The Maybach Zeppelin 1930’s era highest end luxury car still turns heads – but alas no more than 300 were made in Germany due to the extreme cost. Still the V12 engine models had major impact and reputation as the chosen engines of Graf Zeppelin dirigibles which plied the air routes – including the famous Hindenburg Zeppelin. The prized Maybach marquee has recently had a revival by Mercedes Benz who produce and market the new era Maybach Zeppelin range of highest end luxuriant automobiles.

Maybach cars were renowned for having sophisticated transmissions as well as engines; although some models did not even have a gearbox at all, so inherently flexible were the engines. Other models featured an 8 speed semi or even fully automatic drive transmission (with or without overdrive), and a pre-selector facility.

The first Maybach twelve (cylinder) had a three speed manual gearbox with Schnellgang (overdrive) operated from the center of the steering wheel itself. For the Zeppelin however, Maybach developed an all-synchromesh four-speed gearbox which could again – by little levers at the steering wheel – again by little levers at the steering wheel – be pre-selected without the clutch pedal. All that was inherently necessary was to simply and effortlessly lift the foot off the throttle, switch a lever, and then reapply the throttle. There was a clutch pedal of course, and a traditional gear lever which offered a very low gear and gearing for steep hills and reverse of course. This low gearing arrangement was called the “IA” position. “IA” could be used in all forward gears and also switched in from the steering wheel. Hence the Zeppelin’s chauffeur had the wide choice of eight forward and two reverse gears in total. Certain specific Lagonda models of the early 1930’s also had this remarkable transmission unit.

The U-section pressed-steel chassis of the Zeppelin had a wheelbase of 146 inches (370 cm) and weighed all in all an amazing and hefty 1.8 tons. Front and rear axles were of the rigid type, held in place by conventional semi-elliptic leaf springs. These springs did not rely on inter-leaf friction for damping, but were supplemented by double-acting dampers. Application of the four-wheel brakes was assisted by vacuum servo (manufactured by Bosch-Dewandre) and a clever equalizing device gave increasing brake efficiency with rising road speed. A minus point however, was that a Maybach Zeppelin in tow could not be braked.

The Zeppelin was equipped with central chassis lubrication, as were many luxury cars of the 1930’s and this required very little attention at an all- simply just a press of the pedal at every 100 kilometers (62 miles). For the same distance 27 liters (6 gallons) of fuel would meet the needs of this thirsty powerhouse power plant. Hence the vehicle scored an average of 10 miles per gallon mpg modern E.P.A. rating. Tank capacity was fortunately set to accommodate this with a filling capacity of 30 gallons so that the car could make long trips in between re-fueling stops.

Lastly extra features that the Zeppelin offered were a built-in hydraulic jack for each wheel and an auxiliary tire pump for the 7.0/7.5 x 20 (truck tire) – perhaps the most fragile aspect of the whole car since a speed ( even with the tons of weight) of 110-115 miles per hour ( 177 – 185 kilometers an hour could be achieved. What a great amount of inertia hurtling down the highway at high speed. The road holding, however was no match for this pace (although the brakes were engineered to). Hence an 80 mph (129 kilometers per hour) was perhaps a more realistic maximum cruising speed.

It’s no accident of time and triumph that the Maybach Zeppelin earned and carried such a reputation of elegance, luxury and being technologically and mechanically overbuilt. Hence it’s no accident that Mercedes itself choose the marquee trade mark on which to build and market a very high end of luxury automobiles.

Author Bio: Terry Z. Vostor
Mid-Town Ford 
Winnipeg Ford Ford Dealer
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Category: Automotive
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