Geneva premiere for Maybach luxury

26 February 2002: The luxury automotive brand Maybach will be appearing in front of an international audience for the first time in more than 60 years at the Geneva Motor Show.

The exhibition will show legendary saloons which made a name for themselves all over the world. Each car was hand-built around the engine and chassis on the basis of individual customer specifications. The flagship model was the Maybach "Zeppelin", with its V12 engine and, with a length of approximately 5.5 metres, was the largest German passenger car of its era.

The name "Maybach" is being revived as a separate brand in its own right in the DaimlerChrysler Group. The company will be presenting the new Maybach saloon in autumn 2002. The new Maybach will reap the full benefits of leading-edge Mercedes-Benz technology.

The first Mercedes, the Mercedes 35 PS of 1901, was in fact a brainchild of Wilhelm Maybach, the long-time friend and colleague of Gottlieb Daimler and Director of the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG). This model provided the blueprint for all subsequent passenger cars.

In 1909, Maybach went on to build high-performance, highly reliable engines for Zeppelin airships; then, in 1919, his son Karl began developing exclusive luxury automobiles. He brought out his first model just two years later. By 1941, some 1,800 vehicles had left the stables of Maybach Motorenbau.

As with the top-of-the-line model of 1930, a V12 engine will power the new Maybach. The engine, which delivers a peak output of 405 kW/550 hp and peak torque of 900 Nm/664 lbs. ft, will be shown at the Geneva Motor Show.

February 2002