aircraft maker it was notable for producing biplane fighter aircraft, especially the B-534. Avia ceased aircraft production in 1963. The company was founded by Pavel Beneš, Miroslav Hajn, Jaroslav František Koch and Václav Malý in 1919 as the Avia Akciová společnost pro průmysl letecký (Avia Joint Stock Aircraft Industry Company)[1] and became part of Škoda Works a.s. in 1928. During the 1930s, the factory became the biggest aircraft producer in Czechoslovakia and moved to Letňany near Prague, where production continues to this day. During the Nazi occupation Avia made aircraft for the German Luftwaffe. After the war the company was nationalized and became involved in the automotive industry. It made aircraft until 1963, then concentrated on truck production and continued to make aircraft engines (producing only propellers from 1988).
The company was split in 1992 into propeller and truck sections, both using the Avia brand. In 1956 and 1957, Avia made a small series of twelve light cars, made entirely from aluminium sheet. The cars have a single centrally-placed driver’s seat and steering column up front and two rear seats, a sliding cabin for access, and a rear-mounted two-cylinder engine with the same displacement as the 350cc Jawa motorcycle engine, but it was a completely different development. The engine produced 15 PS (11 kW). At least 3 examples of this car still survive, number 3, 6 and 10. The last one is reported as stolen and moved to Slovakia (Bardejov area, with new SK registration).
The monoposto streamliner Avia 750 MKIII is a different development with BMW 750cc 4 stroke engine. This car was built in Czechoslovakia in 1956, it excels in great aerodynamics and weighs only 400 kg. In the 1980s, the car appeared in a West German museum, in 1987, the car was sold and traveled to Los Angeles, a year later, it was sold at auction to New Zealand, then it was bought by a company in Redmond, Washington. In 2010, the car was bought by the Symbolic Motor Car Company from San Diego for $ 149,000.