“Mercedes Maybach”

Might it have been the 62S?

By Gunnar Heinrich

WEDGED somewhere between accounts of Silvio Berlusconi’s feminine cohorts and Christopher Hitchens’ take on Monty Python, Vanity Fair posted one of the mag’s signature profiles on Wallis Annenberg, socialite-philanthropist-Maybach owner.

Here’s how VF described Ms. Annenberg, her canine compatriots, and her car:

“Reportedly worth $200 million herself, she is sitting in the backseat of her chauffeured Mercedes Maybach, along with her three Maltese- Muffet, Switters, and Coco.”

VF didn’t publish pictures of the Maybach (hopefully two-toned) nor did they account for whether the German limo was a 62, 62S, Zeppellin or 57, etc.

And why would they? What do any of those numbers mean, truly, to their core readership?

Referring to an S-Class Mercedes or a Mercedes SL, on the other hand, would register with far more people. So too, likely, for Maybach’s main competition – the Rolls-Royce Phantom.

Tellingly the story’s scribe, Bob Colacello, used “Mercedes” as the qualifier for “Maybach”. Indeed, what après tous would the designator “600″ have meant without the prefix “Mercedes-Benz”?

So, too, for Maybach. All these years later.