Nov 21: Maybach - 2nd time around

Remember this car? Sure, you do, it's the Mercedes Benz Maybach. The car that Benz developed to compete against BMW's new Rolls Royce in the early 2000's. That hard to pronounce name came from a famous old German luxury car. Unfortunately, a few things got in the way of this car's success. It didn't look much different than a bigger and more luxurious S Class and as you can see in this picture, the only thing that stands out, is that beautiful yacht in the background. It also cost half a million Canadian and its competition was this car........

Now, you tell me, which of these two cars has more presence? The Maybach or the Rolls Royce Phantom (limo version shown)? The Maybach gets lost in traffic, but that Roller smacks you upside the head with its "look at me" style. Ok, so after a few years of poor sales to people like P Diddy, who bought one for his son's 16th birthday, Benz quietly consigned this model to the scrape heap of history.

But there is gold to be mined and Mercedes sorely lacked the equipment to find it. They were missing out on the ultra luxury car market sales. Heaven knows, they seem to have every other niche covered. So, time to give it another try, but try do it right this time. I present to you the 2016 Mercedes Benz S600 Maybach......

Sure looks like the new S Class, but please look more closely. It actually is being touted as an ultra, ultra S Class Mercedes, but this version is 8" longer and the C pillar is restyled. Oh, and the price is considerably less than the one from just over ten years ago  -  about $250,000 Canadian. Now that is much better. They are calling a spade a shovel, but gold plating it and charging a somewhat more reasonable price.

These days, the outside is one thing and an important one, but the interior is where the money is being spent. Can't you just see it oozing off those, oh so very soft, leather seats?

And doesn't that rear seat look cozy? Is there any African dictator, who wouldn't like to be envied, pulling up in front of his starving citizens in this ride? Not a single one, I think. And with enough power from that mighty V12 to lug around all that armor plating. Ah, the perfect ride.

So Mercedes has decided to reinvent the wheel, or at least that famous old name, Maybach. Let's hope that this time, they got it right and this car will once again rival the old gems from which that name was derived.

Until next time.......