Mais Oui, Maybach!

WHEELS

Maybach, the legendary German car marque of the 192os and 193os, has made a return as a division of DaimlerChrysler; Volvo launches gas cars in Europe, and a round-up of this month's auto news. STEPHEN WILLIAMS reports.

At the beginning of the last century, Wilhelm Maybach was the technical director of Daimler-MotorenGesellschaft and a close associate of Gottlieb Daimler in developing the first Mercedes model. Wilhelm's son, Karl, began the tradition of building luxury touring cars in the early 1920's - from a factory in Fredrichshafen on Lake Constance. Its flagship model was the 12cylinder Maybach Zeppelin DSB.

In its day, the DS8 was the largest German luxury car, and every individual car was unique in being manufactured to meet each customer's specific requirements. The new Maybach luxury cars were first premiered at the last Geneva Motor Show. Like their illustrious forebears, the tradition of each Maybach car being manufactured specifically for each client has been faithfully maintained.

A client fortunate enough to be among the 1,000 each year that take delivery of a Maybach is assigned his or her own consultant. This consultant assists the client in choosing the exact specifications of his or her `made to measure' vehicle - and continues to monitor the car's performance and advise the client during the lifetime of the ownership.

A number of factors come into play here. Firstly, is the car to be chauffered, or also/only driven by the owner? Maybach offer two wheelbases options, the Maybach 62 and 57 - and the chauffeured owner may well prefer the former, longer version at nearly 6.2m. A chauffeur partition is also an option.

Maybach have paid particularly close attention to the functions of the interior. The seating is described as superlative. Rear seating features a recline of up to 47 degrees and at the same time thigh support and footrest are pivoted forward from the lower seat section - just as most first class passenger aircraft seats. Refreshments are kept chilled in the built-in refrigerator.

Should the rear passengers want to be entertained, 9.5inch flat-screen monitors on the front seatbacks play TV and DVDs, and connections for video cameras, MP3 and computer games are provided.

For the business-orientated passenger, the three telephone handsets installed in the car, linked via Bluetooth, provide the technical basis for various telematics such as, where available, WAP services, e-mail and internet. The Maybach engineers can also provide individually specified notebook computers networked to the car's telephone system for complete mobileoffice connectivity.

Space is an important key to the Maybach's luxury. At a length of 6.165m, the Maybach 62 is short by 75mm over the venerable `64 Mercedes-Benz 600 (V 100). Yet modern automotive architecture and materials has totally refined the concept of the luxury limousine: today, Maybach offers greater space than the 600 for both passengers and luggage.

Boot capacity is enormous. At some 6001trs, that's enough space to carry four golf bags. Unless the owner requires one, dispensing with carrying a spare tyre saves about 1001trs of the boot space thanks to the standard TIREFIT tyre-sealing equipment provided.

A single engine is fitted - a Maybach developed 5.51tr V12 (with bi-turbo charging). It's to be used in the face-lifted Mercedes Benz S Class due out next year. It produces, we are told, the highest output and torque of any series production car engine in the world. Certainly, performance figures of 0-100km/h of just 5.4secs, and 60 to 120km/h in 6.5secs suggest that this limousine's powerplant is no slouch. It's linked to the Mercedes Benz SClass five speed transmission.

How does all this engines power get transfated into dynamic performance? We can ascertain much from the 2002 Mercedes-Benz 500SL that uses the same technological innovations as the Maybach. We attempted to explain (in our review of the sportscar, see AB Feb 2002) the veritable alphabet soup of abbreviations for the electronic braking, suspension and traction control packages that have gone into the 500SL. Now they have been specifically modified for the Maybach 62, giving it one of the most sophisticated electronic packages of any production car.

In the same issue of AB (February 2002) we also reported on the Mercedes Benz `Vision GST '(Grand Sports Tourer) concept car. That car featured a full-length electrotransparent panoramic roof. Maybach has also used this innovation, but not full length. Rather, they have fitted as standard a hi-tech glass over the rear passengers heads, which as well as sliding to provide a sunroof, can also be transparency adjusted. There's also the option to fit a front section, with integral solar-cells to convert sufficient solar energy to power ventilation fans whenever the car is parked.

And the price of the Maybach? Let's say it would help owning a few gold-mines. List is Euro310,000. And some oil wells might help too. Fuel consumption figures indicate just 18mpg.