2005 Maybach Exelero

How and in what setting such a high-end product should be presented?
In 1996, the manufacturer from Fulda already faced the same problem with the Exelero predecessor and that was solved with brute force. The noble design workshop Gemballa created a show vehicle based on the Porsche 911 convertible with a 3.8-liter Biturbo engine, 600 hp and all-wheel drive which catapulted the racing vehicle standing on its 18-ich rims and Extremo tires to a maximum speed of 350 km/h.

Why not once again design such an automobile built around a top Fulda product? The previous concept was successful.

This time the problem was different. The Exelero tire line, for the first time tested in advance by the TÜV (Technical Control Board), is not comparable with the predecessor generation. This applies to the design and the extended extreme sizes up to 315/25 ZR 23 version! A complete wheel in this still weighs around 46 kilograms.

How can the claim of this tire technology be interpreted in automotive form?
During the team meetings the image of the Fulda streamlined vehicle of 1938 repeatedly went through the minds of the decision-makers. Then it became clear: the successful comeback only a couple of years ago of Germany’s most exclusive automobile make tipped the balance – it had to be Maybach. A go-between was quickly found. René Staud, top photographer for automobiles, a man with 31 years of work for DaimlerChrysler and 20 years for Fulda Reifen behind him. Leon Hustinx, Maybach, meets Bernd Joachim Hoffmann, Fulda. A cooperation is agreed on. Then everything moves very quickly.

Maybach agrees to make a platform available on the 57 basis. The initial ideas revolve around the basic idea of the SW 38 streamlined car, they are rejected. This vehicle will stand on the best tires that Fulda has to offer. For the Fulda project team under the direction of Bernd J. Hoffmann, Managing Director, Helge Jost, Marketing Manager and responsible for the communicative project interface, and Rolf-Dieter Stohrer, Senior Manager Car Tires, responsible for wheel and tire technology, it is therefore quite clear: the vehicle should be more than just a reproduction. To quote Oscar Wilde they want only the best of everything.