Uh-oh: Maybach has found the two-tone paint again

Feast your eyes upon the gaudy magnificence of the new Mercedes-Maybach S-Class. Now with extra chrome and one hundred per cent more beigneness. 

Maybach’s done the two-tone thing before. Not well. Back in the early 2000s, when Mercedes attempted to revive the forgotten luxury marque, the resulting 57 and 62 saloons were available in a variety of dubious two-tone paint shades appealing mainly to owners of Emirati hotels. And Rick Ross. 

By 2013, the global financial crisis – and the surging success of the likes of Rolls-Royce and Bentley – had put paid to the Maybach machine. It was consigned to the annuls of motoring history once again... for about five minutes.

For three years, Mercedes has been offering stretched, ultra-specced S-Classes under the Maybach brand, with complete bespoke wheels, grilles, interior finishes and vast quantities of sneer factor. Mercedes-Maybachs are aimed at clients who look at a Mercedes S-Class – a genuine candidate for Best Car In The World status – and shudder at the thought of being whooshed around in something so common. 

So, as Mercedes has finished facelifting the S-Class and then shoehorning most of its tech and cabin design into a family hatchback, it’s turned its attentions – and chrome-plating gun – to the Maybach. 

In addition to the new paint hues (nine combinations, since you ask, plus a new double-clear coat option which gives the car a piano-like finish, we’re told) there’s a new design of many-spoke 20-inch wheel. Inside, you’re welcomed into a suite-like cocoon of yet more beige, with a choice of copper, gold or titanium stitching. 

Wait – our mistake – those are the colours of the thread. Though we wouldn’t put it past Maybach to stitch the seats together using actual gold or platinum, if you asked nicely enough. 

Engine options remain a 4.0-litre, 462bhp V8 with rear or all-wheel drive, or a 6.0-litre V12 developing a meaty 621bhp. All Maybachs get you from 0-62mph comfortably under five seconds, depending on the heftiness of your chosen driver/bodyguard/henchman. Feel free to delete as appropriate. 

Question is, would your personal oligarchy be better commanded from within the quilted confines of the world’s most opulent Benz, or the statesmanlike new Rolls Phantom?