Poor Little Rich Car

NEWS Overview camera screen Lets passengers watch the car chew up the road via a camera mounted on the front end. Luxury Marketing Poor Little Rich Car 9 Duplicate icon instruments | Lets you you monitor speed, time, and temperature-and adds exciting new dimension to backseat driving. Electrotransparent partition Retractable privacy glass can turn from transparent to opaque. Can't have the chauffeur peeking, right? O Perfume atomizer Optional flacon attaches here that fills the air with the perfume of your • Champagne chiller !A 9.3 litre refrigerated bin is i perfect for keeping your bottle of 1990 Cristal Brut suitably frosty. If there's any brand that ought to know how to market an ostentatious set of wheels, it's Mercedes Benz. Back in 2002, parent company Daimler AG put the likes of Rolls Royce and Bentley on notice when it pulled the tarp off the new Maybach. The luxury German nameplate hadn't been seen for 60 years, but Daimler figured the timing was right for a comeback. After all, the economy was hot, and even though the market for super-luxe wheels is only about 8,000 units a year, Maybach had all the perks-from a back-seat bar to Hungarian goose down-stuffed headrests. Daimler only needed to sell 800 Maybachs a year to make a profit. Jay Leno bought one. So did Madonna and Jay-Z. ("Realest shit I ever wrote, chillin' in my Maybach," rapped Jay.) But few others followed. Between 2003 and 2007, a mere 778 Maybachs purred out of showrooms. Last year, the U.S. buyer tally dropped to 63. (Meanwhile, Rolls Royce sold 2,711 cars, most of them in America.) Daimler did not respond to our e-mails, but CEO Dieter Zetsche said earlier this month that, when it comes to Maybach's fate, "everything is on the table." So what went wrong? Well, the recession didn't help and Maybach's inaugural marketing was sparse. And while all those interior perks were fab, the problem was on the outside. "It doesn't have pop and sex appeal, and in this class of vehicle, you need pop and sex appeal," says auto analyst Rebecca Lindland. The Maybach 62 looks an awful lot like a Mercedes S- Class, which can be had for a quarter of the price. "I drive a Mercedes S," adds auto-industry consultant Chris Cedergren, "It's my mini-Maybach." Now, word is that Aston Martin is kicking Maybach's tires, but the troubled brand might just as likely disappear. So take a peek at the plush while it lasts. choice. Please, no Drakkar Noir. -Robert Klara • Hand-stitched leather The hide is harvested exclusively from a herd of "special South German breeding bulls." No, we're not kidding. • Heated steering wheel Jeeves' hands will stay nice and toasty thanks to this leather-covered wheel with an interior heating coil. • "Parktronic" ultrasonic i obstacle detector Computerized echo sounder calculates the distance to the nearest Height (in.) 62.0 impediment and warns the driver. Length (in.) 242.7 Width (in.) 78.0 SPECS: Wheelbase: 150.7 in. Base price: $368,750 Engine: 5.5 liter V-12 Horsepower: 543 O Four layers of hand-applied paint A "phosphating bath" and "cathodic dip priming" precede the color application and a clearcoat. This ain't MAACO, kids. Drivetrain: rear-wheel drive Fuel economy: 10 mpg city; 15 hwy Curb weight: 6,340 lbs. 8 | ADWEEKMEDIA | 1.31.2011 1.31.2011 | ADWEEKMEDIA | 9