Mercedes reveals the 2016 Maybach Pullman, the hip dictator's ride

What can you say about a vehicle that was the ride of choice for everyone from the Pope to Emperor Hirohito? For three decades, no car in the world signified power more than the Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman. Whether you were a James Bond villain or a real-life evildoer, the stretched Mercedes was the only ride that could properly convey your importance and malice.

Today, Mercedes revealed the modern-day version of its historic roller, the Mercedes-Maybach Pullman — a 21-foot-long tribute to the 21st century's masters of excess.

Built from the already generous S-Class, the Maybach Pullman gains an extra 3.5 feet of length over the regular Maybach, with a 14-foot wheelbase — longer than most Ford Super Duty pickups. Inside, Mercedes promises a level of interior comfort that will make Rolls-Royce owners spit-take their Chandon, from the finest quilted leathers to electrically opaqueing glass partitions between the rear-facing seats and the front chauffeur's compartment. Power comes from a 523-hp V-12, because 16 cylinders would seem copycat-ish.

These are actual sentences from the press release, touting an improvement in rear-seat access: "A real boost in comfort for those heads of state and monarchs for whom protocol dictates that they must take their places ahead of their interpreters. This seating arrangement also preserves their privacy, as a large proportion of their bodies is hidden by the rear roof pillar."

Pricing starts at "a year's worth of oil drilling rights." Actually, that's a bit of an overstatement; an unadorned Maybach Pullman begins at $567,000, almost reasonable for those who control national treasuries or the rights to "Shake it Off." But should one feel the need for an armored chariot with custom features, Mercedes will be glad to add all of those baubles, with a price tag that can rise above $1 million — making the Maybach Pullman the world's most expensive sedan not built by the U.S. Secret Service.

Mercedes hasn't decided whether to sell the Maybach Pullman in the United States, and maybe that's wise; there are far cheaper ways to invite the IRS, SEC and a few state attorneys general to start asking questions about how you came to ride behind that roof pillar.