Wilhelm Maybach founded Luftfahrzeug-Motorenbau GmbH, which translates to Aircraft Engine Building Company, in Germany in 1909. In just a few years the company would begin producing engines for Zeppelins and aircraft in WWI. Following the war, after the name changed to Maybach-Motorenbau, the company built its first experimental car, the W1, introduced in 1919. Its first production model, the W3, would roll out of factories two years later. In 1929 Maybach introduced the DS7 Zeppelin, the name paying homage to company history.
Top and below: Maybach 57 Zeppelin by Ben. CC BY 2.0
Following WWII Maybach failed to restart vehicle production. In 1960 Daimler-Benz purchased the company, planning to use the manufacture to produce special edition Mercedes. A car with a Maybach badge would be reintroduced by Daimler-Chrysler in 2002. Then on this day in 2009, the new Maybach Zeppelin went on sale, again using the name to pay tribute to the company’s beginnings.
