Helped by his diplomatic career, he became the Austrian Consul General in Nice and began selling automobiles, mainly French makes, to European aristocrats spending winter vacations in the region.
It was in Nice that Jellinek became enthralled by the automobile, studying any information that he could gather about it and purchasing successively: a De Dion-Bouton, a Léon-Bollée Voiturette, both three-wheelers, and a four-seat Benz motorized-coach.