Maybach Landaulet or Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead?

[coolraoul]

Which one do you prefer, the Maybach Landaulet or the Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead?





















Of course the Rolls is more a driver's car, but the battle for the ultimate convertible is interesting...

 

[Bruce]

Without thinking twice, I'd choose the Roller. Love it.

 

[vabboud]

i say roller and quote myself from the main landaulet thread:

i'm gonna be in the minority here and express my dislike of this car. but i'm gonna bore you and tell you why

it is true on paper this car is astounding and wonderful, after all it has acres of woods, swabs of rocks, more tech and gizmo than appolo 13, the space to play two concurrent games of soccer at the same time in the back, enough power to actually send that appolo rocket to the moon, and would probably make cows an endangered species if it were a wee bit more successful

on paper it has nothing less than any other car in the segment, notably the rolls and bentley competitors, and on top of both it has the flashiness of a convertible combined with the comfort of a LWB limo

but why then is it not so special?

the answer is not as simple as one might think, but it boils down to the simple fact that maybach is the lexus of the top 3 uber brands. how dare i say such blasphemy? simple let's figure out together

maybach is a resurrected brand with almost zero historical value beyond some goggle eyed librarians who still think 3 gears is more than enough in any car. from this point alone it loses a big selling point, and a huge justification for price tag, when you buy a maybach you are not entering into an exclusive club that counts amongs its members illustrious people ranging from rudyard kipling, to the monarchs of brittain and passing by john lennon, at most you are joining the king of porn, larry flint (although from a practical point of view it would be a better offer to be friends with flint)

moreover a maybachs selling point is not the wood, leather, and craftsmanship, rather its is the trillions fo gizmos that would put my college's engineering labs to shame. just like lexus the selling point of a maybach is primarily the reclining chair, the tv's, the trillions of buttons that control everything from lighting to how fast the AC system would evacuate your farting smells. in this respect the centerpiece of the maybach is essentially those buttons which are a bonus for the game boy generation, but ultimately not a selling point in this segment.

furthermore maybach designers one upped lexus in offering the most insipid design of all times. in a segment where design and character sells, the maybach designers pulled a korean and copied another design (cannibalizing the S design through a 3 generation span from W140 to W221), whilst offering nothing exceptional in terms of luxury, ostentationeous, and old school stateliness, nor in terms of vulgarity or poseur values. instead offering a souped up mercedes with basically the same functions but on steroids and trippling the price. and to drive the nail a bit further, you can chose to have a tacky bright wood finish, or the greatest blasphemy of them all granit as a trim, as if the car had a kitchen sink.

and the worst part is that in doing so the maybach designers and engineers made it a time specific car, a car that needs to be facelifted, a car subject to the stormy winds of the tech worlds that kills off as fast as it creates. and a car whose customers are likely to judge it in those terms.

but where the key difference with lexus lies is in sales, where lexus has been the joy of upper middle class citizens who think they are buying into a social elite by purchasing the cheaper and more seemingly gizmoed and wooden (though ultimately fake) luxury alternative to the other brands, maybach has not been blessed with the same success.

whereas mercedes market analysts overlooked the fact fact that though people spending hundres of thousands on a car are filthy rich, many of them also have some senses, and have worked a bit for their money.

as for this abberation specifically, well first the landaulet nomenclature is an attempt to approach the brand mercedes in an attempt to capitalize on mercedes success, and might point out to a future even closer rapprochement.

but at the end this is an offense to the original landaulet which was a car for people with subtelty and class, not bling and cash. today sensible nobility and fortuned people do not drive these needless cars, most of them waft along in a simple audi A8, which is more than adequate, in our modern world, it is not good to flash your bucks, and for those who are in high positions, security only permits them to drive in armored cars.

so who may i ask will want a landaulet? a rapper who wants to throw counterfeit bills of one dollars on whores in vegas streets? or a filthy rich bankrupt to be son of the internet boom?

fact is these cars are not sensible today, and where the image counts it is not a selling point. although among those who are fortuned but tasteless it might be sort of a success.

as to the design per se of this landaulet, this bulge on the back can only remind me of van wylder's bulldogue's testicles. in its outrageous size and sheer idiocy in an attempt to capitalize bootspace at the expense of real design. or worse even if it turns out that this solution was the cheapes instead of having a comoplicated boot folding mechanicsm.

at the end of the day, i would never want this car, and at this price level the maybach, and more so this car (where they charge you almsot double to have your toupet winded off your head) are just legal theft. there are cars for less than half the price of the cheapest maybach that would move you in the same speed, comfort and tech heaven, not least of all is mercs own S, and the cras that cost as much as amaybach at least have the added guarantee of history, stateliness, old world quality, and sheer luxur in its most reserved and vulgar dichotomy possible.

thank you for losing so much time with me

 

[Sunny]

The cars are not in the same class really, one is strictly chaufer driven and the other not. But aesthetically, definitely Rolls. Landaulet is really just a 62 Maybach with a roof job.

 

[Centurion]

Phantom > Maybach 57

Landaulet < Drophead

The roller looks best but the space, interior design and the concept of the Landaulet makes me forgive it for it's bland exterior design.

Sitting in the back of the car with the roof down you would look like the ruler of the universe.

Imagine yourself sitting in with with your wife just coming from a wine testing letting yourself glide in it along the Italian coast enjoying the scenery while eating rich Belgian chocolate. Gahhhhhh that sounds wonderful. I could see myself spending several hours in the backseat during summer 2008.

