The Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 has been revealed as a 738bhp electric-powered, luxury coupé that's almost six metres long and features gullwing doors.
Unveiled at Monterey Car Week in California, the concept pays homage to the extravagantly styled aero coupés of the early 1900s while also showcasing a modern vision for the German car maker.
The Vision Maybach 6 hints at plans by Mercedes to build on its upmarket Maybach range with a new Rolls-Royce Wraith-rivalling coupé. Insiders suggest that such a car could be assembled by a new bespoke coach-building operation to provide customers of its higher-end models with greater freedom in customising their cars.
The one-off coupé also showcases a powerful electric drive system being developed by Mercedes for use in a range of new zero-emission models.
The Vision Maybach 6 has been styled at Mercedes’ main studio in Stuttgart under the company’s head of design, Gorden Wagener. It reinterprets many classic Maybach design themes while incorporating elements of the brand’s latest design lineage, as first previewed on the IAA (Intelligent Aerodynamic Automobile) at last year’s Frankfurt motor show.
The Vision Maybach 6’s striking chrome grille is modelled on past Maybach models and features 25 vertical struts that Mercedes describes as “a display of precision assembly”. The grille is set to appear on future Maybach models in a bid to further distinguish them from their Mercedes siblings. On the Vision Maybach 6, it is incorporated into a large front bumper that also houses distinctive thin-lined LED headlights and a heavily contoured lower section with blade-like air ducts that feed cooling air to the front brakes.
The long bonnet features Mercedes-Benz’s traditional three-pointed star emblem and the concept also has gullwing doors, hinging upwards from the roof, to provide easy access to the interior.
At the rear is a boat-tail design, similar to that of the Mercedes IAA concept. It aims to provide the coupé with excellent aerodynamic properties without the need for an additional spoiler.
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Hilariously bad
A cartoon
When did form follows function die?
This Vision Maybach, being electric powered surely does not functionally need such a huge bonnet or a massive grille. Unless the ventilation of the owner's extensive luggage being a necessity.
There has not been a car maker to date that has been able to successfully invent a new design language for pure electric cars. Not in my eyes at least.