AUTOMOTIVE NEWS: Maybach 6... Mercedes Benz Creates a Stunning Sled By Way of the Golden Age of Holl
Mercedes Benz has once again proven itself to be the world's premier auto-maker with it's latest flagship, the Vision 6 Cabriolet Concept. Presented at the 2017 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance (where else?) by way of the storied Maybach nameplate. This chariot inspires a rejuvenation of the Golden age of Hollywood and the coastal drives that will most assuredly accompany it.
At nearly 19 feet long, Maybach's two seater makes the word opulent seem rightfully cliché. To truly grasp this grand tourer, we must delve back to the original "Golden Age of Hollywood" and sneak a glimpse at the preferred ride of the glitzy glamour that pulled up to Grauman's Chinese Theater, i.e. the glitziest dame of them all, the Duesenberg or "Duesy!"
Founded in 1913 by German immigrant brothers, August and Fredrick Duesenberg, the Duesenberg car company would become one of the United State's most celebrated and storied automobile manufactures before it's demise in 1937.
The inaugural age of the "Muscle Car" got an explosive kick in the ass via the good ol' red, white and blue, via the black, red & gold. The German brothers focused their geniuses primarily on racing and more importantly, on winning. In 1923, Jimmy Murphy became the first American to win the French Grand Prix when he roared across the finish line driving a Duesy at Le Mans ... while three Indianapolis 500 victories beheld the Duesenberg name in 1924, 1925 and 1927.
E.I. Cord bought the company in 1925 and kept Augie & Fred on for their engineering skills and brand name, albeit in separate divisions. Cord wanted to build the biggest, baddest and most expensive cars in the world to rival the European power-houses of Hispano-Suiza, Isotta Fraschini, Rolls-Royce and most importantly, Mercedes Benz.
Cord hated August and kept him out of the main Duesenberg facility but at the end of the day, Augie was the fellow that brought Cord's wishes to fruition. The result was the now infamous Supercharged J series ... Models J, SJ, and SSJ. Built from 1928-1937. One could safely say that these were the super-models of the day.
The Model J's straight-eight was based on the company's successful racing engines of the 1920's, all designed by Augie. In unsupercharged form, the eight produced an astonishing 265 horsepower, aided by dual overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder. The Model J was capable of a top speed of 119 mph (192 km/h), and 94 mph (151 km/h) in second gear. Bear in mind that this was the 1920's. Other cars featured larger-displacement engines, but none surpassed the J's power.
The lads in Stuttgart were rightfully peeved. After getting their asses smacked about for a decade or so by Hispano-Suiza (a Spanish-Swiss alliance ... can you imagine!?!), a remedy was in the making.
The 540K reared its ferocious head in 1936 after the 500K proved a most superb testing platform. Superchargers billowed out 115hp during everyday driving but bumped up to 180hp when one's properly cobbled leather sole planted itself heavily upon the floorboard in times of "urgency". With exposed exhausts pipes that flanked a bonnet that stretched out for miles (or kilometers) and a back end that sloped down to the vacationing coast that this grandiose boulevardian would be roaring past, the 540k was the light weight Silver Arrow that put the ultimate nail into the Duesenberg coffin.
The Duesenberg Company was dissolved in 1937 while Daimler-Benz pressed on to create some of the most iconic cars of the 20th century, albeit none as much so as the 540K ... which we now have a rightful heir to.
"The Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 Cabriolet takes modern luxury into the realms of the ultimate in luxury, and is the perfect embodiment of our design strategy. Breathtaking proportions combined with a luxurious "haute couture" interior help to create the ultimate experience," Gorden Wagener, Chief Design Officer of Daimler AG explained.
Yes, Herr Wagener, you have certainly done so! With lines so clean and proportions so thoroughly unconcerned with efficiency or restraint, yet so thoroughly concerned with brilliant efficiency and elegant restraint... It's no wonder that Mercedes-Benz, being the first ever automaker, continues to be one of the most pioneering.
The Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 is an electric car (Rockefeller's be Damned!). Thanks to its four compact permanent magnet synchronous electric motors, a cutlery and picnic set live where a dipstick and alternator formally nestled. It features all-wheel drive with each wheel having its own motor.
A flat battery sits in the underbody that propels a drive system which has an output of 550 kW (750 hp) with these accompanying performance numbers: Acceleration from 0-62mph in under four seconds, Top speed electronically governed at 155mph, A range of over 310miles according to the NEDC (over 200 miles according to EPA).
Let's hope that Cadillac, Lincoln or possibly Tesla can or more importantly, will respond to the three pointed star and its ever so futuristic vision of glamour that embodies innovation and inspires brilliance. It'd be good to see a revived Duesy or some crazy assed Spaniard waving a Swiss flag or possibly a South African straddling a Chilean. Until then, we'll just have to rejoice in, yet again, a Daimler home-run. Ya, das its vat vie must do.
This gorgeous beast can be seen on the glorious pages of Net Car Show at:
https://www.netcarshow.com/mercedes-benz/2017-vision_maybach_6_cabriolet_concept/
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