Mercedes-Maybach S600 Guard launched at Rs 10.5 crore (ex-showroom, Delhi)

There’s nothing like excesses in the automotive industry. You want leather seats, get that Italian cow, you want a music system, get Burmesters, and if you want a clock on your dashboard, a 1.5 lakh Euro Breitling Tourbillon is the one to get. So why settle for a S-Guard then if you want ballistics protection? Exactly the thought behind the Maybach Guard, the largest production shield on sale in India.

It costs a whooping Rs 10.5 crore (ex-showroom, Delhi) but you can’t put a price on life can you? Not when you are a head of state, a Royal or a mafia man in India. So what do you get in return? A Maybach S600 that’s got eight inches of additional wheelbase over the S-Class, but with VR10 protection standards, which means you can look at an assault rifle in the face and get you smug smile on, with the windows rolled up of course.

Special steel and other very secretive materials are used in the Maybach Guard. It’s one of the few security vehicles that’s built from the grounds up and not reinforced after the stock car rolls off the assembly line. This means panel under panel of high strength materials that hold back grenades and IEDs when the occasional assault rifle isn’t fired. The windows are coated with splinter resistant polycarbonate so that the glass doesn’t shatter in your face. You get your own oxygen tanks inside so you don’t run out of air in case of a gas attack. Even the Michelin tyres get steel rings in run flats so you can make a quick getaway even when they are damaged. Now we’d like a quick demonstration please!

Let’s keep the wishful thinking aside for a bit and look at what’s under the hood – the 6.0-litre V12 from the S600 Guard with 516bhp and 830Nm on tap. You will need that because the Maybach Guard weighs as much as a Maybach and a E-Class combined and all the firepower is more than welcome.