The Maybach Exelero is a one-off, 2005 high-performance concept created by Maybach for tyre maker Fulda. Its reported $8 million valuation is not a verified sale price. The car was built to demonstrate high-speed tyres, not offered as a production model or established as the most expensive car ever sold.
Why was the Maybach Exelero built?
Fulda commissioned the two-seat coupé to test and promote its new wide high-performance tyres. Maybach developed the project with Pforzheim design students, and specialist coachbuilder Stola built the car in Italy. The idea recalled a streamlined Maybach used for Fulda tyre testing in the 1930s. Mercedes-Benz described the Exelero as unique and confirmed that series production was not planned.
Mercedes-Benz announced these details in its May 2005 manufacturer release.
Maybach Exelero specifications
| Specification | Documented information |
|---|---|
| Year | 2005 |
| Production | One prototype |
| Engine | 5.9-litre twin-turbocharged V12 |
| Power | 700 PS (approximately 690 mechanical horsepower) |
| Purpose | Fulda high-performance tyre development and demonstration |
| Measured speed | 351.45 km/h (approximately 218 mph) in 2005 at Nardò, Italy |
| Driver | Klaus Ludwig |
Was the Maybach Exelero sold for $8 million?
No completed $8 million transaction has been established by the available reliable reporting. The figure became widely circulated after rapper Birdman said in 2011 that he had bought the car. Subsequent coverage reported that the payment and transfer were never completed. It is more accurate to describe $8 million as a reported asking price or proposed deal, not an audited sale record. See our comparison of verified car sales and reported estimates.
That distinction also makes the description “world’s most expensive car” misleading today: documented collector-car transactions have reached substantially higher prices. A one-off’s rarity does not itself establish its current market value.
Inside the Exelero
The two-seat cabin combines Maybach luxury cues with a more focused high-speed-test-car setting, including leather, contrasting red details and carbon-fibre trim. It was a bespoke prototype rather than a customer-specification production interior.
The 2005 Nardò high-speed run
On 1 May 2005, racing driver Klaus Ludwig drove the Exelero at 351.45 km/h on the Nardò test circuit in Italy. Mercedes-Benz’s contemporary account calls this an officially measured result on Fulda tyres. It is a specific test achievement, not evidence of an independently repeated production-car top-speed rating.
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Jay-Z, Birdman and what can be verified
The car appeared in Jay-Z’s 2006 Lost One video, but appearing in a music video does not prove the performer owned the vehicle. Reports of Birdman’s proposed $8 million purchase were later disputed. Ownership and sale claims should not be presented as settled without documentary transfer or auction evidence.
Reporting published in 2026 describes the car as part of the Loh collection in Germany. Its public exhibition is more readily verifiable than many celebrity-ownership stories; legal title should not be inferred solely from an exhibition.
Why the Exelero still matters
Its significance is the unusual combination of a genuine manufacturer-backed engineering brief, singular coachbuilt design and documented high-speed testing. Readers comparing prices should distinguish the Exelero’s reported valuation from confirmed transactions, and distinguish this test vehicle from current Mercedes-Maybach production cars.
Related reading: Most Expensive Car Brands and Most Expensive Cars in the World.
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