Maybach has delivered one of the finest roadsters on earth for a romantic moonlight drive. Room for two, a supple ride, a gorgeous view over a curved hood, perfect flow of air up and over the windshield and cockpit with virtually no backsplash to disrupt pleasant conversation, and the ability at any time to experience a rush of power and speed when the moment calls. Sounds of the deep, burbly bass-baritone exhaust dancing atop the engine’s upper intake sounds in the treble clef—utterly magnificent.
As the most luxurious evolution of AMG’s SL 63, Maybach SL 680 proves the truth of that old song: every girl’s crazy ‘bout a sharp-dressed man. Wherever this car travels, people double-take and triple-take. The SL is the world’s best Gentleman’s Sport-Tourer. Maybach brings muchness, meaning much more luxury.
At stoplights on the grand boulevards of Los Angeles I had people rolling down windows to engage in conversation, to lean out to better gape at the white leather and carpet of the open cockpit.
Maybach SL sneaks up mentally on people because it’s not obvious, like a mid-engine hypercar wedge. It’s subtle, until the onlookers process, and then the double-takes begin. Wherever you go, you own the scene. Maybach SL was born for Sunset Boulevard.
Inside, the rear jump seats are removed, replaced with a leather-lined parcel shelf. No gain in legroom, but SL offers ample shoulder, leg and foot room for men seven or eight inches beyond the U.S. median height.
Maybach SL has the same pair of flatscreens and touchscreen logic found in the AMG SL, but with unique graphics. Note the rose gold surrounds of the analog-style gauges.
The multi-layered top performs its sequenced in less than the time spent awaiting a left-turn arrow.
If only this car had arrived a few months later during one of our brief bouts of winter rain. Nothing better than putting down the top and driving beautiful roads just after the rain stops and the air is powerfully charged by the nearby ocean, scrubbed clean. Anyone in California or Miami will understand.
Maybach’s steering wheel is massively proportioned, a big hoop, reminding of wheels in my 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s luxury cars. But Maybach SL has well sorted Mercedes controls on the left and right spars allowing thumb-press and finger-tip control of a range of functions just like in any Mercedes. Just German reason and logic.
But Karl Maybach’s greatest contribution to the wonders of European civilization were his enormously powerful diesel engines that gave birth to the very first high-speed trains of Europe, emphatically putting steam trains out of business. His designs were built under license by Bristol for use in British passenger trains, too.
After the passing of Karl Maybach, his company was fully absorbed into Daimler/Mercedes-Benz in the 1960s, and Maybach-Mercedes rail engines were produced till 1966. Unlike other ultra-luxury brands that were reconstituted in the past few decades under new ownership, Maybach has intimate century-long ties with its mother, Mercedes-Benz.
Maybach’s 4-liter twin-turbo V8 is built on AMG’s one-man/one-engine niche assembly line. The engine produces a creamy 577 horsepower between 5500 and 6500 rpm. And 590 lb.-ft. of torque from 2500 to 5000 rpm. Power is delivered through a 9-speed transmission and fully variable all-wheel drive system.
For those obsessed with specs charts, yes, Maybach SL 680 is a slower out of the blocks than the highly athletic AMG SL 63. But there’s a reason: No Sport+ calibration, which means no Launch Control scripting. I always remind people that Launch Control in any German or Italian supercar is computer-controlled violence, and I doubt many Maybach owners would ever use it. I doubt many AMG SL owners use it, except to show off for a friend. I only use Launch Control once or twice in any test car. In Sport, Maybach SL is nearly as quick in a straight line as its AMG brother. Maybach delivers 4 seconds flat like a swimmer effortlessly backstroking, leaving the Muggles in its wake.
Maybach SL also has considerable additional sound insulation to filter out all but the sweetest sounds. Top up, Maybach SL is almost an anechoic chamber, perfect for a little Zen meditation while ambling down a beautiful road.
A moonlight drive is best accomplished in a car with easy, nearly effortless acceleration and speed, allowing the pilot to press down firmly on the throttle while wafting down a quiet, open highway, the car rushing to speeds not to be mentioned, bringing a thrill to a friendly passenger. At this, Maybach SL succeeds like no other.
