THE MAYBACH SW38

It is easy to forget today, but in the 1930s, the Maybach automobile was held as more prestigious in its home country than any other car. Wilhelm Maybach had been a pioneer of the industry, helping Gottlieb Daimler develop his first car, and after inventing the honeycomb radiator, turned his attention to aircraft manufacture. After building the powerplants for the great German Zeppelins, he turned his attention to automobiles by 1919, building incredibly expensive and exclusive automobiles with peerless engineering and build quality.

One of the most popular Maybach automobiles was the SW38, a six-cylinder model capable of achieving speeds upwards of 100 mph. An object to be admired, the SW38 sported a high quality fit and finish in the engine bay due to Maybach’s involvement in aero engine manufacture. The interiors of the finely coachbuilt bodies which adorned these chassis featured simple, elegant wood trim, and elegantly placed switchgear and instruments in the dashboard.

Equipped with a 3,790-cubic-centimeter inline six-cylinder motor, the horsepower output of 140 was impressive compared to the 120 horsepower produced by the contemporaneous 5-liter, eight-cylinder Horch 853A and the 115 horsepower produced by the 5.4-liter, eight-cylinder Mercedes-Benz without the blower engaged. The Maybach powerplant was mated to a DSG manual transmission with four speeds controlled from a preselector in the center of the steering wheel, with a floor-mounted shifter for selection of low, high, and reverse gears; this arrangement allows for a total of eight forward speeds and four in reverse. The resulting elegant combination of form and function was an automobile of wonderful quality and high style, deserving of its vast cost and regal attitude.

THE CIRCUS MAYBACH

According to Michael Graf Wolff Metternich’s Maybach Register, SW38 chassis number 2048 was originally fitted with this elegant cabriolet body by Spohn of Ravensburg, long one of the most prominent and gifted coachbuilders on Maybach chassis. Finished in Adriatic Blue, it was specified with some unusual features, including a Telefunken radio and front seats that, with the tug of a lever, drop flat, transforming the interior into a bed—something for which Nash got a lot of credit in the United States, beginning around the same era! The car was delivered in May 1938 to Carl Krone, a serial Maybach customer in good standing as the proprietor of the Munich-based Krone Circus, which may explain its unusually lighthearted original livery.

Following World War II the SW38 was purchased by the Bavarian State Chancellery, with the Register noting that it then passed to a Munich dealer for whom it was serviced by the factory in April 1951. It was then resold to a buyer in Stuttgart from which it was shipped to the United States, and purchased by Noel Thompson of New Jersey, a longtime enthusiast and Classic Car Club of America stalwart, remembered for his ownership of numerous exceptional cars during nearly four decades of collecting. Mr. Thompson recorded the car in the Antique Automobile Club of America’s 1961 roster.

The Maybach then passed to Thomas H. Wilson II of Clarkston, Michigan. A very active and ebullient member of the Michigan Region CCCA, Mr. Wilson reupholstered the car’s interior in red leather, but otherwise left it in good original order and would occasionally use it in CCCA events. It made regular appearances during the 1970s in the Michigan Region magazine, Torque.

Following Mr. Wilson’s passing in 1982, the SW38 continued to be occasionally exhibited by his widow, Marjorie, before she finally sold it to Rudi Klein in 1989. While its location was known to Maybach cognoscenti, like most all of the automobiles in the Klein Collection, it was always tucked away, never shown, and indeed remained hidden until its recent retrieval for this sale. Per the Registry and Maybach Club President Hannes Steim, the engine was replaced with an unassigned, very late 4.2-liter unit, likely before the car’s exportation and believed to have been a factory upgrade done by Maybach in the 1950s, along with the fitment of a new serial number plate stamped appropriately, prior to exportation.

The Maybach is also still wearing what is believed to be much of the original Adriatic Blue finish, which while obviously elderly and well-marked, has actually an attractive patina, as does the interior, with an ancient Becker Nürburg radio fitted in lieu of the original unit. Notek headlights are unusually fitted, a rare sight on this model believed to have been by customer order, and Mr. Krone’s monogram is still etched into the beltline moldings!

Among the most attractive SW38s available, this cabriolet has a wonderful history with noted collectors. At one time among the best-known Maybachs in the country, it is ready to once again claim that mantle.