‘Pricey’ is understating it
A 2004 DaimlerChrysler Maybach 62 will set you back $359,000, before extras. But penny pinchers needn’t despair: The smaller Maybach 57 costs a mere $308,000.
I figure any car that costs that much ought to come with its own driver. And mine did. His name was James. His job was to brief me on DaimlerChrysler’s super-luxury line before handing me the keys for a day.
There’s no way around it: You’ve got to be pulling down some serious money not to be cowed by a car that fetches more than twice as much as a typical U.S. home (which, by the way, cost $144,000 in 2002).
So what do you get for $300K?
The Maybach resurrects one of the most legendary marques in automotive history. But the name often draws blank stares in the United States, where Bentley and Rolls-Royce resonate more. The reaction is different across the Atlantic, though.
Before BMW and Porsche came along, Wilhelm Maybach designed the first Mercedes, in 1901. His car -- with a front-mounted aluminum engine, twin camshafts and a pioneering honeycomb radiator -- begat the Mercedes dynasty. Wilhelm’s son Karl went on to make his family name synonymous with luxury motoring.
Karl’s Maybachs, made from 1920 to 1939, culminated in the DS 8 Zeppelin sedan. That car featured the same 12-cylinder engine that powered Germany’s famous airships. It sold for $29,000 -- about as much as the 2004 Maybach in today’s dollars.
The Maybach is designed to be as exclusive today as it was in the ‘20s and ‘30s. DaimlerChrysler hopes to sell 400 Maybachs in the States this year. Each one is built -- largely by hand -- to customers’ specifications. The hefty price tag gets buyers a “personal liaison manager,” whom they can contact at any time to help them select custom paint, fine woods and buttery-soft leathers.
With a bow to history, DaimlerChrysler has replaced the familiar Mercedes hood ornament with a subtle double M inside a triangle. The initials originally stood for Maybach Motorenbau.
The new 12-cylinder versions sport features Wilhelm and Karl couldn’t have dreamed of. The less expensive 57, at 18.8 feet long, is designed for people who actually want to drive their Maybach. The 62 -- 20.2 feet long and replete with fully reclining, aircraft-style seats in the back -- is for those with a full-time James of their own.
From the outside, the Maybach’s swooping, aerodynamic form stands in sharp relief to those of squared-off Bentleys and Rolls-Royces. But if wowing the neighbors is your goal, look elsewhere. The Maybach’s real luxury is inside.
“The car is not meant to be in your face,” says Wayne Killen, DaimlerChrysler’s Maybach representative in the United States. “It doesn’t send the message ‘Hey, look at how much money I have.’ ”
Both Maybachs come with 22-speaker surround-sound systems linked to a radio-CD-DVD-TV system with two LCD screens in the back. A small joystick lets you adjust the sound by using a digital model of the car’s interior.
A Detroit-area audio expert, Steven Sinkoff, gave the system a listen and said it was among the best he had ever heard. Even so, many Maybach buyers would probably want to add a customized system -- for an additional $50,000 -- Sinkoff says. Don’t worry about watching your DVDs sans munchies: The Maybach comes with a refrigerator between the rear seats.
The list of options goes on and on -- if you’ve got the money.
