2005 Maybach Exelero

When you contemplate the meaning of the word” exclusivity” there can be very few cars in the World so exclusive that they were launched to be totally unique a as well as to fulfill a very specific mission. The Maybach Exelero, launched in 2005 is such a car.

Conceived, designed and produced at the behest of the Fulda Reifenwerk company of Germany, who laid out a very specific goal for the team of designers and builders of this wonder car.

No less than to break the World speed limit for a car in the limousine class. Maybach’s mission was to produce a car capable of breaking the current speed limit of 217 mph (350 km/h) in the limousine class.

The Maybach Company was the natural and historical choice by Fulda to do the job. The two companies history of cooperation in similar projects goes back not years but decades and Fulda were thrilled at the prospect of the Maybach producing a car for them. And understandably so.

When you admire the slick and exciting lines of the two door Exelero coupe, you may find it hard to believe that the car weighs over two and a half tons and is the length and has almost the width of a medium sized truck.

Fulda Reifenwerk was not new to this kind of product. The company, a leading tyre manufacturer and part of the Goodyear Group, have been involved in similar projects during the last ten years ago with Porsche sports performance cars. Yet it has to be said that the Exelero project was by far the most ambitious project that they had ever undertaken, and probably by any other company of similar ilk.

Probably as a combination of sentiment and practicality, the design of the Maybach Exelero is based on an example of cooperation between the two companies between the wars, where Maybach produced high powered a similar heavy weight cars designed to travel at exceptionally high speeds to test how Fulda tires would hold up under such high speeds. Maybach produced a car under the unspectacular title of SW 38. This car, again a one-off, was designed to test the capabilities of it tires under high speeds was capable of traveling at 125 miles per hour (200 km/h ) and succeeded in breaking the World speed limit of that time in its class.

More than six decades later, Maybach and Fulda recaptured history by collaborating on the Exelero project. There were two conditions. The first that the Exelero would be built to break the current speed record of 217 mph (350 km/h) for cars in the limousine class. And secondly, that the care would draw its lines, as closely as possible from the SW38, with a dash of the Corvette Stingray thrown in for good measure.

Maybach opted for the most powerful engine in the Mercedes-Benz stable, the 5.9-litre twin-turbocharged V12 to power their juggernaut. This engine is standard in Mercedes’ 65-series AMG S, SL and CL-Class luxury vehicles.
The engineers on the project were under no illusion that the 600 plus horsepower that this engine provided would be capable of pushing the Exelero to the outer limits of speed required. There goal was to provide 700 horsepower. This they succeeded in achieving by modifying the twin turbochargers and increasing the torque rates. An engine with such power needs a good running mate, and the five speed Mercedes standard fitted the bill exactly. The Exelero is capable of hitting a speed of 60 miles per hour in 4.4 seconds. Such a heavy car, and on capable of reaching such high speeds needs to be equipped with the best in brakes. Again Maybach spared no expense and invested a lot of thought in fitting front disc brakes with a diameter of 376 mm, with the rear brakes being four piston calipers on 355 mm discs.
Whilst it has to be said that the Maybach Company are far away from being a company that designs cars for stock, yet the Exelero for them is a project that has taken them back into their roots of specialist car designers.
When the Exelero was completed by Turin based Stola, a company that specializes in the building of concept cars, during its initial speed tests at the track at the speed track at Nardo in Italy held during May 2005 the Maybach Exelero succeeded in reaching a top speed of 216 miles per hour (351.45 km/h).
With the Exelero needing to reach a speed of 188 mph (315 km/h) this was a classic case of overkill, yet one that everyone involved in the project was happy to accept. The tyres that Fulda fitted on the Exelero were 315/25 ZR 23. These tyres are production series, licensed and capable of reaching more than 218 mph (350 km/h),

There is a lot of sentiment surrounding the Exelero. As the dust settles we can identify the car as being a modern work of automotive and inspirational art, as well as being one big, fast and breathtakingly awe inspiring motor car.

The Maybach Exelero Vision is the culmination of a collaboration that began in the late 1930's between Maybach and Fulda, a German-based tire company. Maybach and Fulda's historic partnership was based on a co-branded alliance utilizing a radical design version of the Maybach SW 38 to test a new tire. The Maybach was the only production vehicle at that time capable of reaching the speed limits required for testing.

The Maybach was tapped once again at the test vehicle for a new performance tire for the 21st century. On May 1, 2005, the Maybach Exelero Vision reached a top speed of 351 km per hour (approximately 218 miles per hour) on the right-speed test track in Nardo, Italy. setting an offcial land speed record for a vehicle utilizing this type of tire.The Vision was driven by Klaus Ludwig, winner of Le Mans in 1979, 84, and 85.

The Exelero is a 700-hp two-seater with a V-12 biturbo engine. The unique streamlined design gives this vehicle a space-age look. Maybach has no plans to produce the Exelero in a series. It took 20 months of development and coperation between students at Pfarzheim College and Maybach engineers to create the unique piece of performance art.
The design was turned over to the prototype specialists at Stola in Turin, Italy for assembly.

Maybach has always embodied the highest expression of individualization, whether it was in the vehicles of the 1920's and 30's or in today's modern versions. Maybach examplifes ultra-luxury for the 21st century - a daring combination of high performance, advanced technology and luxurious hand-crafted materials.








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March 6, 2008, 6:56 am