The Late Virgil Abloh Moves Fans with a Surprise Off-road Maybach Collaboration
Hannah DeWitt
· 4 min read
The
Mercedes-Benz
company has been lucky with its sub-brands, especially the German company, Maybach. Maybach had its centennial birthday this year, and it is still creating great cars. Their latest experiment is the Project Maybach show car. Fashion designer Virgil Abloh worked with the Maybach design team to create it from scratch, and the result is a rugged sedan that will put a Jeep to shame for off-roading abilities.
Unfortunately, Project Maybach will be the swan song of Virgil Abloh. He passed away at the end of November, but his last car is a legacy worthy of his memory and the venerable car company.
Ode to Virgil Abloh
According to
Motor1
, Abloh died on November 28 of cardiac angiosarcoma, a rare form of cancer. He was 41 when he passed.He had been diagnosed in 2019, but he didn’t want to tell the public. During his life, he headed Louis Vuitton's menswear division and founded the design company Off-White.
Off-White is a luxury brand that sells both clothing and designer footwear, focusing on melding the styles of high-end couture and streetwear. Abloh was also a fashion consultant to Kanye West.
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The Virgil Abloh and Maybach collaboration
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The Daimler design chief, Gordon Wegener, worked with Abloh last year on another project. They called the result Project Gelandewagen. It was based on Mercedes's G-Class.
This was a true collaboration where both parties had total creative freedom. Together, they came up with a chunky, race-car-inspired design piece.
Project Maybach brought together the same team, but Abloh guided the design this time. The show car has proportions similar to the Mercedes-Maybach 6 concept, but it was built from scratch.
Now that Abloh has passed, Mercedes-Benz is unveiling it as a tribute to his talent.
Car and Driver
reports that the company said the coupe "exemplifies the possibilities of future design."Mercedes-Benz showcased the new Project Maybach in the Rubell Museum on the first and second of December in his memory. Local design school students were allowed to tour the museum, which is a rare privilege.
What do you get with Project Maybach?
MORE: What's the Difference Between Mercedes E-Class vs S-Class Lineups?
The designers created a 20-foot-long, blocky electric coupe. Its most notable features are an extra long hood and an external roll cage over the roof. The design includes solar cells under a transparent hood to extend its range.
The Maybach has circular headlights and a glowing full-width light bar. The look of the sedan is completed with chunky tires, a roof rack, and a flat boxy front and back with identical round taillights and headlights.
It comes in a striking black-and-tan color scheme with silver highlights, contrasting with the vertical grille and bull bar on the front end. Both the bull bar and the roof rack have auxiliary lights.
One of its more practical features is the seats, which fold all the way back, creating a flat surface and expanding rear storage. The tough, silver skid plates and body cladding with exposed rivets over the wheel wells also help make it better at off-roading.
Naturally, this show car has plenty of Maybach symbols on the lights and wheels. It has the company name emblazoned on a silver plate on the back bumper. It even has its emblem on the back window.
Even special-edition Maybachs can find insurance with Jerry
For now, there is no word on whether the company will make production vehicles out of Project Maybach. However, if one happens to fall into your hands, look no further than Jerry to insure it.
Jerry
can find you the cheapest car insurance for a rare Project Maybach or any other car. A licensed broker, Jerry does all the hard work of finding cheap quotes from the top name-brand insurance companies and buying new car insurance. Jerry will even help you cancel your old policy.And to ensure you always have the lowest rate, Jerry will send you new quotes every time your policy comes up for renewal, so you’re always getting the coverage you want at the best price.
