The first attempt by Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, at resurrecting its dormant pre-war luxury nameplate, Maybach, was, by all accounts, an uncharacteristic failure. Spurred into action in the late 1990s by the fact that its chief German rivals had split up England’s most iconic car company and taken a brand each – Bentley going to Volkswagen and Rolls-Royce going to BMW – Stuttgart was left playing catch up.
The problem was exacerbated by the fact that Daimler had just completed the purchase of Chrysler for 36 billion USD, in what became one of the largest industrial mergers ever. So, rather than compete with their rivals for the acquisition of the aforementioned English brands, Daimler-Chrysler figured that the best course of action was to relaunch their own Maybach brand.
Production of this super-saloon began in 2002, with a price that ranged from 350,000 to 1 million USD. Like its English competitors, it featured an interior boasting masses of lacquered wood and hand-stitched leather. What Maybach added to this tried and tested mix however, was acres more space. But however good the final product might have been, the programme was still a gamble, with odds that were skewed towards failure, because at this end of the market, prestige counts more than anything. And outside the rarefied world of vintage car enthusiasts, the Maybach name was certainly not part of the car-buying public’s collective consciousness. What’s more, apart from being longer and more powerful than its rivals, the Maybach was not all that sporting, like a Bentley Mulsanne, nor did it ooze class and importance, like a Rolls-Royce Phantom. As a result, when its ten-year production cycle came to a halt at the end of 2012, Maybach mustered only a third of its proposed output – its axing was, by all intents and purposes, a mercy killing.
Yet, here we are three years later witnessing the second resurrection of Maybach. Is there something deeply wrong with the decision making process at Stuttgart? Luckily not, because this time, things are very different. First of all, Maybach is no longer a stand-alone brand and therefore doesn’t require its own showrooms, sales staff or after-sales service facilities. Effectively, Daimler have handed it over to Mercedes as a sub-brand that will sit within their portfolio in much the same way the AMG performance division does.
“Mercedes-AMG is the blueprint for the extension of our brand,” explained Ola Källenius, the ex-boss of AMG who is now Mercedes-Benz’s sales and marketing chief, at Maybach’s worldwide media launch event in California a couple of months ago. “More than 40,000 AMG cars were sold during 2014 and it is a great ‘co-pilot’ for Mercedes-Benz. With Mercedes-Maybach, we are applying the same logic as Mercedes-AMG, but in the area of prestige and exclusivity. It is not an equipment line; it is a sub-brand that, in future, will deliver Mercedes-Benz vehicles in an even more exclusive form.”
Indeed, later on at the same event, Källenius confirmed that the S600 Mercedes-Maybach saloon won’t be the sub-brand’s only offering. “Our deliberations in the area of Mercedes-Maybach aren’t focused solely on the S-Class,” he said, but as is often the case with these well-versed senior executives, he refused to be drawn on what exactly those future models might be.
Luckily however, in the time that has passed since then, we have been able to gauge a clearer vision of where they’re heading as they have revealed an even longer Pullman version of the S600 Mercedes-Maybach, and we’ve also managed to coax them into telling us about a “stargazer”, most likely a euphemism for a Maybach convertible version of the S-Class Coupé. We’d also not bet against a swashbuckling SUV, so, it would seem as though things are looking very promising for this influential brand – or sub-brand, rather.
How does the S600 Mercedes-Maybach fare on real roads? In a nutshell: rather well. I enjoyed an almost 150-kilometre chauffer-driven ride around California’s Santa Barbara – from the Presqu’ile Winery to our charming hotel, the Belmond El Encanto – and I must say that in the process, I gained a real appreciation for the car.
One of the first things you’ll notice from the exterior of this new Maybach is that it wears the Mercedes badge instead of the double-M badge of Maybach. Of course, this is in keeping with it being a sub-brand. But if you look closely enough, you can still find a couple of discrete double-M emblems on the C-pillars. There’s also a less restrained, spelt-out Maybach badge across the left hand side of the boot lid.
