Automotive design for Alexis Kellner AG Berlin.

£1,500 · Offered by Shapero Rare Books

Finished in light brown with dark brown hood and wings, with matching solid disc wheels picked out against silhouetted trees, this deceptively large 2-door roadster was one of many variant designs around the underpinnings of Maybach's awesome V-12 engine and running gear, introduced in 1929. It was actually achieved by marrying two 6-cylinder units at a 60 degree angle. The company was founded in 1909 by Wilhelm Maybach and his son Karl, as Luftfahrzeug-Motorenbau GmbH, producing engines for the burgeoning aeroplane and airship industries, including for the famous Zeppelin. It was rebranded Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH in 1912, as the scope of application widened to include rail locomotives and by 1919 the company was experimenting with its own motorcars. From 1921 to WWII, the name Maybach became synonymous with powerful and luxurious motoring, its engine and chassis designs readily lending themselves to the creative imaginations of such coachbuilders as Kellner. Founded by Alexis Kellner (1880-1953) in 1910, in Berlin, the eponymous Alexis Kellner AG coachbuilding company's stylish automobile bodywork designs were immediately successful. This was demonstrated by the number of orders he received at the International Motor Show, in Berlin, in 1911. Kellner was noted for his inventiveness of small details, such as a concealed handle behind the driver's seat for quickly and easily raising and lowering the car's roof, concealed bonnet hinges, for aesthetic as well as aerodynamic reas

• Binding: Hardcover

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