Cheap gimmicks are a bad look on a quarter-million-dollar luxury car. Then again, if Mercedes-Maybach can get 15 suckers to cough up a $40,000 premium for the “Night Edition” super-duper S-Class with a few tacked-on decorative pieces, why shouldn’t it?
Mercedes-Maybach has turned out some hardware that’s pretty silly, in a good way, as an arbiter of extreme luxury. (Remember that half-convertible portal-axle G-Wagen?) The company’s latest offering is the 2020 S650 Maybach Night Edition, and it is not nearly as exciting or interesting. While the standard Mercedes-Maybach S650 starts at $202,550, this bad boy lists for $242,950 unlocking:
- Carbon-fiber trim and spoiler
- Unique 20-inch wheels
- Black exterior paint (whoa!) and an apparently unique black-and-white leather interior
- Leather floor mats (what?)
- A leather truck mat (OK...)
- “...while Night Edition badges also adorn the front fenders and interior trim.” Per the press release.
Only 15 will be sold, so Maybach claims.
Any time you see emblems as a bullet point in what makes a special edition special, you might not be looking at something that’s all that special.
Minor cosmetic treatments for a proportionate price increase is a good way for automakers to juice interest in an old platform, or squeeze a little extra margin out of anything. But this Night Edition is about as creative as charging exorbitant fees for WiFi at an expensive hotel because you know your clientele won’t look at the price.
Come on Maybach, you’re one of the few car companies that can really push limits! Give us something fun and flashy to aspire to, the world doesn’t need another black-and-white mobster limo. So boring.
And a carbon fiber spoiler on a luxury sedan! Even a 612-horsepower one! It just doesn’t make sense!
Maybe I’m just grumpy because the world’s terrible and I miss Fancy Kirsten. I’m sure she’d have an amusing dismissal of the $242,950 Mercedes-Maybach’s bizarrely half-assed “Night Edition.” But alas, all you’ve got is me, and this car just bums me out.
I’m sure it’s very smooth and comfortable, though.