Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
I pretty much covered all the Maybach models that have launched since the brands rebirth except the biggest, baddest, and most expensive one of them all. It wasn’t for the lack of desire, but rather there are reportedly only 22 examples in the world so finding one for sale wasn’t exactly the easiest task. What is it? The 62S Landaulet.
This is it. This is the big one – literally. The Maybach 62 rings in with a 150-inch wheelbase and a total length of over 242 inches. Single parking spaces need not apply. Starting price? Over $400,000. You can see where I am going with this one. This was a car bought by those who would never drive it. Still, today if you buy one of these to actually drive, you are out of your mind. However, now that these are old enough to legally buy cigarettes? It might not be a bad idea. Well, maybe it’s not a bad idea…
By 2012, the writing was on the wall for the Maybach brand. Daimler’s CEO Dieter Zetsche (remember Dr. Z?) announced that the final year of production as 2013 model years would be carried out before retiring the brand again. Only for it to be brought back as a trim level a few years later. So what did that mean?
During those final faithful years, Maybach rolled out the Zeppelin edition that would be limited to 100 units between the 57 and 62, although it wasn’t 50 cars each. The name was an ode to the pre-war models Maybach DS7 and Maybach DS8, which were as literally larger than most boats I’ve ridden in. All of these 100 examples got some special touches both inside and out, as well as configurated as an S model with the 6.0-liter twin-turbocharged V12. Prices started at €406,000 for the 57, while the 62 Zeppelin began at €473,000. Absurd to say the least. Today, one would think that these depreciated down to their normal levels, but this example up for sale in Germany went a totally different direction. Hold on to your trousers.
Oh Maybach, how far will you fall? Normally when screaming about depreciation, its the Maybach 57, not the king of the hill 62 like we have here today. Just to refresh, the 62 was the extra-long wheel base version that measures 20-feet-long (!) that allowed rear passengers lay completely flat. It rang in at $360,000 … in 2004. Just to put that into perspective, the 2004 Rolls-Royce Phantom was only $320,000. This car was unbelievably expensive and its hard to argue it was worth it when you see it now and take a close look at it. That also probably explains why it is so cheap now.
I think it is going to be a long time before we see a car depreciate like a Maybach 57. Way back in the early-2000s, Mercedes-Benz decided to wanted to play in the same league as Rolls-Royce and Bentley. Not an outrageous idea, so they revived the storied Maybach name and launched two models, the 57 and the 62. They shared a general platform with the then-already replaced W140 S-Class, and kind of looked like a W220 S-Class on the outside. On the inside, you could see this was a W220. The steering wheel was a straight rebadge job along with the gauge cluster, and everything felt like a W220 which is not a good thing at all. Under the hood, you’d think they would have stuck with the twin-turbo M275 from the S600, but they changed it slightly to make an entirely new engine unique to the Maybach called the M285. All these one-off changes that had to be made and extremely low production resulted in the base model 57 carrying a sticker price of $320,000. That is $435,000 in today’s money. You’ll be shocked at what this 2004 57 can be had for today.
