Maybach has just auctioned off for a charitable cause its first specimen of the new and particularly sporty 57 S series at the exclusive ‘RM Monterey Sports and Classic Car’ auction in California. Jay Leno, the legendary late-night talk show host and professed car enthusiast renounced his auctioneer’s fee and personally accepted the highest bid of 500,000 dollars offered for the new high-end sedan by John O’Quinn, the Texan celebrity lawyer and car collector. The event, which took place at the elegant Portola Plaza Hotel, was attended by first-rate celebrities and served a good cause: Maybach and Jay Leno donated the charity-auction proceeds to the renowned ‘Boys & Girls Club of America’ to further education programmes for young people.

On occasion of the Frankfurt Motor Show IAA 2005, Maybach rounds off its model range with the newly-engineered 57 Special series that meets discerning customers’ demands for even higher output and enhanced driving dynamics. These will be guaranteed by an advanced Mercedes-AMG 6.0-litre V12 bi-turbo engine offering 450kW/612bhp, and a tauter suspension that translates with majestic ease the vehicle’s power into superior road performance, maintaining the extremely high ride comfort so typical of Maybach luxury sedans at the same time. Leaping through the standard sprint from zero to 100km/h in only five seconds, the new Maybach impressively demonstrates its supreme performance potential.