If you’re not a Mercedes or classic European auto enthusiast, you may not be familiar with the name Maybach. So here goes. In short, the Maybach company produced beautiful and luxurious vehicles from around 1910 until 1960, when it was absorbed by Daimler-Benz; additionally, Wilhelm Maybach was a founder of the Daimler company, and designed its Mercedes series of cars, eventually inspiring the Mercedes brand name. Hence, Mercedes-Benz, with the Maybach connection. Hence, the 2017 S650 Maybach.
It was only natural that Daimler-Benz would desire to pay homage to the grandfather of Mercedes design—and cash in on the attendant historical appeal—with a revival of the brand. They attempted to do so, in the early years of the 2000’s, with a line targeted at the ultra-luxury Euro car market dominated by the English aristocracy: Rolls-Royce and Bentley. That initial attempt at marketing a super-luxe Maybach sports sedan was not quite a success. Daimler-Benz licked its wounds and went back to the drawing board. Recently, the company has again been trying to float a Maybach-revival: last year sports sedans S500 and S600, and the S600 Pullman, hit sales floors, and next year the S-Class convertible roadster, which was unveiled about a week ago, will become available.
The 2017 Maybach S650 is certainly kin to the S-Class AMG Cabrio, but more of it. Under the hood is a monstrous 6.0L twin-turbo V-12 that pushes 621 horses; apparently, the S650 can make the jump to 60MPH in 4 seconds. The specially-designed engine, called the M275, is controlled by a 155MPH speed cap and a 7-speed transmission. Surely options will be available to those who would like to remove the muzzle and see what the M275 can really do in a meta-engineered helical spring like the S650.
The Maybach can be easily distinguished from its common AMG brethren by the abundance of chrome, the sharkish profile, and the console plaque that informs ‘1 of 300’; Swarovski crystal headlights are standard, and Mercedes is throwing in a set of luggage, a key ring, and an autograph of Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche for those who can afford to pony up for one of 75 examples that are currently set aside for the U.S. market. Price: $320K.
