With just 317 units built in 2008, it seems that the hype about Maybach—if there ever was any—is dead. The slow-selling ultra-luxury sedan is based on the last-generation Mercedes-Benz S-class (W220), and Daimler bravely keeps adding new colors and model versions, such as the $1.35 million Landaulet and the 604-hp 57S and 62S.
While Rolls-Royce will bring a smaller model to this year’s Geneva auto show, Maybach serves up an even more powerful variation of its theme, complete with a historic nameplate. The Maybach Zeppelin makes a whopping 632 hp, comfortably above its only true competitors, the Rolls-Royce Phantom and the Bentley Arnage Final Series. Maximum torque is still limited to 738 lb-ft in order to protect the five-speed automatic. Top speed is governed at 171 mph on the short-wheelbase Maybach 57 Zeppelin and 155 mph on the long-wheelbase Maybach 62 Zeppelin.
The Zeppelin gets special 20-inch wheels in what Daimler calls a “chrome shadow finish.” We believe this top-deck car’s new, edgier exterior mirrors will replace the round, decidedly 1990s units on lesser Maybachs. The exhaust tips now number four, and the taillights are darkened. Specific to the Zeppelin is the shoulder line painted in Rocky Mountains light brown, but you can have your Maybach painted any other color as well, if you insist. The hood ornament is altered with Zeppelin lettering. The recommended interior color combination is California Beige with Stromboli Black. The wood is finished in piano black, and your feet rest on lambswool carpets.
Does This Count as a Shower?
Perhaps the most unique aspect of the Maybach Zeppelin is an optional system which sprays one of two specifically developed Givaudan fragrances—or your own favorite—into the cabin. The pump works for ten minutes and then switches itself off automatically. The mechanism is patented, although we doubt that many other carmakers would be interested in copying this complex system. The scent of success in this case costs the equivalent of about $6000 in Germany.
The Zeppelin name was derived from the zeppelin airships, for which Maybach supplied the engines, and was originally applied to Maybach’s fastest and most luxurious flagship cars. About 300 original Zeppelins were built between 1930 and 1939. You can add to that total 100 units of the new Zeppelin—that's Daimler's limit. There won't be a 50/50 split; Daimler will make however many of each wheelbase are ordered until the 100 units are reached.
Using Maybach’s supplied German prices, the 57 Zeppelin commands €406,000, or about $524,000, and the 62 Zeppelin costs €473,000, or roughly $610,000. (Those prices represent premiums of about $50,000, before German taxes.) If you can’t stomach the thought of spending so little on a car that 99 other people will have—that’s soooo déclassé—can we suggest you petition Maybach to create a Landaulet Zeppelin? That should run about $1.5 million or more, and at this point would be a limited-edition of exactly one.
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