Having said that, something I particularly liked about this car is its subtlety – the extravagance is mainly on the interior and from the outside, things are toned down to the point that it’s not conspicuous at all, despite its size. It’s also handsome, very handsome in fact. Much of this is down to some beautifully balanced proportions, for though the car is 207mm longer than the long-wheelbase S-Class (from which it is derived), the rear doors are actually shorter. This means it doesn’t look stretched and the extra wide C-pillars not only give an aesthetic balance to the side view, they afford the rear passengers a wonderful sense of privacy, akin to the Rolls-Royce Phantom.
According to the engineers who made presentations during our lunch in Presqu’ile, one of the design objectives was to make this new Maybach’s rear cabin the quietest of any production saloon and they have managed to achieve that by a sizeable margin. In terms of interior design though, I’m not too sure about the diamond-stitched leather that they’re so proud of but it’s only an option, luckily, so you can stick to a less fussy design. Regardless of the leather detailing, you’ll be getting seats that are out of this world. They might look like they belong in an airliner, complete with foldout tables et al but that’s where the comparison ends. With a maximum tilt of 43-degrees, they don’t exactly lie flat but as good as! And they’ll hold you in all the right places, cushion you lovingly, even perform a hot stone-like massage from your shoulders to your bottom, while your calves are given some power-actuated supports. You’ll also be happy to know that the engineers have worked wonders to make sure you stay safe even if you’re reclining to the max because the seat-belt airbags and active belt buckles factor all of that in.
Other fun gubbins include some pillow-like headrests in addition to throw pillows, a Magic Sky Control function that turns the panoramic sunroof from light to dark to provide shade from sunlight, a Burmester 3D audio system with 24 speakers and a total output of 1,540 watts and an atomiser in the glove box that connects with the air-conditioning to diffuse an agarwood fragrance developed exclusively for Mercedes-Maybach.
In terms of performance this car is no slouch. Powered by Mercedes’ 6-litre V12 biturbo, it’s got enough oomph to whisk you to 100km/h in roughly 5 seconds, which is pretty handy although we doubt you’d want to be put through such paces. It’s also been equipped with Magic Body Control, which uses forward-facing cameras to scan the road ahead and then adjusts the active suspension accordingly to counteract uneven surfaces. It’s pretty high-tech stuff but the idea is to keep you as comfortable as possible. Funnily enough we discovered a rather unusual benefit of this Magic Body Control is that you can take speed bumps at outrageously high speeds without even spilling a drink.
Speaking of which, my particular S600 Mercedes-Maybach came with optional silver-plated champagne flutes by Robbe & Berking, which are stowed away in the centre armrest, near the backseat refrigerator. If you decide to use them, then I recommend you make use of the Maybach’s cool cupholders, which glow blue when they're chilling your Dom Perignon and red when they're keeping your tea hot.
At the end of the day, I think this car will be most often compared to a Rolls-Royce Phantom, which is a difficult comparison because the two cars do differ a lot. I would say the Phantom’s like an orange Birkin – a proud heritage piece that’s beautifully made and a confident display of wealth – the Maybach, on the other hand, is a mist-coloured Bottega Cabat, a paragon of craftsmanship, quality and ingenuity - a product that’s more focused on gratifying you than on outward pretension. What really swings the balance in the Maybach’s favour however, is its price. In fact, the savings associated with buying a Maybach over a Phantom are equivalent to the sum of a Ferrari 488 and a Fiat 500. That changes everything.
Freed from the shackles that an unreasonable price can do to your expectations, the Maybach seems to have a newfound swagger. Beautifully made, with an almost compulsive attention to detail, we think this car is at last a perfect antidote to the old-school offerings by England’s finest. Hopefully, customers will agree too this time around.
Model S600 Mercedes-Maybach
Engine 6.0-litre twin-turbo V12
Drive Rear-wheel (all-wheel coming soon)
Power 530 bhp
Torque 830 Nm
Gearbox 7-speed
Top Speed 250 km/h
0-100 km/h 5.0 seconds
Price 150,000 (S500) 200,000 USD (S600)
Captions: The Designo Magno Alanite Grey exterior is an optional matte paint finish that, theoretically, should never look good on a car of this sort. Yet we rather like it.
