click above to view more high-resolution images of the Maybach 62 Laundaulet

Lord help us, for the automotive industry has sunk to a new low. As if it wasn't bad enough that Maybach created an ode to conspicuous consumption like the 62 Landaulet, but now Mercedes' big, goofy brother has decided to put the thing into production.

Following a spat of rumors, Maybach initially unveiled the half limo/half convertible/half marshmallow in Dubai this past November, and then laid it on us in person at the Detroit show. It starts with the Maybach 62 S and then peeled off half the roof like a can of sardines and slathered whitewash all over the thing. Unfortunately, as we could see by the yellow Cayenne we showed you yesterday, money and taste don't always go together, and Daimler seems content to separate the former from those who don't have the latter. The reported list price rivals the concept itself for sheer lunacy: $1.19 million. That's an unfathomable $756k premium over the $433,750 list price for a 2008 Maybach 62 S, though we've found conflicting reports that it will start at £350,000 or around $685,000 USD. We'd like to speak to any potential customers considering buying a Maybach 62 Laundaulet about this bucket of extremely rare sand that we're offering for a very reasonable price.

We've added some new official high-res images of the 62 Laundaulet to our gallery of live shots from the 2008 Detroit Auto Show below.

[Source: Motor Authority]

Gallery: Maybach 62 Landaulet

Maybach to put 62 Landaulet into production originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 23 Jan 2008 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Click on the images to view our high-resolution gallery

Some will say for better, others will say for worse, but one way or another, the Mercedes SLR McLaren is the supercar that refuses to go quietly into the night. It was previewed by the Vision SLR concept way back in 1999, and since entering limited production in 2003, the Anglo-Saxon supercar has performed disappointingly both on the road and in the market. But rather than allowing it to slip away, Mercedes has repeatedly given it new transfusions with the Roadster, 722 and most recently the 722 GT derivatives. The SLR, in all its incarnations, is about due for retirement, so where has it gone? To Florida, of course!

RENNtech, the Sunshine State-based Mercedes tuner par excellence, has been given the exclusive contract to import and distribute the long-named and long-nosed Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 722 GT in North America. RENNtech, which, as we reported earlier, tuned the SLR road car to actually produce 722 hp, will offer an allotment of 21 examples of the factory SLR 722 GT track-day special, each available at about $1.2 million.

To sweeten the deal, RENNtech is setting up a full track-day program for the SLR 722 GT owners, including set-up and maintenance by specialized technicians, opportunity to learn the track behind the wheel of its special SLR karts (pictured, right) and instruction from professional drivers (David Coulthard, although no longer affiliated with McLaren, is claimed to be on board).

To celebrate the arrival of the sharpest (and potentially last) version of the SLR to American shores, we've got a whole mess of new photos for you... just click on the gallery below. (Full press release after the jump.)

[Source: RENNtech]

Gallery: SLR 722 GT in America

Continue reading Coming to America: Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 GT

Coming to America: Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 GT originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 20 Dec 2007 10:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.