According to its makers, the Mercedes-Maybach S 600 is the car that lays to rest the ghost of the failed stand-alone Maybach project and arrives as the most luxurious, comprehensively equipped and refined Mercedes-Benz S-Class ever.
For all the qualities of the standard S-Class, though, it needs to be as good as they claim in order to persuade buyers to forgo the likes of the Bentley Flying Spur and Rolls-Royce Ghost.
As such, it has been substantially re-engineered and is longer, taller and more spacious than even the long-wheelbase S-Class, gaining 207mm in length (allowing 159mm more knee-room) and 2mm in height. Despite that modest latter figure, headroom increases by 12mm thanks to the way the new layout plays out. The cabin can also be trimmed in a wide variety of leathers, woods, roofliners and stitch arrangements, and all without pushing up the list price.
The list of luxuries is long and - inevitably - focused on enhancing passenger comfort while the chauffeur (who is one of the few items not available as standard but will almost inevitably be installed post-delivery) focuses on getting from A to B.
The standard equipment list includes a chrome twin exhaust system, LED headlights, a sliding panoramic sunroof, keyless entry and go, run-flat tyres, tinted rear windows and a 360-degree camera sytem on the outside.