In 1892, four years before its trunk-building rivals at Louis Vuitton introduced its interlocked LV monogram pattern, the famed Parisian malletiers at Maison Goyard began tessellating canvas travel wares with a signature Y pattern. Meant to invoke the central letter in the family name, this created an immediately recognizable visual brand. Goyard became foundational to the French luxury-goods business, a position it maintains today. And many other brands—in all parts of the market—have followed the trend of tattooing their logos across their wares. Mercedes-Benz, founded around the same time as Goyard, is no stranger to using its signature three-pointed star logo to mark its products. But it is the Maybach subbrand that has fully embraced this tired, if tireless, trend. Perhaps the greatest entry into this category is the Mercedes-Maybach SL680 Monogram Series that you see here. An estimated $250,000 tarting-up of the seventh-generation SL, it is the upscale marque’s first entry into the convertible market. It attempts to justify its approximately $75,000 differential from the SL63 AMG, its closest analogue in Benz’s lineup, in a number of notable ways.2026 Mercedes-Maybach SL 680The first, and most initially noticeable, is with a slathering of the triangulated double-M logo on the hood, the cloth roof, and the integrated tonneau of the drop-top. For those few potential buyers who maintain any sense of modesty—likely very few—these panels can also be delivered de-logofied and painted any of 50 available body colors. I would recommend something flamboyant, to harmonize with the 680-specific chrome-plated grille, lower air intake, rocker sills, ersatz fender vents, and upright hood ornament. Benz’s in-house Manufaktur crew is also available to customize a paint job to match a buyer’s favorite yacht, gown, thoroughbred, sigil, or blood diamond—for a de rigueur extortionate price, of course.The only other option is selecting between two 21-inch polished forged wheel styles: a razor-thin multispoke turbine design or a more imperious five-hole monoblock star. Each of these somehow resembles an industrial grinder, like those used to separate cobalt from basalt. I found both equally, and problematically, compelling. The low-profile 275/35 Pirelli P Zero tires, combined with adjustable dampers, offer a lovely ride, but more on that below. One element that is not optional is the elimination of the SL’s vestigial +2 rear seats. They’re replaced with a package shelf lined, like the rest of the interior, with leather so blindingly white and flawless that I blenched at even perspiring on it. 2026 Mercedes-Maybach SL 680Unlike the rear passenger area in the typical SL, the storage compartment here has the benefit of being shielded under the speedster-like tonneau, great for protecting valuable electronics or those gummy edibles in your designer backpack from the sun when the top—which can be retracted in 15 seconds—is down. However, unlike the tight, scalloped rear thrones in the average Superleicht, this flat, perfectly smooth platform is, well, slippery. Given the car’s surprisingly and thrillingly high cornering limits, my bags slid around quite a bit back there, disconcertingly. Rub strips—maybe textured wood, like in a yacht—might help.Speaking of retracting the top, one of the unique glories of this Maybach is that it has actual hard buttons that can be used to lower and raise the roof. One would think this would be standard fare in a convertible, but the regular SL accomplishes this task with a maddening virtual slider in the vertical central color LCD screen, one that must be held in place for the roof to complete its full cycle. Regression is sometimes a way forward in technology. 2026 Mercedes-Maybach SL 680Now that it has accomplished this minor usability miracle on behalf of its richest buyers, maybe Mercedes will also replace the fiddly screen-based climate-control adjustment with some real knobs. And while it is reconsidering poor tech decisions, it can also get rid of the terrible touch-sensitive haptic inputs for the infotainment volume, distance-keeping cruise control, and everything else on the steering wheel, replacing them with real buttons for those as well. Because being able to conduct basic functions while driving without frustration or taking eyes off the road should, in my opinion, be baseline to any definition of luxury.An additional well-appreciated change in this upmarket model is the inclusion of an extra cushy Maybach setting to the adaptable driving modes. Putting the SL 680 into Maybach relaxes the throttle input and allows the car to get underway with a non-jarring, boulevarding prowl, putting a little Rolls in its roll. It also dulls the exhaust note and steering response, as well as the suspension, which is enhanced by significantly softer springs and dampers, allowing for additional travel over broken pavement and other imperfections. 2026 Mercedes-Maybach SL 680Fluid engine mounts, acoustic fleeces and foams, aluminum door pads, insulated wheel wells, and fiberglass muffler fill make the car quieter and more chillaxed, contributing to its differentiating smooth-operator character. I test-drove the new car in Spain, where efforts at reducing road fatalities through “traffic calming” practices have resulted in the placement of speed bumps in the most unlikely places. In Maybach mode, the car soaked them up like pan de horno does olive oil. If you want to be sportier, engage the Sport mode. In that setting, the car will sharpen its dulled responses, unfurl its muffler flaps, and pipe in some synthesized engine noise through the splendid Burmester audio system to supplement the sound made organically by the 577-hp 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8. That’s right—despite its numerically spectacular name, the Maybach SL uses the same base powerplant as the cheaper version. Sadly, the days of V-12 versions of the Mercedes roadster have ended. 2026 Mercedes-Maybach SL 680Performing the Sport mode switcheroo allows the all-wheel-drive 680 to rip to 60 mph in a claimed 4.1 seconds. That’s a half-second slower than Merc’s corresponding time for the SL63, a difference likely due to extra weight and the Maybach’s more relaxed transmission. And it means the SL680 is more than a second adrift of the second-most expensive SL, the $208,300, 805-hp, battery-assisted AMG SL63 S E Performance. Proof that, hard as it may be to believe, alacrity doesn’t always correlate with cost at this end of the market. But being fastest or providing the best power-to-price ratio isn’t the point of this car. While some rich people crave such things, and others have adopted the “quiet luxury” posture, the Maybach mission is and has always been to serve the arriviste desire—perhaps even insistence—to extrovertedly demonstrate that one has spent an exorbitant amount of money. For those who relish being branded, literally and figuratively, in this manner, and pampered in the way they believe they deserve, the 680 will doubtless be a hit. After all, if the past 133 years are any indication, adding upmarket logos to a trunk seems to only enhance prestige and sales.
