SoRrY. Posted August 4, 2017 Share Posted August 4, 2017 The annual Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance has turned into a small luxury auto show right before the Frankfurt or Paris motor shows, with luxury automakers filling the increasingly jammed Concept Lawn with dramatic concepts created just for the concours. This practice has noticeably picked up in recent years, and automakers now use the concours for gauging customer interest in front of those with the money to buy just about any car in the world. A recent Instagram video posted by Mercedes-Benz design boss Gorden Wagener is now teasing, via some intended misdirection, a new Mercedes-Maybach concept expected to take to the concept lawn at Pebble this year, with Mercedes designers shuffling around sketches of past concepts including the Vision Maybach 6 concept coupe that debuted at Pebble in 2016. Autocar reports the concept due at Pebble will be a drop-top version of the Mercedes-Maybach 6, but hasn't cited firm production plans for the model. The four-wheel-drive 2+2 EV seen last year produced a total of 738 hp through its four electric motors, drawing juice from an underfloor battery, and it was said to be capable of sprints from 0-60 mph of under 4 seconds while boasting a range of more than 200 miles. The sleek 18.5-foot-long coupe sat on 24-inch wheels, as if intending to crowd out other Pebble concepts through sheer square footage alone, and featured a chrome grille said to have been inspired by pinstripe suits. The concept also featured a number of classic Mercedes and Maybach design elements along with gullwing doors, plus a Star Trek-style interior. The second-most-recent revival of Maybach never actually produced a convertible version when the W140-generation Maybach lineup was its own separate brand, only offering what we'll graciously call a president-for-life Landaulet model. The Landau retained the C-pillars and rear doors of the Maybach 62 sedan, with the only open section being a retractable canvas roof for the rear seat passengers (permitting them to wave at adoring throngs of citizens). Maybach was criticized at the time for not offering a simple two-door cabriolet priced akin to the short-wheelbase 57 sedan, which could have helped sales in the sunnier tax havens. It remains to be seen whether Mercedes-Maybach will field a production cabriolet, but with the S-Class Cabriolet already on the market it will surely be easy for the automaker to develop an even more luxurious model based on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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