Maybach launches £400,000 limo

Perhaps we're stating the really obvious - but is now really the best time to unveil a 6.0-litre V12 limousine that will cost close to half a million pounds after VAT and options?

That said, if Mercedes can launch the Maybach Zeppelin now, maybe we're all going to be ok after all. The aforementioned V12 power unit has twin turbos and generates a whopping 631bhp and 737lb.ft of torque - enough to propel the lardy limo with ease, as if it were a half-tonne hatchback.

That means the wealthy rear occupants - which is, after all, who this car is aimed at - can concentrate on the cosseting luxury in the passenger compartment. The seats are of quilted cowhide, the carpets made of the finest lambskin, and there's a pair of Zeppelin branded champagne flutes. What's more, it also features the world's first perfume atomiser - a Plexiglass sphere that holds a vial of perfume and squirts it out intermittently, like a posh Glade plug-in. A very posh one, in fact - it costs £4,000!

On the outside the paintjob is broken up by a shoulder line painted in Rocky Mountains Light Brown - or 'beige' as we like to call it - and the wheels are a massive 20-inches in diameter.

Available in both 57 and 62 guises (signifying varying wheelbases), the Zeppelin costs around £375,000 and £425,000 respectively - not including VAT. The order book opens in March, with first deliveries of the 100-unit limited edition beginning in September. No doubt Roman Abramovich is checking down the back of his sofa for loose change as we speak.

Mark Nichol