 

[NarutoRamen]

How about neither? I'm not a fan of the Drophead a bit, and the Maybach just looks way outdated.

 

[SDNR]

I would choose the Phantom over Maybach, the Rolls has pedigree. The Maybach was designed to be, above all else, a status symbol -- that bugs me a lot -- it has no soul.

I love the original Maybachs from the 1930s, they were magnificent machines, unfortunately, DaimlerChrysler did not capture the spirit of those great cars -- that is something BMW must be commended on, they created a real Rolls-Royce with substance and character.

 

[MikeJ]

I'll take the Maybach. There are way too many things about the design of the Rolls which bug me greatly.

 

[Tarek]

Landaulet is really just a 62 Maybach with a roof job.

Well u can say the same about the drophead,phantom with a rag top

 

[Deleted member 25]

I would choose the Phantom over Maybach, the Rolls has pedigree. The Maybach was designed to be, above all else, a status symbol -- that bugs me a lot -- it has no soul.

I love the original Maybachs from the 1930s, they were magnificent machines, unfortunately, DaimlerChrysler did not capture the spirit of those great cars -- that is something BMW must be commended on, they created a real Rolls-Royce with substance and character.

Rob what happened ??! WHere's your avatar ?

 

[LaArtist]

wow what a wierd poll..
i wouldnt be able to drive my MM..
and the Roller looks like a robot boat..
so.. what is it then
im gonna vote for MM this time..cause i always vote RR..
just beacuse the MM is a uniqe and very special car..

 

[SDNR]

^^ I guess you are right Artist, it is quite a weird poll. But both of these cars will be bought by a similar type of buyer. These are both very ostentatious cars designed to make a big statement about their owners .....both are very prestigious and special. In time, I am sure the Maybach will be a very special collector car because it will be so rare. I think the Maybach looks quite elegant in those pictures ...but I still don't really like the interior very much unfortunately. The Phantom is slightly odd-looking ...and I can think of several other cars I like more, but it is very stylish.

 

[ree]

I would also choose the Rolls Royce! Not even it's more a drivers car, but it really impressed me and it is good looking - so is the Maybach, but I would prefer the smaller 57 S! It's not a convertible car for me!

 

[Sunny]

Well u can say the same about the drophead,phantom with a rag top

No, there are more differences than that.

 

[coolraoul]

I would take the MM anytime.
The Rolls looks strange, with the litttle window in the front, and I have the feeling that...it lacks something. Don't know why, but it looks a bit artificial, a bit unnatural...and it lacks something, really. It alsmost looks "spartan", I can't say whay but it is not satisfying.
Also, the interior is really deceiving, what are these grey plastic speakers in the rear? are with in a tuning contest or what?

The MM, weel, I am not a fan of the regular, but I think this roof gives it a lot of soul and class. I imagine me at the rear, must be absoutely fabulous to be there...
As I said in another thread...

You sit here, confortably driven by Georges...You see the sky, it is blue....You feel the sun, it is warm...You feel the wind, it is delicious...The smooth susmpension rocks you delicately...

And for me it looks way better than the regular MM, with the roof down. This car really feel special, exceptionnal.

The point of the MM, which was its technology, gadgets and screens and all that in the regular MM, now is this wonderful roof.

Suddenly the car is no more about gadgets and technology, but about cruising, pleasure, open sky, feelings and emotions. This roof changes the whole philosophy of the Maybach, and turns it into a real dreamcar, gives it a lot of soul.

I love this car because of that, whereas the other Maybachs let me cold.

 

[EnI]

I love the original Maybachs from the 1930s, they were magnificent machines, unfortunately, DaimlerChrysler did not capture the spirit of those great cars -- that is something BMW must be commended on, they created a real Rolls-Royce with substance and character.

Perhaps BMW should buy Maybach brand from Daimler, and show the Swabs what a proper brand-management is.

....

I agree: MB revived Maybach in a hurry - as a direct response to VW bringing on the Bentley, and BMW the RR. It is a product "developed in a panic" ... not thought out correctly. But it's there now. I hope the Mk2 Maybach will be managed better.

Oh, yes ... RR DC form me. The Maybach L looks like an after-market job. Like eg. MINI limo, or Beetle limo, RangeRover limo etc.

 

[donau]

To me this Maybach is the best looking luxury car in the million dollar/euro range give or take a half a million.

Regarding the thought of someone else owning the brand and managing it better, I guess that would be somewhat desirable as Daimler probably has not quite lived up to the sacred name of Maybach in that regard.
Since the name of Maybach is in the genes of Daimler, I don't see very many potential candidates to do the job though....maybe Porsche since they are really part of the "family" in a manner of speaking and I think Piech did a great job with Bentley.

 

[SDNR]

Also, the interior is really deceiving, what are these grey plastic speakers in the rear? are with in a tuning contest or what?

There is no grey plastic anywhere in the interior ....I have no any idea what you are talking about. The Phantom DHC exudes luxury and quality -- sure, it is not to everyones taste, but it is a wonderful automobile nonetheless.

The Maybach is a wonderful automobile too, but I still do not think it was as well conceived as the Phantom -- BMW did do a better job with Rolls, I am absolutely convinced of that.

 

[coolraoul]

These are the grey plastic speakers I was talking about.

http://img518.imageshack.us/my.php?image=092120071002326199lt5.jpg

What are they doing here?

 

[SDNR]

I think you will find they are not grey plastic ....they are silver-coloured metal ....I don't think they look out of place really -- besides, I have read several commentators say the Rolls-Royce audio system is the finest they have ever experienced in a vehicle.