2011 marked a sad event for oil tycoons and rappers everywhere, as Daimler-Benz axed its hyper-luxurious brand Maybach. But Jay Z and The chairman of British Petroleum have cause to rejoice because it looks like Mercedes is bringing back the Maybach.
The Maybach name will apparently be attached to the range-topping extra long wheelbase S-Class. In essence, the new Maybach will be a replacement for the now defunct 62. Though, the current positioning actually marks a technical step up for the luxury marquee, as the previous Maybachs were based on the S-Class platform that went out of Mercedes production in 1998.
The new Maybach will likely be about a foot longer than the longest S-Class and feature an entirely redesigned rear seating area, including new much larger doors. Just the thing you need to cram your entourage in the back with you. According to Autoweek, all this size will come at a pretty staggering price of $250,000 to $300,000.
Power will come from either a V8 or V12, including the brand new twin turbocharged V12 Mercedes just debuted in the S600 at Detroit. At 523 horsepower and 612 pound-feet of torque, which is only a bit less than the 23-liter Maybach V12 that powered Tiger tanks during the Second World War.
All that power is going to be important to, the standard car won’t exactly be light, but just like the Tiger Tank you can get your new Maybach with armor.
The Maybach is going to be going up against some literally very big competition like the Bentley Mulsanne, the Rolls-Royce Ghost, and – potentially – a long wheelbase version of the BMW 7 Series.
Cars that aren’t designed to be driven by the customer have never really been my thing, but it is hard to argue with the sort of luxury and intimidating presence that comes with 19 feet of Maybach.
