The Maybach Museum is the best place to commemorate the brand’s 100th anniversary

The 100 years of Maybach automobiles is of 2021’s round anniversaries, which meant the Maybach Museum was an absolute must-see this year.

The Maybach Museum is not part of the Mercedes Museum but run as a private institution, but offers much more than you would expect from a private collection.

 In addition to a formidable collection of pre-war Maybach vehicles (millions of euros are parked in the main hall), it offers a comprehensive historical overview with lots of illustrations (for its website, click the link). In fact, Maybach’s 100th anniversary is a tricky one, as the Maybach company was actually older than 100 years. The founder, Wilhelm Maybach was the technical director of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft until he left in 1907. He founded his own company, Luftfahrzeug-Motorenbau, already in 1909 to develop engines for the Zeppelin airships. It did not take long for him to continue with his passion for cars.

 The Museum provides ample illustration of the life and achievements of Wilhelm Maybach. He was one of the early pioneers and automotive titans of the early 20^th century. His legacy of work is intertwined with the history of the Daimler corporation and the Mercedes brand (you might recognise a few pictures from the Mercedes Museum).

Mr Maybach rose to fame already by the late 19th century, when he developed an internal combustion engine suitable for the broadest application, even air and at sea. With Gottlieb Daimler, they mobilised the air, and the waters and, of course, laid the foundation of automotive transportation. His engines were fitted to the world’s first motorcycles, motorboats, and aeroplanes. After Daimler’s death, Maybach rose to become technical director of the Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft.

In 1907 he left Daimler to found Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH together with his son Karl in 1909 and started manufacturing engines for the Zeppelin airship.

After World War I, the company started producing large luxury vehicles under the family name and gained a strong reputation. The company ceasing automotive production by 1940 to build tank engines. As one might expect, not much was left from the factory by 1945.

After the war, the company started producing diesel engines for Daimler and was bought by the latter in the ’60s. The name was revived during the 2000s when Mercedes introduced a new model line above its iconic S Class. The nameplate has remained in use ever since.

 All this is well illustrated throughout the Museum with artefacts, information sheets and massive engines once used for Zeppelin airships and tanks.

 The exhibition’s showcases over a dozen pre-war mastodons, each could take a prime spot in any collection. They are in various states of restoration, but the work done already seems showroom shiny.

The presented cars encompass several epochs and models and provide a reasonably comprehensive overview of the model ranges offered by the brand.

 Although model is not the proper term in this case. In the golden age of coachbuilders, high-end cars were tailor-made, and thus model designations are not the way to refer to the SW 38 and 42 series. Each of these cars was tailor-made, usually by coachbuilder Spohn or Erdmann & Rossi. The Maybach W 5 SG from 1926 seemed an iconic car of the roaring twenties, along with the blue W 5 roadster.

There is a smaller stage featuring three (by Maybach standards) smaller specimens.

The first is a white 1930 Maybach DS 8 Zeppelin (ordered by industrialist and hobby racer and sponsor Viktor Rolff), paired with a black four-door 1938 Maybach SW 38 (show car at the Geneva car show) and a black Maybach SW38 Roadster. Left of the entrance, there is a bonus exhibition dedicated to the defunct German motorcycle brand Express.

 Express was a Bavarian manufacturer that produced bicycles and motorcycles from 1884 to 1959. The company emerged from the S. Goldschmidt & Sohn cooker factory,  diversifying into velocipede, bicycle and later motorcycle production. In addition to a few dozen restored motorcycles, the express exhibition showcases machinery and production tools. The centre stage of the main hall showcases six specimen of the top of the line SW38/42 model. These mastodons will be featured in part 2 of this article.