So, you may have heard and seen the news about the Mercedes Maybach S-Class, a car aimed at China and the US markets. As such it was simultaneously launched in China and LA. And seemingly inspired by the us, the British. You will notice that the Maybach brand has been revived, in name only, one year after it was “de-branded” now restored to “back office” duties it sits rather uncomfortably on the rear of what is a stretched S Class. After all the S Class is bought by the Jamie Oliver’s of this world and the defunct Maybach brand was often bought by people who lacked taste. The Maybach S Class is some 20cm longer than the S Class LWB and if the new S Class is already luxurious the Maybach S Class aims to take things further. Hand stitched leather seats and door trims with pop out chrome plated rear tweeters and much more luxuries to mention. Its all designed to feel like a lounge experience, modern luxury say Mercedes for the plutocratic age say we. Mercedes even tested the S Class Maybach in a wind tunnel, not for aerodynamic proficiency but to see how quite it was, and it is the quietest in its class confirm the 3 pointed star. Pedestrians will certainly hear the full soundtrack of the V12 bi-turbo powering the S600, it produces 530bhp and 830Nm of torque from as low down as 1,900 rpm. Or perhaps sir likes 8 cylinders in a V formation, with a more gentle 455bhp and 700Nm of torque. The Mercedes-Maybach S500 includes 4MATIC AWD and is equipped as standard with the new 9G-TRONIC, the world’s first nine-speed automatic transmission in the premium segment. The Mercedes-Maybach S 600 comes with the latest evolution of the 7G-TRONIC PLUS automatic transmission. The new exterior design is largely biased towards the rear, it looks very much like a Bentley almost as if the Germans are trying to become British. Just like a time when they wanted to become partners with the British Empire. Old habits never die. Mercedes say even the door trim features hand stitched detailing, but the S Class Maybach is no Rolls Royce a Rolls is still at another level and the Maybach brand will always be an S Class at heart, which is still the best premium luxury car money can buy. The Maybach S Class is for business men a Rolls or Bentley is for Billionaires and that’s the difference. Perception is everything. The irony for the British brands like Rolls and Bentley is that they are owned by German companies, so in the end it is we British who have become German. We were also French and mixed with Viking blood. Still we should leave Europe, close the UK borders and vote UKIP. The S Class Maybach will go on sale in April 2015 and is expected to cost somewhere between £200k to £250k.

Mercedes-Maybach	S 500	S 600
Number of cylinders/arrangement	8/V	12/V
Displacement (cc)	4663	5980
Rated output (hp at rpm)	455 at 5250-5500	530 at 4900-5300
Rated torque (Nm at rpm)	700 at 1800-3500	830 at 1900-4000
Combined fuel consumption from (mpg)	31.7	24.1
Combined CO2 emissions from (g/km)	207	274
Efficiency class	C	F
Acceleration 0-62 mph (s)	5.0	5.0
Top speed (mph)	155	155