MAY DAY (some text hidden) --NONE--

By Jonathan Crouch

The Mercedes-Maybach GLS makes quite a statement. Jonathan Crouch takes a look.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 66

Can an exotically-finished version of the Mercedes GLS large luxury SUV really offer a credible alternative to super-luxury SUVs like the Bentley Bentayga and the Rolls-Royce Cullinan? That's the task being set here for a car that'll be a very rare sight indeed, the Mercedes-Maybach GLS. Primarily aimed at the Chinese market, its interior is arguably the most luxurious of any boardroom-level conveyance you could choose.

Backgroundword count: 270

The Maybach name is a foundational part of automotive history. It was, after all, Wilhelm Maybach, along with Gottlieb Daimler, who created the world's very first motorcar in 1886, the Daimler Motorkutsche, a stagecoach with a 1.5hp grandfather clock engine. From these unpromising beginnings, Wilhelm went on to help develop the Mercedes name into the symbol of elegance and quality it is today. His son Karl meanwhile, who'd inherited his father's engineering genius, wanted to go further, forming the Maybach brand in 1909. It specialised in sensationally luxurious automobiles, each one plusher and more powerful than the last, the series culminating in the 7.0-litre V12 Type 12 of 1929. World War II distracted the company into munitions work for Hitler's Germany after which, for six decades, the Maybach name lay in mothballs. By the turn of the century though, the famous double-M badge had returned - and in appropriate pomp. Stung by BMW's purchase of Rolls Royce and the Volkswagen Group's takeover of Bentley, the Daimler Benz board felt that they too should be represented in the ultimate sphere of automotive manufacture - that of luxury limousines. And rather than buying a brand, they resurrected their own, the Maybach name synonymous with Mercedes from the very beginning. Bespoke '57' and '62' series limousines were launched but weren't popular and the brand was discontinued in 2011. For the 21st century's third decade though, the name was resurrected once again - as 'Mercedes-Maybach', a badge first applied to an ultimate version of the S-Class saloon and then to the car we look at here, an exotic version of the GLS large SUV.

Driving Experienceword count: 202

We'd expected a 12 cylinder engine to beat beneath the huge bonnet of this SUV-IP but no, Mercedes has chosen to install the twin turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 usually used by its AMG performance division. It's tuned a little more lazily here of course but still develops 557hp and 730Nm of torque, which will be sufficient to spirit this leviathan to 62mph in 4.2s and on towards a top speed of 155mph should your chauffeur find himself pursued by a gang of cut-throat kidnappers. All-weather traction is delivered by 4MATIC all-wheel drive. The brand has fitted this car out with a bespoke 'Maybach Dynamic Select' drive programme focused on refinement and comfort. The drive setting restricts body movement, smoothes out the engine's torque curve, disengages the start/stop system and adopts an altered shift pattern for the 9-speed auto gearbox, with fewer shift changes for more seamless progress. If you want to go further, the standard air suspension system can be optionally fitted out with the brand's 'E-Active Body Control system, adding a function which leans the car into corners like a motorcycle at angles of up to 3 degrees so as to limit body roll and improve passenger comfort. Sounds odd; really works.

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