Wilhelm Maybach (1846–1929)

Maybach was one of the greatest designers of the early period of internal combustion engines. He collaborated with Gottlieb Daimler in the late 19th century to develop light engines suitable for many different uses. Later, his own company, Maybach-Motorenbau, made engines for Zeppelins and luxury cars.

He was born at Heilbronn in the German Kingdom of Württemberg and brought up there and in Stuttgart. He was orphaned at the age of 10 and grew up at the Bruderhaus institution at Reutlingen. He was given opportunities to study engineering and by the age of 19 was working as a steam-engine designer and working with the young Gottlieb Daimler. Maybach went with Daimler when he moved first to Karlsruhe and then to the Deutz gas-engine factory in Cologne. They worked with Nicolaus Otto on developing the four-stroke gas engine, patented in 1876. A few years later Daimler left to set up his own company in Stuttgart and Maybach joined him.

They patented their first engine in 1883 and in 1885 made a series of innovations that effectively created the modern petrol engine. It was fast and light and they fitted it to a frame to make the first motorcycle, the Reitwagen. In the next few years they applied the engine to a boat, a carriage and a balloon (the first motorised airship). Maybach led the design department and Daimler managed the business. They produced purpose-built cars from 1889 and licensed other makers in Austria, France, Britain and the USA. In 1890 they established Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) with new investors but disagreements with them led Maybach to leave. He established his own workshop and continued to collaborate with Daimler. In 1894, he designed the 4-cylinder Phoenix petrol engine with Daimler and his son Paul. Maybach eventually returned to DMG as Chief Designer. Following Daimler’s death in 1900, he continued to develop new products, notably the Mercedes 35 hp racing car, a 6-cylinder engine and a pioneering aircraft engine.

In 1907, Maybach left DMG permanently. He went into business with Count Ferdinand Von Zeppelin to make engines for airships under the name Luftfahrzeug-Motoren-GmbH, first in Württemberg and then at Friedrichshafen. In 1912 the company became Maybach-Motorenbau. However, airship production was forbidden in Germany after the First World War and Maybach turned instead to the manufacture of luxury limousines from 1921. When he died in 1929, his son Karl continued the company, which later became part of Mercedes-Benz.