Twelve Cylinders, Real Gold, No Apologies: The Maybach V12 Edition
While the rest of the car industry is busy trying to convince you that a luxury experience is best delivered by a whisper, an app, and the gentle hum of something that sounds like an air conditioning unit, Mercedes-Maybach has decided to do something magnificent.
It’s built a tribute to the V12.
Not “a nice nod”. Not “a quiet celebration”. A full, chest-out, gold-trimmed, limited-to-just-50-cars declaration that twelve cylinders are not a “powertrain choice” but a lifestyle position. The Mercedes-Maybach V12 Edition exists for the same reason people still buy mechanical watches: because they can, and because it’s better when it’s unnecessary.
On the outside, it comes wearing a two-tone paint job that looks like it was commissioned by someone who owns a vineyard and a small army of lawyers. The upper body is MANUFAKTUR olive metallic, the lower is obsidian black metallic, and between them is a high-tech silver metallic pinstripe.
There’s the Maybach double-M, yes, but it’s paired with a chrome-and-gold medallion featuring a big “12”, as a tribute to Maybach’s old Zeppelin DS 8 hood ornament and a 24-carat gold ring, with a delicate diamond engraving, divided into 12 segments.
Inside, it’s exactly what you want from something wearing that much ceremony: Nappa leather in MANUFAKTUR exclusive saddle brown, paired with high-gloss brown burr walnut wood trim. It’s the sort of cabin where you feel like you should remove your shoes before entering, and also sign something that confirms you won’t eat chips inside. And then there’s the steering wheel, which is trimmed in the same wood, and is handcrafted over hours of precision work.
And underpinning all this theatre is the reason it exists: the V12 itself. A configuration so smooth and so inherently decadent. A V12 doesn’t so much “rev” as waft. It makes power in the way a grand piano makes noise: effortlessly, expensively, and with a faint sense that anyone nearby should be paying attention.
The official figures for the Mercedes-Maybach S 680 are listed at 14.2–13.2 L/100 km combined, with CO₂ emissions of 323–300 g/km, CO₂ class G. Which is not too dusty all things considered. If you’re buying a V12 Maybach, you’re not trying to win a sustainability award. You’re buying the last chapter of a particular story: multi-cylinder excess, mechanical smoothness, and the quiet satisfaction of knowing your engine configuration has more moving parts than some people’s entire lives.
That’s what makes the V12 Edition feel oddly honest. It isn’t pretending to be the future. It’s acknowledging that a lot of the future will be silent—and choosing, unapologetically, to be the beautiful, gold-trimmed exception.
While much of the car industry is busy trying to convince you that a luxury experience is best delivered by a whisper, an app, and the gentle hum of something that sounds like an air conditioning unit, Mercedes-Maybach has decided to do something magnificent.
Not “a nice nod”. Not “a quiet celebration”. A full, chest-out, gold-trimmed, limited-to-just-50-cars declaration that twelve cylinders are not a “powertrain choice” but a lifestyle position. The Mercedes-Maybach V12 Edition exists for the same reason people still buy mechanical watches: because they can, and because it’s better when it’s unnecessary.
On the outside, it comes wearing a two-tone paint job that looks like it was commissioned by someone who owns a vineyard and a small army of lawyers. The upper body is MANUFAKTUR olive metallic, the lower is obsidian black metallic, and between them is a high-tech silver metallic pinstripe. Applying that paintwork can take up to 10 working days, which is exactly the sort of pointlessly glorious overkill Maybach buyers are paying for.
There’s the Maybach double-M, yes, but it’s paired with a chrome-and-gold medallion featuring a big “12”, as a tribute to Maybach’s old Zeppelin DS 8 hood ornament and a 24-carat gold ring, with a delicate diamond engraving, divided into 12 segments.
Inside, it’s exactly what you want from something wearing that much ceremony: Nappa leather in MANUFAKTUR exclusive saddle brown, paired with high-gloss brown burr walnut wood trim. It’s the sort of cabin where you feel like you should remove your shoes before entering, and also sign something that confirms you won’t eat chips inside. And then there’s the steering wheel, which is trimmed in the same wood, and is handcrafted over hours of precision work. There’s also a diamond-quilted saddle brown roof liner, special edition embroidery, a “1 of 50” badge in the centre console, and a golden inlay in the rear centre console that can take up to seven working days of handcraftsmanship on its own.
And underpinning all this theatre is the reason it exists: the V12 itself. A configuration so smooth and so inherently decadent. A V12 doesn’t so much “rev” as waft. It makes power in the way a grand piano makes noise: effortlessly, expensively, and with a faint sense that anyone nearby should be paying attention. Specifically, it’s a 5,980 cc V12 putting out 450 kW (612 hp) at 5,250–5,500 rpm and 900 Nm from 2,000–4,000 rpm, fed by MOTRONIC ME 17.7.8, with a 9G-TRONIC automatic and 4×4 (AWD) traction doing the heavy lifting.
The official figures for the Mercedes-Maybach S 680 are listed at 14.2–13.2 L/100 km combined, with CO₂ emissions of 323–300 g/km, CO₂ class G. Which is not too dusty all things considered. If you’re buying a V12 Maybach, you’re not trying to win a sustainability award. You’re buying the last chapter of a particular story: multi-cylinder excess, mechanical smoothness, and the quiet satisfaction of knowing your engine configuration has more moving parts than some people’s entire lives. Also, it’ll do 0–100 km/h in 4.5 seconds, then tap out at an electronically limited 250 km/h.
And because it’s still an S-Class underneath the jewellery, you also get the big-ticket tech: electrically operated comfort rear doors, active road noise compensation, rear-axle steering, and E-ACTIVE BODY CONTROL active suspension, and more internal screens than a cineplex. But the V12 Edition It isn’t pretending to be the future. It’s acknowledging that a lot of the future will be silent and choosing, unapologetically, to be the beautiful, gold-trimmed exception.