What's all this about?
Cast your minds back to the Monterey Car Week of 2016, which incorporates the Concours d'Elegance at California's prestigious Pebble Beach, and you might recall an absolutely gigantic Mercedes-Maybach concept car called the Vision 6, so-called because it was a whopping six metres long (or thereabouts).
I can remember the machine in question. What of it?
Well, it's time for the 2017 Concours d'Elegance at Pebble Beach and we've got another Mercedes-Maybach Vision 6... only, this time, it's a Cabriolet.
Wow! And it's pretty, isn't it?
It is indeed. Deliberately styled to evoke thoughts of 'haute couture' and luxury yachts, and styled like some palatial Art Deco installation on wheels (24-inch wheels, mind...), the Vision 6 Cabriolet is a stunner. It features much of the same detailing as the Coupe - slim light clusters fore and aft, that dramatic, rounded tail, the line that sweeps from the bonnet along the car's loooooooooong shoulders and down to the back, um... the huge wheels we've already mentioned (albeit, in a different design to the Coupe's and featuring rose gold centre locks). All that's different is the cabin is now topped off by a white, custom-made fabric roof, threaded with more rose gold highlights, that can be lowered to make the most of the outside weather conditions.
Can you talk a little about the interior, then?
Yes, it's a mix of the retro and the cutting edge. The retro is handled by the slender twin-spoke steering wheel and attendant pod dials, plus acres of white Nappa leather that goes so far as to spill out onto the Vision 6's rear deck once the hood is lowered. The cutting edge are the touch-only controls and intelligent satnav that's linked to an owner's (OK, there aren't any owners of this car, as such, it's just a concept... but you get the idea) personal appointments calendar. Note, also, the blue highlight strip running around the cabin's midriff; it's a lovely touch. Not for no reason does Mercedes-Maybach call this a '360-degree open-air luxury lounge'.
What's powering this leviathan?
The same hardware as the Vision 6 Coupe. Which is to say, this Cabriolet model is a full electric vehicle. It has four permanent magnet synchronous electric motors sequestered in the giant 24s at the corners, which means it has all-wheel traction. Combined, those electric units generate a phenomenal 750hp, enough for the Vision 6 Cabriolet to hit 62mph from rest in less than four seconds and go on to an electronically restricted 155mph maximum speed. However, it can also run for more than 200 miles at a time on a charge, which of course is all zero-emissions motoring, and a fast-charging DC facility means another 62 miles of range can be juiced into the shallow under-floor battery pack in just five minutes. Marvellous.
Matt Robinson - 19 Aug 2017
