2015 saw the second revival by Daimler of the Maybach name. Although their initial attempt at floating a super-premium brand to rival the English kings of the market segment—Rolls-Royce and Bentley—had not turned up trumps, the upper echelon thinking at the company was that a little more work, and a lot more R&D, would bring to light a reborn Maybach with serious market muscle. The brand would represent the cream of the company’s production offerings, and, like Rolls and Bentley, would tap into the rarified status of a long-established and aristocratic history. Which is fertile ground for selling to big money with old-money aspirations.
The first round may have gone to Rolls and Bentley, but three years into the second round finds Maybach holding its own with ground-up designs, the S500, S600, and S650. Each presents the distinct paradigm of extravagance which distinguishes the brand, setting it at loggerheads with the blue-blooded Brits. So for a stretch to emerge under the Mercedes-Maybach badge was a natural, and, in 2016, the S600 Pullman was born.
The S650 Pullman keeps the faith, but expands on the exegesis. The length is 21.3 feet, like the S600 Pullman. But the details are even more fully fleshed out, with more cosmetic options available, and the 12-cylinder twin-turbo has been tuned more acutely to wring 621 HP out of the engine. The car can hit 62 MPH in 6.5 seconds, which is fairly blazing acceleration for a limousine.
The design is in keeping with the ethos of the current upper-end Mercedes offerings, and is the product of resident genius Gorden Wagener’s guidance. Wagener likes fluidity, he likes to reference biological forms, and he employs a curiously effective philosophy that uses idealized interplay between the natural world and the world of human engineering as a developmental springboard. Luxe-centric limos not notwithstanding the architectural ideal.
The price for a Maybach S650 Pullman? North of $600K. But, if you’re seriously considering buying one, that probably isn’t essential information.
