An armored limo, fit for a (mob) king

At last week's Paris Motor Show, Mercedes-Benz whipped the silk off its latest and most majestic armored limousine yet, the S600 Pullman Guard, a mobile bomb shelter designed to protect heads of state, captains of industry, royalty and, of course, Russians.

With a B6/B7 ballistic rating, the Pullman Guard ignores AK47 rounds as if they were gnats and can repulse RPGs with its windshield wipers. Several tons of oligarchic fun, the Pullman Guard is powered by a 12-cylinder/517 hp bi-turbo engine that quaffs gas out of a ballistically reinforced, self-sealing gas tank. The four-seat limousine interior is, naturally, astonishing. (As it should be, since it'll set you back somewhere between $400,000 and $600,000, depending on the options.)

Meanwhile, over in an ignominious corner of the Mercedes-Benz stand sat a lone Maybach Landaulet, a show car that's become a familiar face on the circuit. While Mercedes-Benz Chairman Dieter Zetsche palavered about the Pullman Guard, it seemed painfully obvious that Maybach is on its way out. The company held no press conference, presented no concept cars nor made announcements of any kind. The multibillion-dollar revival of one of the great old names in German coach-building seems destined to sink beneath the waves of history. If you're super-duper rich and you need an awesome Mercedes limo -- accent on the "awe" -- the Pullman Guard will have to do.

-- Dan Neil

Photos of the Pullman Guard by Dan Neil (top) and Daimler (bottom).

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