Maybach Exelero

Information

Much like the original 'Red Pig' (which we sadly lost forever), the Exelero had the role of a test bed. In fact, it was built as a test bed for Fulda's widest and most extreme tyres, the Carat Exelero, back in the mid-2000s (the 300SEL 6.8 tested aircraft landing gear equipment instead until its demise). Fulda needed a fast and heavy car, and Maybach delivered through four students of the Pforzheim Design Academy as they penned the body mounted on the chassis of a Maybach 57.

The coupé was long (5.83m), powerful (690 HP from a 5.9L TT V12) and as heavy as it can get (2.6t), perfect to torture the tyres. It was extremely fast too, reaching 218.3 mph (351.3 km/h) at the Nardò test track, driven by Le Mans winner Klaus Ludwig.

The car exchanged hands a few times after accomplishing the goal it was created for:

- André Action Diakité Jackson: $5m
- Lent to Jay-Z for the music video of 'Lost One'
- Arnaud Massartic: $?m, later put on sale for $8m
- Birdman: claimed he will buy it but the transaction never went through
- Frank Rickert?: $?m