Given the choice, during this precipitous pre-election period, between hearing about two charming but ordinary cars I drove this week (the 2025 Mazda3 and Nissan Altima), I think we’d all rather take a fantastic diversion.

So here it is: The magnificent, ridiculous and otherworldly Maybach GLS 600, back again for another, marginally updated visit. You may remember my first brush with the absolute top-of-the-line Mercedes-Benz SUV exactly three years back, an ultra-luxe VIP machine that boasts insane rear seating, a built-in champagne cooler and a custom paint job that alone cost more than all of my first cars combined.

Earlier this fall, a new 2024 Maybach reappeared – in my suburban parking lot, to the bewilderment of my neighbors, I am sure. This year’s rendering of the Mercedes GLS SUV was priced at an astronomical $203,200, its $174,350 base priced nudged gently skyward with the inclusion of a Rolls-inspired, $18,500 gold-flake paint job, $5,500 worth of outlandish 23-inch wheels (and super-wide 325/35 Pirelli P-Zero tires) and nearly $3,000 for the refrigerator and aircraft-styled folding rear tables. Its most obvious updates are new Maybach-embossed logos just below the front grille.

I actually left town early to escape the monstrous, 6,100-pound machine attracting the wrong kind of attention to my hard-working community. But while I had it, I opted this time to see exactly how pliant and still-maybe-useful the Maybach might be, with driving that was the polar opposite of how a Maybach will ever be used. (I now wish I had also done the same during my brief time with the $400,000 Rolls-Royce Cullinan.)

First, a recap of the Maybach brand. Founded in 1909 and noted for making engines for the Zeppelins that bombed London during the First World War, Maybach grew into an ultra-luxurious auto brand that was eventually absorbed by Mercedes. In modern guise, there are now three Maybach Mercedes-Benz models: this massive SUV, a limo-styled, above-S-Class sedan and a newer, ultra-luxurious EV based on the EQS.

The Maybach GLS gets a 550-horsepower, twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 engine and a nine-speed automatic transmission, plus 4Matic full-time all-wheel drive. It also gets a modified air suspension system and electronic body control that impart it with a smoothness and stability befitting its role as a hauler of Big Cheese-types.

The first part was totally ignoring the Maybach’s normal rear-seat focus, where oligarchs and rap moguls luxuriate in what are essentially overgrown, $50,000 children’s seats – massaged, power-controlled and such – plus powered window shades and the lot. It’s also easy to ignore the rear cargo space, which is easily cut in half by the presence of the back of the refrigerator guts.

The second part was entirely concentrating on that V8, plus a “curve” suspension mode that was a little more twisty than the speed bump-eliminating “Maybach” setting. Defaulting to VIP mode serves to seriously insulate the vehicle from any sort of road undulations; it and the curvy setting meant completely flatly throwing the GLS into corners it had no right being able to handle. 

You’ll never get away from the realities of all that mass (lots of side-to-side jostling), but its ability to stick on curves, brake consistently and respond to aggressive steering inputs were all quite remarkable.

Do so – not that anyone ever will, I think – and all of Mercedes’ underlying, G-Class-worthy braggadocio can indeed come alive and the giant vehicle takes on new life. That turbocharged engine fiercely and absurdly propels the Maybach uphill, even at 10,000 feet, with noisy passing power to spare.

Hell, it’s even got an off-road mode, which lifts the chassis to the highest position, plus hill descent control. The Marty McFly hoverboard-inspired electric running boards are no longer there, only gleaming chrome splashguards, so it might be a chance to get your passengers dirty, as well. About the only speed and agility a Maybach is going to need is outrunning paparazzi or making it to a private jetport on time, so much of this seemed moot.

Maybach’s interior is all about taking even the highest-level AMG-style details and making them blacker, glossier and more pillowy, in that order. It adds custom displays to all the screens, it covers every possible surface with black Nappa leather or gray oak trim, and loads up a zillion-watt Burmester 3D sound system and gleaming speaker covers from ceiling to floor. Plus leathery throw pillows, of course.

The rear seats are pretty amazing, with infinite massage settings, powered leg rests and deep, deep reclinability; the contoured containers for the (missing) champagne flutes, the upright holders for the champagne flutes and even a cooled bottle holder for the champagne once it’s taken out of the champagne fridge – well, you start to get the idea of who this is all aimed at.

Andy Stonehouse’s column “Mountain Wheels” publishes Saturdays in the Summit Daily News. Stonehouse has worked as an editor and writer in Colorado since 1998, focusing on automotive coverage since 2004. He lives in Golden. Contact him at summitmountainwheels@gmail.com.