This could just be the story of a car; at 120 years old it certainly warrants it. But it is so much more than that: it’s a story of a daredevil first owner, an aristocratic woman who lived life her way; her ancestors, some of whom loved the car as she did, some of whom who perhaps did not (but who probably inadvertently saved it from destruction as a result); ultimately it’s a tale of the passion and determination of her great-grandson to restore it when others saw no hope. Today it must be one of only a handful (at most) of cars worldwide that have been owned by a single family for so long.
Our heroine is Melanie Erdödy, and the spark that carries this story from the 19th to the 21st Century is her marriage to Alfred Khevenhüller, a family of high nobility in the Carinthian region of Austria – one that nominally still includes the moniker of Prince, long after the ruling dynasties of the country were modified. And, yes, that’s the family castle – Burg Hochosterwitz in Austria, now a big tourist attraction – in the background of some of the pictures. More of that later.
