Autoblog

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]

click above for more high-res images of the Maybach Lanaulet

If you'd rather be driven by a chauffeur than get behind the wheel yourself, you might want to check out the Maybach Landaulet that made its North American debut in Detroit this week. The half sedan/half convertible allows for the driver's compartment to be completely closed while the passengers in the rear can enjoy open top motoring. The sky isn't the only luxury available - passengers are treated to supple white leather seating and a full entertainment system with a DVD player 6-disc CD changer, dual television screens, and even a compartment to hold a bottle of champagne and goblets. The rear seats also recline, meaning you can lie back, listen to some tunes, and enjoy the fresh air while you sip on your drink. We'd love a test drive ride, but in some place a little warmer than Detroit.

The rumors, the announcement, the official photos...none of it was enough to believe a once sensible company like Daimler-Benz could have created something so outrageously, ridiculously impractical as a six-figure, all-white, high-performance, partial-convertible, super-luxury limousine. Seeing it on video doesn't quite make it believable either. (It's kinda like the Moon Landing to conspiracy theorists that way). But short of seeing it up close and in person - which we hope won't be necessary - this is just about as close as we'd want to get. Okay, we believe, we believe. Just make it stop.

[Source: YouTube]

Click image for high-res gallery

The rumormill looks to have been accurate. Maybach will publicly unveil the Landaulet at the Middle East International Auto Show later this month. Based on the Maybach 62 S sedan and powered by its 612-horsebower biturbo V12, the Landaulet's front seats are fully enclosed and separated from the rear passenger compartment by a removable divider. Back seat passengers, however, get a sliding soft roof that lets them take in the sun from the comfort of the trick Barcaloungers that pass for back seats in the Maybach. The chauffeur's area is is finished in black leather, while the rear is done in all white with piano black and gold-flecked black granite inserts. Also, the opacity of that glass partition separating the driver from the passengers can be electronically controlled.

When it's revealed in Dubai, it'll be billed as a concept. Despite that title, it's completely reasonable to expect that the rumored 20-vehicle production run is an absolute lock, given that the car's guaranteed to be sold at pretty much any price Daimler chooses to ask for it (read: they can make it profitable). For the oil-rich sheiks likely to be snapping them up, money is not a concern. They see things they like, they want them, and they acquire them. It'll be no different with the Landaulet. These people buy new widebody jets for personal use. You think a super-expensive car's going to give them pause?

[Source: Daimler]

Even in the post-Chrysler age, Maybach remains a bit of a thorn in Mercedes' side. Its vehicles have been far less than the sales success hoped for, prompting Daimler to buy back 29 Maybach dealers. Subsequently the parent company wouldn't be so eager to invest more into the ultra-premium brand, but reports are circulating the internet of a new version that would require significantly less investment than an all-new model that could breathe a little more life into the dying breed.

Landaulets were a popular bodystyle in the 1920's and 30's, one which Maybach may be resurrecting with a half-convertible version of the extra-long Maybach 62. With a convertible roof fitted from the B-pillar rearwards, the Maybach 62 Landaulet would let the sun shine in on its pampered rear occupants, while leaving the front section covered with a conventional roof for the chauffer.

Reports indicate that the Landaulet version is being prepared for launch at next month's Middle East International Motor Show, held mid-November in Dubai, where some eccentric and moneyed sheiks might still be interested in the unique vehicles.

[Source: World Car Fans]

Click on the image above to jump to our high-resolution image gallery

Innovations in retractable hard-tops come from what could very well be the broadest range of sources in the industry. The complex retractable roof systems are sometimes designed and developed by the automakers themselves, sometimes by specialists like ASC, sometimes from design houses like Fioravanti (whose flip-top made it onto the Ferrari Superamerica), and sometimes they're even made by independent garages (like this Mustang we brought you earlier). This system, perhaps the most innovative to date, was designed by component manufacturer Magna Steyr and showcased in the MILA Future concept.

The roof is an ingenious four-in-one system that transforms from a fixed roof into a full convertible, a targa or a "landaulet" with the rear window retracted. The system is comprised of the roof section, the rear decklid (with integrated B and C pillar buttresses) and the retractable rear window glass, and is designed to optimize trunk space.

The concept was apparently displayed at the huge Geneva show a couple weeks ago, but with all the manufacturers' press conferences running with typical Swiss precision, we unfortunately missed it. You can, however, check out the images of the car in various states of openness in the gallery as well as the press release after the jump.

[Source: Magna Steyr via Carscoop]