Details of Cars

Maybach Exelero: the one-off built to test a tyre

MAYBACH

Maybach Exelero in a museum
Maybach Exelero at the Nationales Automuseum. Photo by Wikiwal, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

The Maybach Exelero is a one-off sports car built in 2005 by the Italian coachbuilder Stola together with DaimlerChrysler. It was not a production model but a mobile test bed for a new range of high-performance tyres, and it was shown once, at the Tempodrom in Berlin.

Maybach Exelero at a glance

Maybach Exelero key facts
Built by Stola (now Blutec) with DaimlerChrysler
Unveiled 2005, Tempodrom, Berlin
Commissioned by Fulda, for its Carat Exelero tyre range
Design four students of Pforzheim University
Design influence 1938 Maybach SW 38
Platform Maybach 57
Engine twin-turbo V12, 700 PS at 5,000 rpm
Torque 1,020 N·m at 2,500 rpm
Gearbox 5G-Tronic automatic
Top speed 351 km/h (theoretical)
0–100 km/h 4.4 seconds
Tyres 315/25 ZR 23 Fulda Carat Exelero

Based on one source, the English Wikipedia article on the Exelero.

History of the Maybach Exelero

A tyre test bed

The Exelero was ordered by Fulda, a German subsidiary of Goodyear, to test the limits of its new Carat Exelero tyre range. It was the second Fulda show car after the Gemballa Extremo of 1996. The brief asked for a car able to exceed 350 km/h so that the tyres could be run to their physical limit, and the design was to be influenced by the 1938 Maybach SW 38, with the running gear of the Maybach 57 underneath.

Maybach Exelero at the Essen Motor Show
Maybach Exelero at the Essen Motor Show. Photo by Thomas Vogt from Paderborn, Deutschland, CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

From sketch to car

Maybach was involved in the project, and the final shape came from four students of the Transportation Design School at Pforzheim University of Applied Sciences. The result was a long, low two-door coupé in black with a long bonnet, a chrome grille and a chrome fuel cap. In 2007 Stola presented the Phalcon, a two-door coupé inspired by the Exelero.

Design and features

  • 700 PS V12: a 60-degree twin-turbo unit with three valves per cylinder and a 9.2:1 compression ratio.
  • Huge wheels: 23-inch alloys at both ends on 315/25 ZR 23 tyres, with vented discs and ABS.
  • Show-car cabin: dark and red leather, neoprene, glossy black carbon fibre and aluminium, with red harness-style seatbelts.
  • One example: the car remained a single machine and is now in a museum collection in Germany.

Maybach Exelero versions

  • Exelero (2005): the only car built.
  • Stola Phalcon (2007): a separate coupé inspired by the Exelero, not a Maybach.

The Exelero used the platform of the Maybach 57 and took its lines from the Maybach SW 38 of 1938. More cars are in the Maybach collection.

Video: Maybach Exelero Test 1 of 1 | Motorvision TV

Video on YouTube.

Sources

More from MAYBACH