Maybach Exelero: First Look

By Feann Torr - 17/05/2005

Who am I?

I weigh more than more than 2.5 tonnes, I am priceless, I look like the Bat-Mobile and I brutally abuse my rear tyres.

Any guesses? I am the Maybach Exelero.

If you haven't heard of the Maybach Exelero just yet, you will very soon, as the cumbersome 2-seat super luxury grand tourer could be gearing up for a history-making world speed record.

The Exelero, which has been styled to pay homage to the streamlined sports cars from the 1930s, is not short on power: during early testing at a high-speed test track in Nardo in Italy it clocked a top speed of just over 351km/h (218mph).

Can it go faster? We'll have to wait and see...

Maybach says that the stunningly heavy 2660kg prototype coupe was built for Fulda Reifenwerke to use as a "reference vehicle for a newly developed generation of wide tyres".

Fulda Reifenwerke will put the almost 6.0 metre long beast through its paces with lots of track testing - no production models have been planned yet - and the result will be a tyre range tailored for extreme speeds.

Cynics might argue that the stunning Exelero is just another excuse to say 'up yours' to all the other European high speed exotics out there - the market is now more populated than ever - and for Mercedes-Benz to stake its claim as a dominant force at the pointy end of the automotive industry.

And dominant this car is. To get 2660kg of rolling metal to eclipse the 350km/h mark is no cake walk, and apart from sublime aerodynamics, the Maybach Exelero was always going to need a very strong powerplant beating away at its core.

As such, an overblown twin turbo V12 lurks beneath the 2-seater Maybach monster's lengthy bonnet, outputting 515 kilowatts @ 5000rpm. That's about 700 horsepower in the old money.

The presence of the dual turbochargers in the 6.0-litre V12 petrol powerplant ensure that it doesn't have to rev very hard to attain big power numbers, and with a maximum 1020 Newton metres of torque on tap from just 2500rpm, you'd be forgiven for thinking Maybach had cobbled together a devastating diesel mill.

Maybach hasn't released figures on 0-100km/h specs, and they probably wouldn't be super-stunning if the car was indeed tuned for maximum top speed, with tall gear ratios to match.

That said, we don't even know what kind of gearbox was used - it could've been a 7-speed auto, or a 6-speed manual transmission, so you never know (the interior images appear to show an automatic shifter).

Getting back to the car's aerodynamics and exterior design, one thing is certain - it looks amazing. Needing to be sleek in order to surpass the 300km/h mark, the Maybach has a long bonnet, which pushes the greenhouse back towards the rear axle.

The rear end tapers off slowly in a gentle, almost seamless curve towards the low slung rear apron, giving the a very coupe-ish profile.

It's a very long car too, measuring almost 5.9 metres long, a good 70 centimetres longer than a Holden Statesman, and is 2140mm wide, which is quite chunky. It also has a large 110 litre fuel tank.

Other visual features that stand out include the massive 20-inch wheels, the pod-like wing mirrors, the tear-drop shaped side exhaust pipes underneath the doors, the funky rear brake lights and the unforgettably menacing grille, that, while retro, has been finished in contrasting chromium, for a very fearsome visage.

The look of the dark and foreboding Exelero is awesome. It's has a hulking presence and is determined in its styling; it's one part Mercedes CLS-Class, one part Maybach and one part demonic 1930s sports car.

Together with the designers from Maybach, students from the Pforzheim College in Germany helped to create the Exelero's gothic visual style, and the car was constructed by "the prototype specialists at Stola in Turin (Italy)" according to Maybach.

Judging by the press coverage that the new prototype Maybach Exelero is getting, there is intense interest in the "one only" speed demon, and both Maybach and Mercedes-Benz would have to be daft not to see some potential in a similar production model.

Obviously costs are prohibitive at this stage in order to make a solid business case for the 350km/h Exelero, but the dramatic proportions and striking looks on their own would be more than enough to sell a number of these vehicles.