Fit for a king

The name of a new German luxury car will honour the man who designed the first Mercedes, writes motoring editor ALASTAIR SLOANE.

The name Maybach is steeped in German carmaking tradition and from now on will be used to designate the new luxury-car brand of DaimlerChrysler.

The company will next week unveil the modern successor to the luxury limousines of the 1920s and 30s at the Geneva motor show.

The new Maybach will go into production later this year. It will cost megabucks. One New Zealander has already asked about buying one.

Said DaimlerChrysler board member Professor Jurgen Hubbert: "We're using the name Maybach to emphasise the unique character of our future premium-quality product and to carry on the tradition of a legendary brand, whose exciting cars were once the ultimate in design and technical perfection.

"We are pursuing these very same goals in the development of the new Maybach. Based on state-of-the-art Mercedes technology, the vehicles will set new standards in the world of premium cars, thus paying due honour to the great name of Maybach."

Wilhelm Maybach, technical director at the Daimler company in 1900 and long-time companion of Gottlieb Daimler, developed the first Mercedes car. In France, Maybach is still referred to as "roi des constructeurs" - king of the design engineers.

In 1907, Maybach left the Stuttgart carmaker and formed his own company to design large engines for the Zeppelin airships, which were opening up an exciting new mode of travel. His company today belongs to the diesel engine development unit of DaimlerChrysler.

Maybach body shells back then were made by specialists, based on individual customer requirements. Hence, every Maybach was unique, reflecting the individual style of its owner.

DaimlerChrysler will carry on this coachbuilt tradition with the new Maybach. The saloons won't appear in a Mercedes-Benz catalogue, or contain a list of standard equipment. Instead, a Maybach consultant will guide the customer through the production process.

Customers can choose from a range of the finest materials, exclusive colours and innovative technical details, ranging from individually designed trim, through inlaid work, to high-end electronic equipment in the back seat. Again, no two cars will be alike.

The new Maybach will be built at Sindelfingen, a suburb of Stuttgart. Production will be limited to seven cars a day, or about 1500 cars a year. A service centre on the site will serve as a model for other Maybach centres to be set up by DaimlerChrysler outside Germany.

These centres will be linked to the main plant, so that designers and engineers can be involved in the individual design process at any time.

Two Maybach models will be available, both powered by a twin-turbocharged V12 engine producing 405kW (550 bhp) and 900 Nm of torque.

There will also be two body variants, the standard model and a long wheelbase limousine with reclining rear seats with leg and footrests. The original silver logo MM, which once stood for Maybach Motoring Co, now represents Maybach Manufacturer and will appear on the radiator grille of the new saloon.

The first Maybach of 1919 was the W1 prototype, built on a chassis Maybach had bought from Daimler. W stood for wagen, German for car. The designation W2 was used for the engine.

The W3 of 1921 was the first production car, built by Maybach's son Karl at Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance. It had a six-cylinder in-line engine producing about 50kW (70 bhp) and mated to a planetary gearbox. Again, the designation W4 was used for the engine.

The W5 and its more powerful 88kW (120 bhp) engine followed in 1926. Two years later an overdrive transmission was added.

In 1930, the W6 appeared. This model was available with double overdrive transmission from 1934 and went down in history as the W6 DSG.

The SW, or swing-axle, models first appeared in 1935. They were smaller and had more powerful engines, developing about 100kW (140 bhp). These were Maybach's best sellers and continued to be built at Friedrichshafen until 1941, two years into the Second Word War.

The flagship Maybach was the 12-cylinder Zeppelin DS8, the biggest German luxury car of the 1930s.

The name Zeppelin was chosen to indicate that the 12-cylinder Maybach car engine was designed on the basis of experience gained with Maybach Zeppelin airship engines.

The 1932 Maybach Zeppelin DS8, chassis number 1387, is owned by the Mercedes-Benz Museum. It is a long-wheelbase (3735mm), four-door, six-to-seven-seater cabriolet powered by a 8-litre V12 engine producing 145kW at 3200 rpm. It has a top speed of 170 km/h.

Mercedes-Benz says the handling characteristics of the three-tonne car "fill people with enthusiasm even today ...

"With its high weight and rigid axles suspended on long semi-elliptic springs, the car glides along in almost light-footed style," says the blurb.

The DS8 comes with two spare wheels, a horn from Bosch, headlamps, brake and reversing lights, a tail lamp, four integrated jacks (one per wheel) and a small compressor for inflating the tyres.

The new Maybach's tyres will be able to inflate themselves.