What's Wrong With This Picture: Maybach Lives Edition
On the list of things that should not have survived the last two years of Carpocalypse, Maybach pretty much takes the cake. Even before global credit markets froze up and luxury car sales plummeted, Maybach’s appeal was wearing thin: as one TTAC writer put it, the brand built on lavishly trimmed S-Classes was born old hat. Or, as another Maybach gravedigger put it,
To paraphrase Kurt Vonnegut, the Maybach experiment was a conspiracy between Daimler and the rich to make the rest of us feel smart.
Well, get ready to feel extra-smart. While Aston is prepping a new look for the brand, the old Maybach is having one last hurrah, thanks to the German custom house Xenatec, and the Saudi-based Auto Kingdom. This “Cruiserio” Coupe is the product of a €70m Auto Kingdom investment, and was built by Xenatec with cooperation from Daimler. And with 100 units planned at €715,000 each, Auto Kingdom stands to make €1.5m profit on the project… provided they all sell. And if they do, this garish, gargantuan coupe is just the beginning. According to Jameslist,
The AutoKingdom’s investment in the project is but the first in a series of projects the company is working currently on, [Auto Kingdom Chairman Waleed Abdullah Al-Hokair] noted, adding that details of 3 such projects will be revealed in the near future.
More by Edward Niedermeyer
Latest Car Reviews
Read moreLatest Product Reviews
Read moreRecent Comments
- TheEndlessEnigma I'm sure the rise in driving infractions in Minnesota has nothing to do with all the learing centers.
- Plaincraig 06 PT Cruiser 214k miles. 24MPG with a 50/50 highway city driving. One new radiator was the only thing replaced from failure at 80k.Regular maintenance and new radiator hoses and struts at 100k. Head gasket failed blew out the camshaft seals and the rear seal failed too. Being able to remove the backseats was wonderful. The ride was fine. Took an exit ramp and twice the rated speed and some kid in a Mazda 3Speed rolled down his window and asked what I done to make it handle like that. I said "Its all stock and Walmart tires. I know how to drive not just go fast."
- Flashindapan Corey, I increasingly find your installments to be the only reason I check back here from time to time.
- SCE to AUX The first couple generations of Prius were maligned by association with a certain stereotype owner. But you can't deny their economy and reliability is the envy of the automobile world. It's rare for an EV to match the TCO of a Prius. From personal experience, the first-gen Nissan Leaf. Yes, they looked like a frog and their batteries degraded, but the car was ultra-reliable, well-built, and smooth driving, and was a good introduction to electric motoring for its time.
- DungBeetle62 Mercury Capri. It was never conceived to be an updated Lotus Elan/Brit RWD Roadster with Japanese reliability as the Miata was. If you just treated it as a more fun and airy commute than the Tracer/323 its bones came from - it was pretty quick with the turbo (for the era) and enjoyable. And you still had some Mazda reliability under the skin. Yes, I owned one. But let's just say I'm not perusing Bring a Trailer looking for used examples in decent shape.
Comments
Join the conversation
I took a quick glance at the regular Maybach (short wheel base) at my Mercedes dealer, when shopping for a vehicle. I did not ask them to unlock the doors, when obviously I cannot afford one. What struck me was just how uninspiring the vehicle is. It left my wondering "so what?" That coupe above looks like an improvement, but again, so what? Massively overpriced - just because it is expensive does not make it better or more desireable.. The Maybach is the 21st Century Edsel.
Another ugly-ass Maybach. Will someone please put a bullet in the head of this brand. If you do have money to burn, there are far better and nicer looking cars than Maycrap out there.