He is probably the most modest of the big three German motor engineers of that time. This is also presumably due to the fact that Maybach, born in 1846, when he was just 10 years old, after the loss of his parents, was put into the charitable Gustav-Werner-brotherhood home in Reutlingen. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because there he was able to work in the attached machine factory as a draughtsman. At that time Gottlieb Daimler took over the management of the factory for two years to reorganise it. They learned, despite an age difference of 12 years, to appreciate each other and would stay together from this time until Daimler died.
Even in their next but one job, in the gas engine factory Deutz, did Karl Maybach play an important role. He was decisively involved there with, among other things, the realisation of the Otto motor. He also accompanied Daimler when he left the company after 10 years because he saw no chance for the realisation of a vehicle engine there. From 1882 onwards, Maybach worked in the Daimler workshop. He was moving more and more away from the role of simple reproduction. He presumably had decided to be a determining factor in the development and trial-runs of the new, fast-running, four-stroke engine. He was even able to convince Daimler of the need for a vehicle especially conceived for the internal combustion engine. In the newly founded Daimler-motor-company he became, in 1895, after a number of attempted dodges by the principal shareholders, the technical director. Unfortunately, Maybach's loyalty to his ageing and cardiac-ailing boss also went through a difficult period in Daimlers last years.
After the death of Gottlieb Daimler, Maybach became almost 'the king of the construction engineers'. In the beginning of the new century, Emil Jellinek moved into, at the start as a successful trader - later with even the exclusive sales rights - the destiny of the Daimler-motor-company. He was responsible, e.g., also for the fact that all their vehicles were later given the name of his daughter "Mercedes". Because Jellinek tried to lure the customers with racing results, he needed someone in the factory who would satisfy his hunger for more and more innovation and engine power, and this punctually and reliably, at every race and every new season. Exactly this somebody was Wilhelm Maybach. One could see this co-operation as a classic example of a close connection between the buyer's wishes and the construction assignment. Here is just a one small sample of the inventions accomplished by Maybach:
- Front engine,
- Racing engine,
- Aircraft engines and airship engines,
- Injection-nozzle carburettor,
- Tubular radiator with ventilating fan,
- Coil clutch,
- Gearwheel shift gearbox.
Although the company was experiencing a boom and were, by far, more successful than the competitor Benz, Maybach was not protected from hostility. When the board of directors united against him, even consul Jellinek could not help him. He would need a long time to recover from this dispatch. From 1907, up to his death in 1929, he shifted his activity to Lake Constance where he built engines for the successful airships of Count Zeppelin. In 1909, together with Count Zeppelin and his son Karl, he founded a company for the production of airship engines which, from 1918 had its seat in Friedrichshafen as the Maybach-Motoren-Werke (Maybach-Motor-Company). The Maybach-Automobiles from 1921 to 1939 are almost more famous than those from Daimler and Benz. From then until his death, at the age of 83, he experienced the honour to which he was entitled to. Today, finally, he has the reputation of being one of the people mainly responsible for the success of the Daimler enterprise. The Mercedes top model, which is manufactured today, on the grounds of the old factory, under the direction of Daimler-Chrysler, is attributed to him.