Maybach

Contents·Introduction

·Maybach brand

·Maybach and Maybach father and son

·Today's Maybach

Introduction

In 1909, Maybach designed a high-performance and durable engine for the famous Zeppelin airship; in 1919, his son Karl Maybach began to design and manufacture luxury Sedan; In 1921, the first Maybach sedan W1 came out. Maybach is a legendary brand in the history of automobiles. Its ingenious design and unparalleled exquisite manufacturing technology made it a masterpiece representing the highest level of the German automobile industry at the beginning of the last century. If it hadn't been for the war 60 years ago, Maybach would have become as famous as Rolls-Royce as the world's top luxury car. Today, the Germans have reborn this ancient brand with their own intelligence and superb skills.

Maybach brand

The Maybach brand was first created in the 1920s. Wilhelm Maybach, known as the "King of Design", is not only one of the three main founders of Daimler-Benz (the predecessor of Mercedes-Benz), but also the world's first Mercedes-Benz One of the inventors of Des-Benz automobiles. In 1919, William Maybach, who could not give up his car dream, and his son Carl Maybach jointly created the legendary brand "Maybach" - a car that symbolized perfection and expensiveness.

The legendary brand logo consists of two crossed M's surrounded by a spherical triangle. The two M's at the beginning of the brand's creation stood for the abbreviation of maybach motorenbau, and now the two M's stand for the abbreviation of maybach manufaktur. To understand the history of Maybach, we must first start with the car life of William Maybach and his son.

Maybach and Maybach and his sons

To understand the history of Maybach, we must first start with the car life of William Maybach and his sons. Wilhelm Maybach was born in Heilbronn, Germany on February 9, 1846. He had four brothers and sisters. Later, his family moved to Stuttgart. When William Maybach was 10 years old, his parents died one after another, leaving him an orphan. Fortunately, when William Maybach was facing difficulties in life, a charity saw an adoption notice in the Stuttgarter Anzeiger newspaper and agreed to take care of him. During the school days of Reutlinger Bruderhaus and Gustav Werner, the founder and director of the school discovered William Maybach's technical talent and trained him well, which laid a solid foundation for William Maybach's future development.

In 1865 in the small town of Reutlingen, William Maybach and Gottlieb Daimler, known as the "originator of the automobile," met for the first time in the Bruderhaus workshop. Wilhelm Maybach, who was only 19 years old, quickly attracted the attention of Daimler with his extraordinary talent in drawing. The same interests and hobbies built a bridge of friendship between Wilhelm Maybach and Gottlieb Daimler, and the two became close friends.

In 1869, Wilhelm Maybach accepted Daimler's invitation and came to the gasmotorenfabrik deutz company as a technical draftsman. In 1872, Daimler entered the gasmotorenfabrik factory founded by Nicholas Otto as technical director. The research and development of four-stroke engines began at the Otto factory, and Maybach, who was only 27 years old, was also appointed director of the design room.

Gottlieb Daimler left gasmotorenfabrik deutz in 1882 and came to Bad Cannstatt (bad cannstatt) near Stuttgart because of the increasingly serious conflict with Otto himself over the design philosophy. He purchased a large property with a house and a small garden which he converted into his workshop. In October of this year, William Maybach also came here and began to research and develop lightweight high-speed internal combustion engines with Daimler.

After careful and extensive research, William Maybach invented the irregular heat pipe ignition system, which is an important part of the development of high-speed engines. But this invention has been patented by a British man named Watson. So they had to give up this achievement and instead make technical improvements to the original internal combustion engines on the market. Through their unremitting efforts, the engine speed was greatly improved. These invention patents laid a good foundation for subsequent commercialization.

Following the horizontal engine in 1883, a light and small engine with a vertically fixed cylinder called the "grandfather clock" came out. The prospects of this small, high-speed engine were widely recognized. Take a look. In 1885, this new engine was first applied to a bicycle, which was actually a precursor to motorcycles. And in 1886, the engine was first installed on a four-wheeled carriage, becoming the famous "gasoline carriage." But William Maybach was obviously not satisfied with using his invention only on a four-wheeled carriage. The first product he conceived was a steel wheel car. William Maybach successfully installed a 4-speed sliding pinion on this car. Gear transmission, the sliding gear system was officially introduced into automobile manufacturing. This "gear transmission car" appeared at the 1889 Paris World Exposition, and the widespread praise from users is the best verification of this technology.

