Gustav August Heinrich Zingg was born in Hamburg on August 19, 1878, emigrated to Venezuela in 1899 and initially worked there for the company C. W. Christern. Through his friends from Hamburg, Adolf Christern and Alfred Lewerenz, the father-in-law of Karl Maybach, the wealthy entrepreneur had close ties to Karl Maybach and his wife from early on. In 1930, Gustav Zingg purchased this white Maybach "12", a two-door sports convertible, manufactured by the company Spohn. He also bought a Maybach Zeppelin with Pullman bodywork. Pictures from the company Spohn in Ravensburg and the family book "La Familia Zingg-Aranguren" document the condition of the sports convertible. The car is also presented in the February 1931 edition of the magazine "Motor".
Gustav Zingg travelled to Europe by ship with his family on numerous occasions, where he cultivated his contacts and visited one or the other of his twelve children at boarding school. Pictures in the family book show that he was sometimes even accompanied by his chauffeur and the Maybach convertible. Gustav Zingg and his family also often drove the two Maybach cars through the Alps to Gstaad for skiing holidays.
The Maybach "12" was upgraded during the 1930s to the Maybach "Zeppelin", which also involved changes to the bodywork (conversion to a cabriolet saloon, addition of front fender skirts, running board connecting the front and rear fenders, dashboard, fitting of an 8-liter twelve-cylinder engine, etc.). What remained, however, were the typical inlays on the doors and dashboard. Both Maybach Zeppelins were confiscated during World War II.
After the war, the Maybach Zeppelin convertible was purchased by a US citizen and restored, as some of the wooden parts had been destroyed by termites.
The "Zeppelin" returned from the USA to Germany by ship in 2004. Having stood in one-meter-deep salt water during the crossing, the whole car had to be restored on arrival. This opportunity was used to return the Zeppelin to its original state.
FIRST OWNER:
Gustav Zingg, Venezuela