Mercedes-Maybach S 580

With the S 680 demanding a two-year wait, the 580 is your go-to Maybach S-Class. Is it worth it?

- Rohit Paradkar

You probably know me. I would rather pair a t-shirt with denims and go drive a fast car on a winding road than dress up in formals and attend meetings. But sometimes, some cars demand that I clean up, don a blazer and even have a chauffeur ferry me around. I did just that on a fine Monday morning. I even had a lean breakfast so that I could button up that blazer which comes out only once in a while. I can’t really be doing a three-piece suit, but I do clean up enough to tell the world I’m going to be driven around. Just the way the white limo that pulled up in Ritz Carlton’s grand driveway to pick me up had a little more gleam and a few more premium yet elegant touches to tell the onlookers that it was more than the “regular” S-Class which is fast becoming a common sight thanks to its technical prowess.

Of course, a Maybach needs to push that technology envelope further, because if only having the three-Ms was enough, that emblem would flaunt itself on the bonnet and not sit on the c-pillar. I see an AMG GT owner park and walk towards the lobby as I walk towards “my” Maybach, so I decide to show off a bit of the new technology. Before the valet can reach out for the door, my chauffeur swipes on the infotainment to swing open the door, handsfree. People who notice are intrigued. I step in, smirk and gesture at the valet instructing him not to close the door and then gesture at the door instead to make it close automatically.