Maybach at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show
Muamer Hodzic September 12, 2007
The Maybach brand name epitomises high-end luxury motoring. It stands for effortlessly superior automotive engineering at the very highest level, timeless and stylish elegance, and precision craftsmanship. Since approximately two-thirds of Maybach customers wish to tailor their cars exactly to their own tastes and ideas, Maybach is constantly expanding its exclusive range of customisation options. At the Frankfurt International Motor Show Maybach is premiering ALU-BEAM silver paintwork, which gleams like molten metal and sets off the luxury saloon’s elegant lines to full advantage.
Also new are “trowalised” wheels, which are subjected to a sophisticated surface treatment process and which shine like polished stainless steel. For the interior, Maybach developed a particularly exclusive, deep black high-lustre leather which blends in superbly with the piano lacquer in the Maybach 57 S. Fine quilting reflects the character of the carbon-fibre panels and provides additional highlights.
Learn more about the Maybach cars and its history
Powerful twelve-cylinder engine
Maybach 57 S
Maybach 62 S
Center of Excellence and Manufaktur
History
Technical data
View more images and read about Maybach at the IAA after the break
Aesthetics and elegance
Aesthetics, perfectionism and appealing elegance – these are the principles which Maybach applies both to the exterior and internal design of these high-end saloons. Top-grade materials, including 100 masterfully designed and hand-crafted fine wood trim elements, adorn the interior of the car as standard. Indeed, the Maybach’s interior design was inspired by one aim in particular: to provide the greatest possible comfort for all the car’s occupants. A harmonious interplay of shape, colour and materials lends the Maybach models an unmistakable identity and stresses their aura of effortless superiority.
The Maybach luxury brand also offers customers unique ways in which to equip their top-class cars. The Manufaktur in is able to meet almost any special customer requirement, repeatedly coming up with new, superb materials and paint colours – many of them specially developed for Maybach and not available from any other vehicle maker.
Unique ALU-BEAM paintwork with its own special sheen and intense lustre
These include the unique ALU-BEAM silver paint colour being premiered by Maybach at the Frankfurt Motor Show. It covers the bodywork like a skin, causing it to gleam like molten metal. With its intense lustre it gives especially powerful emphasis to the exciting lines of these luxury saloons, adding yet more life to them by reflecting the light in a particular way. This is made possible by pigment particles only 30 to 50 nanometres in size, which merge even more smoothly into the surface of the paint. Light is therefore reflected even more intensely and the overall lustre is enhanced further. By comparison, the pigment particles in a conventional metallic paint are between 100 and 300 nanometres in size.
This truly lustrous appearance is further underscored by new, “trowalised” wheels – based on the standard-fit sporty 20-inch wheels on the Maybach 57 S and Maybach 62 S which are further refined in a sophisticated surface treatment process by which the wheels are additionally polished in a large drum containing pyramid and cone-shaped pieces of glass. A similar process is used by the manufacturers of high-quality silver cutlery to give their spoons, knives and forks an inimitable sheen. In this way the new optional Maybach wheels acquire a particularly attractive, gleaming finish – gentle and yet still highly lustrous. They look as if they are made of polished stainless steel.
High-gloss leather provides additional highlights
A further highlight has been developed by Maybach for the centre panels of the seats and door linings – the deep black, high-sheen stromboli black leather as an exclusive complement to the already comprehensive range of other exclusive and select materials used in the Maybach. In the Maybach 57 S this feature imparts the same deep black to the leather appointments as the piano lacquer, thereby giving the interior a look which is both exciting and harmonious at the same time.
To achieve this exceptional gloss, the leather specialists at the Maybach Manufaktur took the existing nappa/semi-aniline leather and refined it further in an additional processing stage. This consists of “ironing” it to make the surface even smoother and shinier, at the same time making it appear “blacker”, especially in contrast with the way the light plays on it. To enhance this effect even more, the leather is given diamond-shaped quilting with silver-grey seams, “quoting” the structure of the carbon-fibre elements inside the car and at the same time providing fascinating light effects due to the bulges in the quilted leather.
