Page 1 of 1 The Maybach Zeppelin is one of the most famous models in the line-up of international luxury cars from the nineteen-thirties - a terrific twelve-cylinder car that was built in numerous versions between 1930 and 1937.
The Maybach Zeppelin DS 8 is one of these luxury limousines. Its completely restored bodywork, specially tailored by Messrs. Spohn in Ravensburg, is a four-door six-to-seven-seater cabriolet with long wheelbase and ample space for feeling at ease in comfortable leather chairs. Itself a feast for the eyes, the eight-litre V12 engine is still in a virtually in perfect working order. The 8 in DS8 refers to the car's displacement.
Fully synchronised transmissions, today a matter of course, were still largely unknown in the early thirties. Drivers had to double-declutch for shifting into a higher gear, and blip the throttle for shifting down. Maybach wanted to spare his customers this complex and difficult sequence of operations and therefore developed a compact gearbox with constantly meshing, obliquely cut gear wheels. The gears were engaged by means of shift dogs which were moved with the help of vacuum pressure. The clutch only had to be operated for starting off, stopping and reversing. Page 1 of 1
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Zeppelin DS 8
The Maybach Zeppelin is one of the most famous models in the line-up of international luxury cars from the nineteen-thirties - a terrific twelve-cylinder car that was built in numerous versions between 1930 and 1937.