When Daimler, Duttenhofer and Lorenz founded the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft company in 1890, Maybach was appointed chief engineer and that year developed the honeycomb radiator, an effective engine cooling system that provided the basis for modern automobiles. His inventions laid a solid foundation. However, he left the company in February 1891 because he could not accept the terms of the contract. Wilhelm Maybach continued to carry out design work in his workshop, but with financial support from Daimler. In the autumn of 1892, some of Wilhelm Maybach's important design inventions during this period were announced at the Hermann Hotel, including the nozzle design. Oil converter, Phoenix engine and improvements to the belt drive system. British industrialist Frederick Simons put pressure on DMG and finally William Maybach was re-appointed as the company's technical director. Back in October 1895. After taking the original position, Wilhelm Maybach achieved one technological achievement after another. For example, he invented the first four-cylinder automobile engine. Between 1898 and 1899, he invented five types of engines that could produce 6 to 23 horsepower. Different types of engines.

Of all Wilhelm Maybach's design inventions, the most outstanding one was the first "Mercedes" car invented after Daimler's death in 1900. It caused quite a stir on the "nice week" in March 1901. The birth of this car is attributed to both William Maybach and Emil Jellinek.

< p>The origin of the name "Mercedes" also has a small episode. Emil Jelinek was the Austrian consul in Nice, France, and was an enthusiastic supporter of Daimler. In 1899. He won the championship in the Nice Automobile Competition in France by driving a Phoenix sedan manufactured by Daimler. He named the car "Mercedes", which was the name of his youngest daughter. He believed that this beautiful name and his beautiful daughter brought him good luck in the competition, so he suggested that Daimler use this name as the trademark of the car. In order to thank this enthusiastic supporter, Daimler put this name on his cars, and the sales were indeed very good.

This car was something the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (dmg) company had never built before, and brought the world from the horse-drawn carriage era into the automobile age. At the same time, this historical design concept of "real" cars pointed out the future development direction of the automobile industry and opened the door to automobile industry design. Since then, streamlined silhouettes, high performance, honeycomb radiators, low hoods, long wheelbases, positioning plate shift mechanisms, oblique steering systems, front and rear wheels of almost the same size, and lightweight have all become Key factors in automotive engineering design.

Although Mercedes-Benz achieved great success in the following years, William Maybach obviously became a victim of the struggle for interests within the company. He was replaced as chief engineer and his work activities were restricted. So he left dmg company angrily in 1907. When the Zeppelin LZ 4 airship crashed in Echterdingen after a storm on August 5, 1908, Wilhelm Maybach agreed to build a new and improved airship engine for Graf Zeppelin. . Later, on March 23, 1909, he established the luftfahrzeug-motorenbau-gmbh bissingen company. The technical director was his son, Karl Maybach, who was also one of the founders of Maybach. Carl Maybach was also involved in designing the new engine.

In 1919, the Maybach father and son built the first test car w1 on the chassis of four Mercedes sedans and conducted comprehensive field tests. This was the first Maybach sedan. Then they started to develop the W2 automobile engine, which has a bore of 95 mm, a stroke of 135 mm, a total of 6 cylinders, and a maximum output of 70 horsepower (2200 rpm). In 1921, Carl Maybach publicly stated at the Berlin Auto Show: "I want to build the most expensive car", thus formally establishing Maybach's market positioning and future development direction. Maybach has also become the brightest and most dazzling star in the automobile family. star.

After the Berlin Motor Show, the Maybach team was greatly encouraged by the achievements of the new sedan. At the end of 1926, Maybach launched the W5 sedan, which was equipped with a 6-cylinder in-line engine with a displacement of 6992 cc and a power of up to 120 horsepower. Later, an improved version of the car (w5 sg) was equipped with a very advanced transmission with overdrive gear at the time. When Karl Maybach turned 45, William Maybach gave his son a birthday gift - a gold watch to express his recognition of his son's achievements. This watch was first given to Wilhelm Maybach by Emil Jelinek to encourage him to achieve greater development in the automotive field.

And Karl Maybach did not disappoint his father's expectations. In order to always maintain the absolute advantage of his brand, he began to develop a 12-cylinder sedan engine in the late 1920s. Relying on the multi-cylinder engine manufacturing experience accumulated in the aviation industry, Carl Maybach manufactured the Maybach "Type 12" in 1929 using a 150-horsepower 7-liter V12 engine. This was the DS 7, the predecessor of the famous Maybach "Zeppelin" DS 8 in the mid-1930s, which used the same engine and dual overdrive transmission as the "Zeppelin". What is of special significance is that the "Zeppelin" car was a generous gift from Karl Maybach to his father. In 1929, William Maybach's health was deteriorating, but he still had a persistent dream in his heart - to create a powerful top-end luxury car. In order to let his father realize his long-cherished wish, Carl Maybach, who had a strong relationship with his father, continued to improve the engine originally used for airships, and finally developed the Zeppelin sedan before his father died.

