A surviving Maybach

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A reader, Mr. P. A. Durley, of Poole, has kindly taken the trouble to photograph a 1939 Maybach saloon which he encountered in Bournemouth during the summer. He says language difficulties made it impossible to obtain details of the car but that it is in beautiful condition. It seems likely that it is the one we used to see occasionally, many years ago, near the Motor Sport offices. It was perhaps once a German Embassy car, as it is equipped with a flagstaff for a ceremonial flag. It is no longer so used but retains German number plates and “D” plaque. One interesting point is that in most of the photographs the elaborate filler-cap badge, with “M” superimposed on a wider “M”, is missing, but a head-on picture depicts this. Presumably the driver wisely removes this when parking, as Rolls-Royce owners pocket their “Silver Ladies”, although in the case of the Maybach this does not entail taking off the radiator cap. The same badge is on radiator shell and boot-lid.

It would be exciting if this turns out to be one of the 8-litre twelve-speed V12 models but I think it more likely that it is one of the straight-eights, perhaps a 5-litre DSH.—W. B.