Maybach Cars - The Maybach Legend - The Ultimate in Motoring Luxury

In 1883, Wilhelm Maybach (1846 - 1929), together with Gottlieb Daimler, developed the first fast-running gasoline engine suitable for use in a vehicle. In 1901, he built the Mercedes car, the first modern motor car. And in 1909 he was instrumental in the establishment of the Friedrichshafen engine factory.

Karl Maybach (1879 - 1960), Wilhelm Maybach's son, grew up with motor cars from an early age as a result of his father's profession. From 1909 to 1952, he was Technical Director and co-owner of the Friedrichshafen company, his main interest lying in the design of engines and transmissions. After the First World War, he originally intended to build engines for automobile manufacturers. He only managed to secure one buyer, however, the Trompenburg factory in Holland which produced Spyker cars. When it ran into financial difficulties, Maybach decided to start making cars himself.

The first Maybach car, the W3, was unveiled at the Berlin Motor Show in 1921 and was immediately the object of great interest due to its advanced technology. Karl Maybach was quick to emphasize even then that he was not aiming to build a "people's car". His intention was to produce the most technically advanced car possible and to satisfy the expectations of the most discerning customers. Maybach cars were characterized in particular by powerful engines and highly sophisticated transmissions, forerunners of present-day automatic transmissions. In 1929, the year of the Wall Street crash, the Maybach 12 was brought out, to be followed a year later by the Maybach "Zeppelin". 

Along with the Horch, they were the only two pre-1945 German cars to have a 12-cylinder engine. In its original form, that unit produced 150 bhp, later increased to 200 bhp. With a price tag of 50,000 Reichsmarks, the Maybach "Zeppelin" cost as much as five large family homes or 33 times as much as an Opel P4. It is no surprise to learn, therefore, that it was the most expensive car of its time in Germany.

The Maybach built in the greatest numbers was the SW, the "Little Maybach" as it was dubbed, which came out in 1935. Its 6-cylinder engine produced 140 bhp (at 4,000 rpm) and it had a top speed of 150 km/h.

In all, a total of 2,300 cars were built by Maybach. After 1945, production of cars at Maybach was not restarted due to economic considerations.