In 1931, the "Zipparin" ds 8 came out. It was about 5.5 meters in length and used an 8-liter engine with a power of 200 horsepower. As Maybach's flagship model, the "Zeppelin" car represented the pinnacle of luxury cars and was the most prestigious German car at the time: it conquered the world with its unparalleled elegance and power performance. Of course, owning a "Zeppelin" requires a strong financial foundation. The car's price is as high as 36,000 German marks. In the early 1930s, this cost was enough to buy three detached houses. However, Karl Maybach was not satisfied with the status quo. He once said: "For those customers with extraordinary taste, when customizing their frames, suspensions, engines, transmissions, radiators, front apron and other components, the perfect Technical details are very important. Therefore, whether in body manufacturing, interior decoration or body painting, Maybach always insists on cooperating with only the best supporting factories and experts in this field to meet the needs of consumers and provide consumers with the best products. An excellent product that complements its own image.

In 1941, Maybach was forced to cease production due to the war and entered a 60-year dormant period.

As of 1941, about 1,800 of this high-end sedan had been produced, and its body was carefully designed and equipped according to customer requirements. At that time, Maybach's works of art products included stately luxury cars, noble Pullman cars, dynamic 2 to 7-seat sports cars, stylish convertibles, and sports convertible top cars. The interior of each Maybach sedan is unique, including fine leather and fabric upholstery, selected woods and paints, and numerous exquisite accessories, which make every sedan with the "mm" logo look unique. Each is different.

Today’s Maybach

Now, this once-prominent super brand has made a comeback with the strong support of the Mercedes-Benz Group. Unlike the fashion-leading Mercedes-Benz brand, Maybach is presented to the world as the highest-end brand in the group's vast product pyramid. Although it has been dormant for more than 60 years, the revived Maybach has not only retained its charm, but also added a bit of mystery.

Professor Schmidt, Executive Vice President of Global Marketing and Sales of Mercedes-Benz Car Group, said: "The Maybach brand represents unparalleled quality, ingenious production technology, continuous breakthroughs in technological level, and excellence. The reappearance of this legendary brand in the market is bound to become a new model in the field of super luxury cars.”

After half a century of silence, this vicissitudes of luxury brand re-entered people’s horizons at the end of 2002. . Today, the Maybach brand has gone far beyond the meaning of top luxury cars and is sweeping the luxury car field with unrivaled momentum.

Some people define the revived Maybach as "Germany's Rolls-Royce". This statement makes sense but is not exact. Because Rolls-Royce, the pride of the British automotive industry, has been included in the German BMW Group and has become an "authentic" German product. Another ultra-luxury brand, Bentley, has also joined the German Volkswagen Group. In this context, the Daimler Group, which is unwilling to lose to its "old rival", launches Maybach at this time is obviously a strategic consideration. It will use Maybach as a sharp knife in the ultra-luxury car market, rather than letting BMW Exclusively own this market. In terms of the products themselves, Rolls-Royce and Maybach should be equally matched. Moreover, for this type of car, the appeal and influence of the brand will be far more important than the quality of the car itself.

Maybach's high-performance show car Exelero made its world debut in Berlin yesterday afternoon. The Maybach Exelero is a two-door, two-seat sports car equipped with a unique V12 twin-turbocharged engine provided by Fulda Reifenwerke, which can produce an astonishing 700 horsepower. In addition, Maybach is also equipped with newly developed wide-body tires. German Design claims that the design of this particular luxury sports car was inspired by the design styles popular in the 1930s.

Maybach Exelero can reflect Maybach's highest production and design level, and further illustrates Maybach's strategy of creating personalized products for customers. In the initial top speed test in Nardo, Italy, the Maybach Exelero once ran a top speed of 351.45 km/h (FIA standard measurement method). The car was designed with the participation of students from the Pforzheim Academy, and the Maybach Exelero prototype was built in Turin, Italy. However, Maybach currently has no plans to sell the Exelero.

Maybach Exelero data

Engine: 12-cylinder V-arrangement twin-turbocharger

Displacement: 5908CC

Engine maximum output: 515 kW/700 hp at 5000 rpm

Maximum torque: 1020/2500 rpm

Wheelbase: 3390 mm

Length: 5,890 mm

Width: 2140 mm

Height: 1390 mm

Fuel tank capacity: 110 liters

Vehicle weight: 2660 thousand