Ride fit for Cruella
FINALLY, an answer to that age old question: what would Cruella de Vil drive if she was still around hunting dalmatian puppies today?
Surely the Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6, a concept vehicle on display at last week’s Pebble Beach car show, was tailor made for that evil Disney villain. Yes, we said concept. Obviously. The features integrated into this six-metre long grand tourer are just about as much fantasy as Cruella herself. But, as always, some of these far-fetched items could be precursors to inclusions in real-world road cars around the corner.
Okay, six metres is a slight exaggeration. It’s really only 5.7 metres long. Still, that’s almost 350mm longer than a long wheelbase S-Class, and that car has four doors. The Vision only has two, so most of its cartoonish dimension is made up by a phallic, bordering on obscene, nose section.
This kind of styling, where the passenger compartment sits waaaay rearward behind a very long bonnet, was commonplace in the 1920s to early ‘50s. But then, it was necessary because the engines powering these grandiose machines were often insanely long themselves. A Deusenberg Model J, for instance, was fitted with a 7-litre straight-eight Lycoming aircraft engine.
Interestingly, Mercedes says the Vision 6 and its gullwing doors is not of retro design, and is rather a reinterpretation of classic aesthetics. And here we thought that was the very definition of retro. Whatever you say, Merc.
So what sort of mechanical leviathan lies beneath the concept’s outstretched snout? A modern straight-eight? Or a V12 perhaps? Maybe a V16? Nope, under this hood you’ll find nothing but a luggage compartment with two custom-made diamond quilted trolley suitcases. Clearly the term downsizing doesn’t feature in Maybach’s lexicon.
The Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 is actually an electric car, and its power source - an 80 kWh battery - is positioned low in the floor. Each wheel gets its own electric motor, and a total output of 550kW means 100km/h comes up in under four seconds. Mercedes also claims a range of over 500km, though that’s very unlikely with regular testing of that impressive acceleration figure.
Recharging can be done in the same way as your average Nissan Leaf - either by public charging dock or via domestic outlet and cord. But, a more exciting method involves wireless top-ups with an electromagnetic field. Pity Mercedes-Maybach hasn’t explained this in more detail.
Inside things get really wild.