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GERMAN SHEPHERD T H E N E W 6 0 3 B H P, 6 . 0 - L I T R E M E R C E D E S - M AY B A C H S - C L A S S IS 18CM LONGER THAN THE LONG WHEELBASE S-CLASS, H A S T W I N E X E C U T I V E S E AT S , M A S S AG I N G L E G R E S T S , N E C K H E AT I N G F O R R E A R P A S S E N G E R S A N D J U S T A B O U T E V E R Y O T H E R
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M U S T- H AV E F E AT U R E A H I G H - F LY I N G C E O C O U L D E V E R A S K F O R
Words: Jeremy Taylor
obody likes a backseat driver, but the MercedesMaybach really isn’t designed for the person sat in the driver’s seat. Overtly luxurious in every way, the truth is that most owners will likely never even lay a hand on the leather-clad, heated steering wheel. But first, a little history. Luftfahrzeug-Motorenbau. The name hardly rolls off the tongue, but that was the title of a company set up by Wilhelm Maybach in 1909. Together with his son Karl, Wilhelm originally built engines for the Zeppelins used in World War I, and,
later, for German tanks in World War II. In 1960, the company was bought by Daimler-Benz and produced commercial diesel engines before the Maybach name returned as a luxury flagship car for Mercedes-Benz in 2002. For once, the German carmaker got it wrong, as global Maybach 57 and 62 sales – the numbers denoting the limousines’ lengths in hundreds of millimetres – never matched expectations. The company ceased production in 2013, but, thanks to a small number of loyal customers, returned in 2014 as a subbrand. Heavily based on the Mercedes S-Class, the Maybach S 600 sold 60,000 cars – well enough to inspire this
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