In the Driver’s Seat

The Maybach SL takes an already very luxurious SL and turns the luxury up—as Nigel Tufnel said in Spinal Tap—"to 11.” ”

Around 30 years ago, the father of the modern Volkswagen Group, Ferdinand Piech, decided that there was a lot of market space just above the then top luxury car, the Mercedes S-class sedan.  He envisioned many cars selling for 20-30% more than the most expensive S-class, and with that in mind, he purchased Bentley in 1998, and it became a highly successful luxury brand for the Group.

Meanwhile, BMW purchased Rolls Royce and made that expensive brand super successful, and, oddly, the former top dog Mercedes found themselves playing catch up.

In 2004 Mercedes responded by launching Maybach as a stand-alone brand to compete head-to-head with Bentley and Rolls Royce, but it didn’t succeed as well as t hose other two marques did.  So Mercedes pulled the plug on Maybach as a separate division and moved to make it a Mercedes sub-brand similar to AMG.

And that move seems to be working. Maybach Mercedes now sells luxury versions of the EQS BEV SUV, GLS SUV, S-Class sedan, and SL convertible.  I tested the SL recently.

The SL, which can trace its roots to the legendary 1950s 300SL sports car, is a 2+2 convertible that adds two very small back seats to a top-shelf luxury drop top.  Pricing starts at $112,550—definitely not an entry level number—but for customers who don’t mind spending more to stand out, Mercedes offers the $226,050 (before options) Maybach SL.

And make no mistake, the Maybach SL does stand out.  My press car had cherry red paint with a black top and, yes, no joke, a black hood.  Oh, the fabric roof features many small Maybach emblems—you can’t miss it.

By the way, the current generation SL, which launched in 2022, was the first non-two-seater SL ever.  I applaud Mercedes for adding tiny rear seats even if they’re only good for small children or luggage, and even if they did it purely to better compete with the Porsche 911.

Anyway, back to the Maybach SL, which takes an already very luxurious SL and turns the luxury up—as Nigel Tufnel said in Spinal Tap—"to 11.”  For the record, the copious luxury in the Maybach SL is British Footballer/American rapper luxury more than it is landed gentry luxury.  Think Louis Vuitton trunk with LV symbols all over it rather than British Royal Family approved Globe Trotter bag.

Consider that the above noted Cherry red exterior (Garnet Red is the official Mercedes color name) with Obsidian black hood are matched with a mostly white interior including white carpeting.  It looks fabulous when you first get into it, but OMG that carpet gets dirty fast.  If you have a member of your entourage assigned to cleaning your interior regularly, you’re all good, but otherwise, you’ll wish you specced a black interior.

Obviously, the tech and user interface aspects of the Maybach SL are excellent.  The large main screen sits in the center console and is front and center in exactly the way you want it to be.  It uses the latest MBUX operating system, which is nice, but knobs and buttons have been mostly banished, which I regret.

Driving the Maybach SL is a pleasure.  It’s very fast--0-60MPH in 4.0sec fast--and the 577HP 4.0L twin turbo V8 sounds amazing.  The engine is loud though, so if you’re hoping for a more hushed experience like the prior pre-2022 SL had, you’ll be disappointed.  The same goes for the ride, which used to be more plush and is now firmer.  Again, it seems that Mercedes has benchmarked the latest SL against the Porsche 911 rather than earlier generation SLs, and the same goes for the Maybach versions.

For that reason, driving around town and on B-roads is now the sweet spot for the Maybach SL rather than the interstate.  It’s not bad on the open road, of course, but it does better running errands and driving to the next town than it would taking a six-hour road trip.

Fuel economy is a discouraging 13MPG City/20MPG Highway.  I suspect most buyers won’t care even a little bit about that.

If you want a top shelf “boulevardier” drop top 2+2, it’s hard to beat the Maybach Mercedes SL680.  It’s as luxurious as a car can be.  But keep in mind that it’s highly extroverted and will get you noticed, very expensive, and doesn’t have as plush of a ride as it used to.

Stephen Schutz has covered the automotive world for more than 30 years as a syndicated writer and podcast host.  Read his column monthly in The Cricket.