From the late 19th century Wilhelm Maybach, together with Gottlieb Daimler, developed light, high-speed internal combustion engines suitable for land, water, and air use.

These were fitted to the world's first motorcycle, motorboat, and after Daimler's death, a new automobile introduced in late 1902, the Mercedes model, built to the specifications of Emil Jellinek.

As a result, Maybach left DMG in 1907 to found Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH together with his son Karl in 1909; they manufactured Zeppelin engines.

After the signing of the Versailles Treaty in 1919 the company started producing large luxury vehicles, branded as "Maybach".

Continuing after the war, Maybach Motorenbau remained a subsidiary of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, making diesel engines.

After his relatives published an announcement in the Stuttgarter Anzeiger newspaper, a philanthropic institution at Reutlingen took in Maybach as a student.

Its founder and director, Gustav Werner, discovered Maybach's technical inclination and helped to stimulate his career by sending him to the school's engineering workshop.

At 15 years old (1861), Maybach was heading for a career in Industrial design and took extra classes in physics and mathematics at Reutlingen's public high school.

Daimler was on the Executive Committee and they spent long nights discussing new designs for engines, pumps, lumber machinery, and metalworking.

It was a four-stroke cycle gas internal combustion engine with intake, compression, power, and exhaust strokes.

In 1882, Maybach moved to Taubenheimstrasse in Cannstatt, Stuttgart, where Daimler had purchased a house with 75,000 goldmarks from his Deutz compensation.

It featured: In 1885, they created the first float-fed carburetor, which mixed evaporated gasoline with air to allow its efficient use as fuel.

It was used that year on a larger but still compact version of the engine, now with a vertical cylinder, that featured: Daimler baptized it the Standuhr (lit.

On 8 March 1886, the inventors bought an American model coach built by Wilhelm Wimpff & Sohn, telling the neighbors that it was a birthday gift for Mrs. Daimler.

Gottlieb Daimler and Chief Engineer Maybach preferred to produce automobiles and reacted against Duttenhofer and Lorenz in particular.

Maybach was rejected as a member of the Board of Management and left the company on 11 February 1891, and continued his design work from his own house, financed by Daimler.

In late 1892, he set up a shop in the ballroom of the former Hermann Hotel and Winter Garden where he employed 17 workers, five of which were paid by Daimler.

Used in the Phoenix, it gained worldwide attention, pioneering the use of four cylinders in the automobile and featuring: Maybach's creations are considered among the finest motors of the late 19th century.

However, in 1894, a British industrialist, Frederick Simms, purchased the rights to the Phoenix engine for 350,000 marks and stabilised the company's finances.

His teenage second son, Adolf, suffered a schizophrenia attack and spent the rest of his life in various mental institutions.

Between April and October 1900, Maybach designed a completely new kind of car inspired by racing which would be called the Mercedes 35 hp when released in 1902.

It featured: Emil Jellinek, a successful Austrian dealer and racing driver on the French Riviera who greatly admired Maybach's work, promised to buy a shipment of 36 automobiles for 550,000 goldmarks if Maybach could design a great race car for him following his specifications.

European high society bought the car in large numbers making it the commercial success that convinced the company directors there was a future in automobiles.

Maybach continued with his innovations: DMG demoted him to an "Inventor's Office" causing him to leave the company again in 1907.

That same year, the German Engineers Association (VDI) recognized Wilhelm Maybach as an honorary member.

Maybach built some engines for him based on sketches of a 150 hp unit created by his son, Karl, while at DMG.

The first model, the Maybach W3, was shown at the 1921 Automobile Exposition in Berlin and featured It was produced until 1928, selling 300 units, mostly with sedan bodies; the two-seat sport version was less successful.

From around 1935 Maybach made and designed almost all the engines for tanks and half-tracks used by the German armed forces during World War 2.