Isolde delighted with the new Maybach Exelero

21st May 2005

5.89 metres in length, 2.14 in width and weighing 2,660 kilograms: These are the dimensions of the new Maybach Exelero, which was presented last week by Isolde Holderied and Fulda.

Fulda is offering a high performance tyre, the "Carat Exelero", which was specifically designed for speeds ranging from 240 to 300 km/h. In order to demonstrate the performance of the tyre, the company decided to work together with Maybach, as in the 1930s. The Stuttgart based luxury carmaker was asked to develop and produce a coupe with a maximum speed of more than 350 km/h. The result being, the Maybach Exelero, which was officially presented to the public in Berlin last weekend.

As a Fulda brand ambassador, Isolde took part of the event. "I had the honour of driving the car on the track," she said, "The power and the superior strength the Exelero is putting onto the asphalt is simply incredible."

The engineers only needed 25 months to develop and produce the car. In order to achieve the 350 km/h mark, the capacity of the Maybach V12 engine was increased from 5.5 to 5.9 litres, while the turbochargers were optimised as well. These modifications resulted in 700 bhp and a brutal torque of 1,020 newton metres. Therefore it is no surprise that 351.45 km/h top-speed achieved during testing at the end of April, represented a new world record for limousines on series tyres in this category.

Apart from the cooling grill and the Maybach emblem, there is little in common with the original Maybach 57. The spectacular chassis was designed by specialists at the Fachhochschule Pforzheim, who developed the final look of the Exelero together with experts from DaimlerChrysler. The chassis was then built by Italian manufacturer Stola.

back