Fail of the century #5: Maybach 62

A good name goes a long way. However well engineered your new super-lux limo, if it’s not topped with a badge laden with history and heritage, it’s gonna struggle.

So when Daimler bosses were deciding what badge to slap on their yet posher Mercedes S-Class, a car to rival the Rolls-Royce Phantom for the affection of our planet’s least philanthropic billionaires, if only they’d had such a recognisable brand to call upon. Like, say, ‘Mercedes-Benz’. A name that denotes ‘posh car’ around the world.

But Daimler bosses decided the three-pointed star just wasn’t deluxe enough for their Vegas penthouse on wheels, instead dusting off a name remembered by literally no one under the age of 100. Which, in fairness, may have been the target market.

Maybach. The name was as unevocative as the design. None of the Phantom’s art deco grandeur here, the big ‘Bach instead nailing the interesting trick of looking both brash yet forgettable at the same time. Daimler could have saved a whole lot of effort by simply charging customers £370,000 for the privilege of having ‘money don’t buy taste’ tattooed across their foreheads.

The Maybach was at least peerlessly refined and comfortable, utterly insulating the rear seat passenger from whatever was outside. Which, most of the time, was passing plebs wondering why the loaded passenger in the back had bought an over-inflated Hyundai instead of a Roller.