Mercedes-Maybach Pullman Guard: A 5,600Kg Luxurious Limo

Owned by Mercedes-Benz, Maybach has always produced cars that are Germany’s equivalent of Rolls-Royce’s offerings from Britain. Maybach knows how to pamper its super-rich customers by stuffing its offerings with super-luxurious creature-comforts. Take the standard Mercedes-Maybach Pullman for instance. It is a 21-foot long limousine with four recliner seats in the back, arranged to create a lounge-on-wheels setup. However, engineers at Mercedes were told that it needs further patronizing. And, what they’ve created is nothing less than a road-legal tank, only with all the conceivable luxuries on-board.

Say hello to the Mercedes-Maybach Pullman Guard. Yes, that name is a mouthful but so is the list of fabulously plush levels of pampering that the car is jam-packed to deliver, and how! The Pullman Guard tops the line of S-Class Guard models that also includes the Mercedes-Benz S600 Guard and the Mercedes-Maybach S600 Guard. Based on the standard Mercedes-Maybach Pullman, the Guard variant is an armoured vehicle with high-strength steel and heat-resistant aramid components. It also features thicker glass windows with polycarbonate coating.

Not surprisingly, the weight of the entire vehicle now tops 5,600Kg. That makes it heavier than two Rolls-Royce Phantoms put together! Under the hood, it is powered by the same engine that does duty in the standard Pullman: a 6.0-litre, twin-turbo V-12, pumping out 523PS and 612Nm of torque. With the added weight, performance is one area where the armoured limousine will fail against the standard Pullman.

From the inside as well as the outside, the Guard variant is hardly distinguishable from the car it is based on. The doors on the Pullman Guard are electrically assisted to help the chauffeur fight the additional weight. The windows do open and close but are hydraulically operated. The mechanism not only helps in operating the windows faster but also makes it more robust in tackling any infringement.

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To soften the blow, a bit, let’s just understand that the standard Pullman costs around US $5,00,000 (approximately Rs 3.34 crore) and it is good value if you consider the level of luxury it delivers. The Guard variant is expected to cost around US $1.6 million (approximately Rs 10.86 crore) when it goes on sale, sometime in 2017. I know it’s steep but when was the last time you sat in a car and thought - “even if I encounter a battlefield on the way and get sprayed on with some bullets, I wouldn’t really notice it, would I?”