Small changes for this big-ass limo.
Maybe we’re part of a minority, but if we were given the keys to a Mercedes-Maybach S-Class with a chauffeur, we’d feel like we’re on top of the world. In fact, remove the ‘Maybach’ from the equation and we’d still feel pretty damned special, in the back seat of a long-wheelbase saloon with electronically-perfected-everything and able to look down on lesser plebeians from behind double-glazed windows.
But let’s say you’re not just your garden-variety rich person. Let’s say you’re a monarch, a head of state, a super celebrity, or someone really bloody tall, and a Mercedes-Maybach S-Class wouldn’t be enough for you. Have you met the Pullman?
At 6.5-metres in length, the Maybach Pullman sits on a 4,418mm wheelbase, an immense 1,053mm longer than the already-big long-wheelbase S-Class. With the 2018 update, the Pullman gains new two-tone paint finishes for the outside, and new colour options for the vast cabin. Also new is the pinstripe grille on the nose, which Mercedes claims is influenced by pinstripe suits. Cool.
There’s a standard partition screen between the driver and passenger compartments, as before, but the system has been improved with the addition of a screen that allows the VIP in the back to see the road ahead, even when the partition screen is closed. And solving a unique issue with cars like these, the Maybach Pullman now comes with a ‘2-Cabin Sound’ system that allows the driver’s compartment and passenger compartment to listen to two separate sources of music.
This car used to be called the S600 Pullman, but that badge has now been swapped out for an S650 badge. The 6.0-litre V12 up front continues to provide motive force, but it’s been tuned up to 463kW and 1000Nm. Power goes to the rear wheels to hurtle this mobile-mansion from rest to 100km/h in just 6.5-seconds (the decimal point is not a typo), with fuel consumption rated at a considerable 14.6L/100km.
European customers for the Maybach S650 Pullman will have to fork out about €500,000 for the pleasure, working out to about $800k in our money. But that’s before taxes. And perhaps the special license you’ll need to pilot something this enormous. Surely this is classified like a road train…
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