Think luxury and it's always names like Rolls-Royce or
Bentley that comes to the mind. But there is also an ultra luxury
segment in which the brand 'Maybach' has become a synonym for luxury
cars featuring the best of technology and luxury.
The company's name comes from Wilhelm Maybach, one of Germany's
first automotive engineers. He designed the first car that bore
a Mercedes badge in 1901 and later collaborated with Graf Zeppelin
to design and produce engines for the airships known as Zeppelins.
With his engineer son Karl by his side, the automaker crafted the
very first Maybach in 1919. Based on a Mercedes-Benz chassis, the
Type W1 was an experimental project designed to give Maybach the
opportunity to test-drive a few of his favorite engineering concepts.
A couple of years later, the engineer evolved this prototype into
a vehicle intended for public use the Maybach Type W3, which made
its debut at the Berlin Motor Show in 1921.
The five-metre-long vehicle that attained speeds of up to 110 km/h was
powered by the 70 hp in-line six-cylinder W 2 engine. The innovative features
of the W 3 included a four-wheel brake system with mechanical braking
power compensation and a two-speed transmission without gearshift. Gears
were changed by depressing a foot-operated starting lever. As second model
alongside the 22/70 hp, in 1926 Maybach introduced the 27/120 hp with
a newly developed seven-litre in-line six-cylinder engine. The internal
designation did not follow the system of the W 3 model with the W 2 engine
model, instead both vehicle and power plant were christened W 5. This
car was an early indication of Maybach's claim to leadership among the
European manufacturers of luxury cars.
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