NEWS: Maybach Exelero

By Michael Banovsky
Photos Courtesy Maybach



When handed this release I thought it was a joke. A new supercar from Maybach, with a twin-turbocharged V12 and 700 horsepower? Riiiight. I quipped that someone at Maybach forgot to flip his calendar – as this was a perfect April Fool’s joke.

No joke.

And with the performance of this car, the pages are flipping quick.



Maybach, with the help of students from Pforzheim College and prototype specialists Stola in Turin (Italy), designed and constructed the Exelero.



The Exelero was built on a regular Maybach chassis, but has only two doors and two seats. It was built for Fulda Reifenwerke (a German tire manufacturer owned by the Goodyear/Dunlop group) in order to test Fulda’s new generation of wide tires. In initial tests, the Exelero has achieved a top speed of 351.45 km/h…(218mph)



Back in the 1930s, Maybach also produced a streamlined sports car – as seen above in a photograph. The Exelero is the successor to that model.

I wonder why this couldn’t have been the SLR McLaren. It looks better, is a better GT car, and has an almost equal top speed. Oh, and you have seen those wheels before – they’re from the SLR.

And there are no plans to produce it. Shame…



Specifications of the Maybach Exelero

Type: 12-cylinder V-engine with twin turbochargers
Displacement:5,908 cm³
Power output: 515 kW/700 hp at 5,000 rpm
Max. torque:1,020 Nm at 2,500 rpm
Dimensions and weights
Wheelbase:3,390 mm
Length:5,890 mm
Width:2,140 mm
Height:1,390 mm
Fuel tank capacity:110 l
Kerb weight:2,660 kg