Maybach meets even the most unusual requirements
In developing new, unusual paints and materials Maybach is continuing a long tradition. In the 1920s and 1930s the luxury brand, together with Mercedes-Benz, already represented the pinnacle of German and international automotive engineering. Then as now, select materials were stylishly and painstakingly hand-crafted to as to meet the requirements of customers who were looking for something very special. Today, too, the Maybach Manufaktur is constantly expanding its official range of optional and customised equipment, one of the main sources of inspiration being the continuous dialogue with Maybach customers which keeps the brand fully up to date with the emerging new needs and wishes of this, the most exclusive group among car buyers.
One of the consequences of the Maybach policy of intensive contact with customers is that the high-end luxury saloons can now be equipped with an optional compass which is fitted in the centre console ahead of the rear seats. Developed specially for Maybach, it is based on the same highly precise GPS technology as the satellite navigation system. An elegantly designed compass face indicates the direction of two different destinations to the rear passengers – one destination is variable, the other fixed. By way of example, the needle can be set to always point towards , thus allowing those of Islamic faith to choose the correct praying position regardless of where they are in the world. In the variable mode, the needle can indicate the direction of the owner’s house or the vehicle’s final destination; once this point has been reached, the high-tech compass indicates this by rotating its face.
Coats of arms and monograms: personalised perfection
It goes without saying that Maybach also offers its highly discerning customers plenty of scope to give their high-end luxury saloons an even more exclusive interior. For example, the Maybach Manufaktur can implement owners’ requests for their vehicles to be adorned with their monograms and family coats of arms in many different ways – embroidered on the head restraints, printed in gold and silver on piano lacquer using an exclusive silk-screen process, or laser-etched on cushions, to mention just three examples. Customers – and not just those who are car enthusiasts or collectors of historic Maybach saloons – also have the option of having the Maybach double “M” embossed in the leather of the door panels as a sign of their special attachment to the brand. Of course, they can also choose to have their own monogram or coat of arms embossed instead.
Out-of-the-ordinary materials: gold instead of chrome, granite instead of wood
In response to customer requests, the interior appointments specialists at the luxury brand have also created a Maybach 57 which takes another approach to the use of gold: all chrome trim parts in the vehicle interior are gold-plated with a wafer-thin layer of genuine 24-carat gold. The gleam of the gold adds a heightened touch of refinement to the interior of the Maybach saloon, and harmonises perfectly with the high-quality wood and the Maybach leather used for the study.
The keys for the luxurious Maybach saloons are also available in gold.
Customers seeking a somewhat less gleaming – but still extremely exclusive – interior for their Maybach can fall back on a material whose character evokes a sense of eternity. Instead of working with fine woods, the interior appointments specialists at the Manufaktur in can offer these customers trim elements crafted from naturally occurring granite. Formed using a highly sophisticated process, these impressive stone panels not only make a stunning visual statement, but also perform optimally with regard to safety considerations.
Tailor-made Business Package
A special Business Package for laptop users has been available as an ex-factory option for some time now. This innovative Maybach mobile office system, which includes mobile internet access and a printer, can be put together individually, following consultation with the customer. Wireless Bluetooth technology allows the customer’s own laptop to be integrated on board. For work purposes, the computer can be placed on one of the fold-down tables between the rear seats, and when not in use, it can be stowed away in a multifunction compartment on the back of the seats.
Diversity from the ground up: nine different bodies to choose from
The large scope for individualisation of the Maybach starts right with the bodies of the Maybach 62 and 62 S, plus the Maybach 57 and 57 S. Where the roof is concerned, the customer can choose between the fully closed version, a solar roof and a sliding roof – both positioned either at the front, as usual, or alternatively at the rear. There is also the option of an electrotransparent panoramic glass roof. This means that Maybach customers can choose from no less than nine different body variants when specifying their own personal dream saloon.
The model designations are a reference to the impressive lengths of these unique vehicles: the Maybach 62 and 62 S flagship models measure 6.17 metres while the Maybach 57 and 57 S are 5.73 metres long.
