With its 600 horsepower and luxury accommodations, passengers might confuse riding in today’s Nice Price or No Dice Maybach for being transported by private jet. Let’s decide if this uber-luxury ride comes with a price that’s peasant-pleasing.
To live simply is to live happily. Unfortunately, the engine that drives our modern society is consumerism — buy, buy, buy, drill, baby drill — and that engine is a thirsty sumbitch. The 1941 Willys MB Jeep we considered yesterday proved the antithesis of that all-consuming mantra, as it presented in its ad as simple, solid, and without pretensions. Of course, a $6,000 price tag still meant that someone would have to buy it to experience the simple life it offers. That brings us back to the idea of rampant consumerism, although perhaps not so bad in the Willys’ case. Enough of you agreed with that sentiment to award the military-grade off-roader with a 55 percent Nice Price win for its troubles.
As simplistic as yesterday’s Willys might have been, it’s possibly not for everyone. Some folks simply prefer the opulent lifestyle. For those Champagne sippers and caviar bumpers, today we have a 2007 Maybach 62 S, which remains to this day one of the most lavishly appointed and wildly over-engineered cars ever built.
Maybach was founded in 1909 as the Luftfahrzeug-Motorenbau GmbH by the dynamic duo of Wilhelm Maybach and his son, Karl. Three years later, the company, which initially built aircraft engines, was renamed Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH, and under that name, it started building luxury automobiles in 1921.
During WWII, Maybach’s automotive production was shifted to building tank engines and heavy troop carriers. Automobile production was never resumed after the war as the company — now renamed MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH — continued a focus on building industrial engines. Daimler Benz bought MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH in 1960, thus gaining the rights to the Maybach name. With rival BMW having purchased the British Luxury brand Rolls Royce in 1998, Daimler made the decision to resurrect the Maybach brand for a series of S-Class-based ultra-luxury sedans as competition for the resurgent Rolls.
The two models were denoted by their overall length, with the 57 model measuring 5728 mm (225.5 inches) from bumper to bumper and the 62 looking dachshund-like at 6165 mm (242.7 inches.)
Due to that expansive length and 3827 mm (150.7 inch) wheelbase, this 62 S offers copious amounts of interior space, which, befitting its driven-in rather than driven aspirations, is weighed heavily to the rear section of the cabin. This being the “S” model means that despite the car’s gargantuan size, it has some serious poke. That’s made possible by a twin-turbo AMG-built 6.0-liter V12 making 604 horsepower and a massive 738 lb-ft of torque. That power allows the 6190-pound 62 to sprint to 60 from a stop in less than five seconds. Of course, the trade-off for that is craptacular fuel economy, but since the typical Maybach passenger likely doesn’t know how to even operate a gas pump, that point is likely moot.
Another interesting aspect of the Maybach is its industry-first dual brake-by-wire system. This operates through two ABS pumps and dual front and single rear caliper discs and even listens to weather reports from the car’s wiper system to know when to recalculate brake force due to wet road conditions. The immensely complicated system proved somewhat problematic, to the point that Mercedes-Benz still warranties the Maybach’s brakes to this day.
The brakes — and the rest of this car — seem to be in working order, and the seller says the 62 has seen dealer service its entire life. It’s also done a mere 68,000 miles and, at least in the ad, shows no significant wear and tear for the years and those miles.
Despite its immense size, this is only a four-seater. The reclining, massaging, heating and cooling rear thrones each have NBA-level legroom in front and curtains all around in case passengers want to stretch out in the buff without drawing a crowd. One notable option on the car is the electrochromatic roof, which switches from clear to cloudy with merely the push of a button. Other accouterments and luxuries include… well, everything. The ad notes a history of celebrity ownership, but that should be discounted as the celeb is not cited.
When new, this Maybach demanded half a million dollars to buy. That’s one of the reasons so few were actually sold. In this model year, Myabach only managed 156 cars in total in the U.S. market, and further declines in sales following the 2008 economic downturn served as the brand’s death knell. Today, Maybach is not a separate marque but a trim level on Mercedes’ high-end lines. It’s not the same at all, which makes this Maybach such an interesting proposition at its $72,500 asking price.
What’s your take on this rare opportunity at ultimate luxury at that almost pauper-like price? Does $72,500 feel like a fair deal for such a grand experience? Or is that price, like the rest of the car, still over the top?
You decide!
Phoenix, Arizona, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Don R. for the hookup!
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