Mercedes didn’t enjoy too much success with the first revival of Maybach, but once it became Mercedes-Maybach, the ultra-luxury marque started printing money for the German automaker. Stuttgart's favorite son will debut a new marque for 2025 in the form of Mythos, which is best described as Mercedes Manufaktur cranking it up to eleven.
First and foremost, Manufaktur is the customization department of Mercedes-Benz AG. It shouldn't be confused with Porsche's Exclusive Manufaktur. Regarding the Mythos brand, its first-ever product will be previewed to a select few in June 2024.
British motoring publication Autocar saw multiple customer invitations to the preview event, in which the German automaker from Stuttgart describes an "open vehicle concept with an extremely low silhouette." Said concept doesn't feature a roof or a windscreen, but rather a motorsport-inspired halo rollover protection system. This, in turn, requires the use of a helmet due to bugs and other whatnots hitting your face while driving at high speeds.
Teased by Mercedes-Benz AG during the company's 2023 annual results conference on February 22, 2024, the SL-based speedster does have a windshield in said teaser photo. Big kahuna Ola Kallenius first hinted at the ultra-luxurious speedster at the German automaker's 2022 annual general meeting. The Mercedes-Mythos SL – or whatever it will be called – will be followed by a Maybach twin.
The Mercedes-Maybach SL was teased at the 2023 annual results conference with red paintwork, a bling-bling radiator grille, and a black hood. Although not a direct successor to the Mercedes-Maybach S 650 Cabriolet, the upcoming Mercedes-Maybach SL will certainly be nicer to drive.
Photo: Mercedes-Benz
Turning our attention back to the Mythos-branded SL again, the cited publication has learned that it's technically similar to the Mercedes-AMG SL 63 4MATIC+. A bit of a bummer if you remember that AMG offers a plug-in hybrid V8-powered SL with an obnoxious name, but in any case, 577 horsepower and 590 pound-feet (800 Nm) at 2,500 rpm is more than plentiful for a grand tourer.
An open-top grand tourer unlike any other Merc or AMG in production today, that is. However, it remains to be seen whether future vehicles from the Mythos brand will be as different from their Mercedes and AMG counterparts as the Mythos SL is from the AMG SL 63. To be revealed in full by the end of 2024 for model year 2025, the Mercedes-Mythos SL has the makings of a collectible.
In the meantime, it's worth remembering that AMG's most powerful series-production car is the 831-horsepower GT 63 S E PERFORMANCE 4-Door Coupe that's actually a five-door liftback. The SL 63 S E PERFORMANCE, by comparison, belts out a system total 805 electrified horses.
"Did you forget about the F1-engined ONE hypercar?" Of course, I did not. But considering that the limited-run ONE is assembled in the UK with the help of Multimatic while the F1 turbo V6 hybrid power unit comes from Brixworth's Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains, the ONE cannot be defined as a series-production car.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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