The 350 km/h 700 bhp Fulda Maybach Exelero

The Maybach Exelero high-performance show car unveiled to the world for the first time this week is a remarkable car with an even more remarkable story behind it. The 700-hp V-12 biturbo two-seater is a unique custom model produced for tyre manufacturer Fulda Reifenwerke, which is using the Maybach Exelero as a reference vehicle for a newly developed generation of wide tyres. The German manufacturer of luxury cars built the unique model as a modern interpretation of its legendary streamlined sports car from the 1930s, thereby forging a link with the historical predecessor, which at that time was likewise based on a powerful Maybach automobile (SW 38) and used by Fulda for tyre tests.

The Exelero embodies the highest expression to date of the Maybach individualisation strategy of offering specific custom solutions on request. In initial tests on the high-speed Nardo test track in Italy, the Exelero reached a top speed of 351.45 kmh.

Fulda has a long history of building high speed concept cars with which to test and market its tyres. In its century long history, it has almost always produced a signature machine to represent and market a new tyre and so it was to be the case with new top-of-the-range sports performance tyre, the Fulda Carat Exelero – a high performance tyre that according to the company’s objectives for the tyre, is a “tyre that cannot be compared with any previous Fulda product.”

Previous Fulda “ambassador automobiles”

Two previous examples of the extreme lengths to which Fulda will go in constructing an automotive manifestation of their tyres are the Porsche 993 Extremo and the fourth generation "High-Tech-Emotions" show truck constructed for the company’s 100th anniversary in 2000. The extreme vehicle created for the introduction of its Fulda Carat Extremo in 1997 was a modified Porsche 993 with more than 600 hp, a maximum speed of over 350 km/h and acceleration from 0 to 200 kmh in less than 7.2 seconds. The car impressively demonstrated the qualities of the Extremo tyre with an absolutely breathtaking performance.

The 100th anniversary of the Fulda Reifen company marked the birth of the fourth and most recent showtruck generation. The fascinating result was a truck which combined the construction techniques of truck engineering, the refinements of the luxury bus segment and handling inspired by a sports car. The truck will be the subject of a feature in its own right in Gizmag shortly and it will be worth the wait as it is a treasure trove of technology and source of wonderment for any mechanically-inclined male. The showtruck is a unique reflection of the brand and its products: functionally convincing, optically impressive and technically always streets ahead.

The challenge to create a congruent automobile for the tyre

The company wanted to portray the Fulda Carat Exelero tyre to the world as an "entry into a new technology dimension, a state-of-the-art tyre design.”

Accordingly, in producing an ambassador for a new tyre generation, there was plenty of scope for the designers’ visions, a maximum of creative scope and no limits set to the imagination or budget. The company was in the search of the ultimate vehicle for the high-end Exelero, and what was expected was nothing less than an automobile full of superlatives.

...continued