Maybach is a German car brand that exists today as a part of Mercedes-Benz. The original company was founded in 1909 by Wilhelm Maybach and his son, originally as a subsidiary of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH, and it was known as Luftfahrzeug-Motorenbau GmbH until 1999.

The company first built an experimental car in 1919, introduced as a production model two years later at the Berlin Motor Show. Between 1921 and 1940, the company produced a variety of opulent vehicles, now regarded as classics. The company also continued to build heavy-duty diesel engines for marine and rail purposes.

zeppelin

The Maybach Zeppelin was the Maybach company's Repräsentationswagen model from 1929 to 1939. Named for the company's famous production of Zeppelin engines prior to and during World War I, it was an enormous luxury vehicle which weighed approximately 3000 kg. This weight was so great that German drivers required an additional goods vehicle licence for vehicles over 2½ tons. Along with the Voisin, and behind the Daimler Double Six, this was Europe's joint second luxury V12 car in production.

The DS7 (Doppel Sechs 7) version featured a 7.0 L (6,971 cc) V12 engine that produced 150 hp at 2,800 rpm. It was available from 1929 to 1930.  Supplementing the DS7 from 1930 was the DS8 (Doppelganger). It sported an 8.0 L (7977 cc)  V12 which made 203 PS  at a fairly low 3200 rpm, putting the DS8 among the most powerful production cars in the world at the time. 

ds8 zeppelin stromlinie

The 1932 Maybach DS8 Typ Zeppelin Stromlinien, body by Spohn. Only one such car was built, and it was destroyed in a bombing raid during World War 2.  All that remains are a few black and white photos of it. 

The Stromlinien (streamliner) does not follow the Jaray teardrop streamlining style.  Maybe the body shape was tested in a wind tunnel at the nearby Zeppelin works.  If not, it most likely would have been sketched by a designer at Spohn or perhaps a Maybach engineer. Under the long hood, there was an 8-liter V12 engine that produced 200 hp. It was mated to a 5-speed gearbox with a system that allowed the engagement of the fifth gear without using the clutch.  Headlights are separate elements and not blended into the body like those on 1934 Chrysler Airflows.

Maybach produced more chassis than bodyworks. Most of the bodyworks were made by the Spohn builder. Its workshop was close to the Maybach factory from Friedrichshafen in Germany. It was a common practice on those times to have a custom-built bodywork.

sw38 stromlinie

This interesting car was designed in 1938 and made in 1939. Fulda (Fulda looks back on a long tradition of special cars for testing tires and for introducing them to the public) commissioned coach builder Dörr & Schreck in Frankfurt/Main with the manufacture of the test car. It was a response to the demands of ever higher road speeds in the 1930s. This car had to be capable performing high-speed tests at over 200 km/h over longer periods of time. This  maybach sw38 was to reach 200km/h and used a 6 cylinder with 140hp. This car was was very aerodynamic and had low drag coefficient of cd = 0.25. It was used by Fulda as a test car for testing tires.
Unfortunately this car disappeared during ww2. In 2005 Fulda asked Maybach again to produce a unique car to test their tires. I was named Maybach Exelero.

In 1960, Maybach was acquired by Daimler-Benz. The name returned as a standalone ultra-luxury car brand in 2002, sharing significant components with Mercedes-Benz cars. After slow sales, Maybach ceased to be a standalone brand by 2013, and it became (in 2015) a sub-brand of Mercedes-Benz, which is owned by Daimler AG. As of 2021, Daimler produces an ultra-luxury edition of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class under the Mercedes-Maybach name.

57/62

The Maybach 57 (chassis no. W240) and 62 (chassis no. V240) were the first automobile models of the Maybach brand since the brand's revival by DaimlerChrysler AG (now Daimler AG). They are derived from the Benz Maybach concept car presented at the 1997 Tokyo Motor Show. The concept car was based on the Mercedes-Benz W140 S-class sedan platform, as were the production models. The Luxury Brand Status Index 2008 placed the Maybach in first place, ahead of Rolls-Royce and Bentley. The models ceased production in December 2012 due to continued financial losses for the marque, and sales at one-fifth the level of the profitable Rolls-Royce models.

The engine in the base Model 57 and 62 is the Mercedes-Benz  5.5-litre twin-turbo V12 developed specifically for the new Maybach cars. Output is 550 PS.  The Maybach 57 accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in about 5.1 seconds; the Maybach 62 and 57 S, about 4.8 seconds (612PS).

vision mercedes-maybach 6

The Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 is a concept car unveiled at the 2016 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. It is a 2+2 coupé that features an all-electric powertrain with a claimed range of over 322 km.

The concept car has a quoted electric output of 738 hp, with a claimed limited top speed of 249 km/h and acceleration to 100 km/h in less than 4 seconds.

2016

the end.....

With poor sales expectations and heavy impact of 2008 financial crises, Daimler AG undertook a review of the whole Maybach division. This included talks with Aston Martin to engineer and style the next generation of Maybach models along with the next generation of Lagonda models.

However, on 25 November 2011, Daimler announced that sales of all Maybach models and the brand would cease in 2013. Before the announcement, only 3000 Maybach vehicles had been sold, with estimated loss of €330,000 for each car sold.

The line was replaced by Mercedes-Benz S-Class Pullman models. An executive told a Frankfurt newspaper that: "(Daimler) came to the conclusion that the sales chances for the Mercedes brand were better than that of Maybach."