The story of Maybach luxury cars unlocks a fascinating history of famous inventors and entrepreneurs. Wilhelm Maybach and his son Karl Maybach laid the foundations for today’s car and engine design and production and were responsible for the very first Mercedes car.

Born in 1846, Wilhelm Maybach soon developed an interest in engineering and at the age of 19 became a lifetime colleague and friend of Gottlieb Daimler, who was the founder of the Daimler Motor Company.

Maybach and Daimler completed the world’s first four wheel vehicle, the Daimler Motorkutsche (Motorized Carriage) which had a 1.5 hp Grandfather Clock engine and belt drive to the wheels.

Following Daimler’s death in 1900 and encouraged by the Austrian Consul in Nice, Maybach designed and built a luxury car for the wealthy living at the French Riviera. The Austrian Consul’s only request was that the car be named after his daughter ‘Mercedes’ and so the first Mercedes car was born.

This first Mercedes was a vehicle in its own right rather than a motorised carriage. Before then motor cars had literally been designed as horse drawn carriages but with the horses removed! Maybach realised that to be successful both the engine and vehicle should be designed together. His countless innovations over many years led to him being known as “The King of Design Engineers”.

Not restricting himself to the motor industry, Wilhelm Maybach started designing and building airship engines for Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin along with his son Karl, who in time became his father’s heir in car manufacturing. Karl was put in charge of the Maybach Motor Company in 1909 and he too built engines for airships and aeroplanes during World War I.

Following the death of Wilhelm in 1929, Karl Maybach continued and built on his father’s work. He concentrated on the design and manufacture of luxury cars with the aim of world wide recognition of superb quality and grand luxury.

Karl Maybach’s prestige grew and grew to its highest point with the introduction of the Maybach Type 12. It was a stunning cabriolet fitted with a 7.0 litre V12 engine.

Adolf Hitler realized the value of gifts to further Germany’s influence in various parts of the world and recognising the esteem in which the Maybach/Mercedes brand was held, he presented various foreign monarchs and Kings in India, Egypt and Nepal with limousines. Hitler himself used several staff cars, all of them Mercedes, as did most of the Nazi hierarchy. Hitler had Mercedes armoured cars and even a triple axle Mercedes.

After living in France for a period of time after World War II, Karl Maybach returned to Germany in 1952, retired from the management of the Maybach Motor Company, was awarded the Order of Merit by the Federal Republic of Germany. He died in 1960.

The first Mercedes Automobile (1901)

PART II - Maybach Legends

PART III - Maybach Revival