What you see here is the automotive equivalent of pizza-flavored ice cream cake…with bacon sprinkles on top. Someone loved Mercedes-Benz vehicles enough that they combined a bunch of their favorite design elements into one eye-catching oddity.
Judging from the inside out, it seems as if whoever built this mashup started with a W222 S-Class. That would make the most sense, given the interior. The roofline is also modern S until you get to the C-pillar, where the whole upper structure of the car has been angled to resemble that of the old S600 Pullman limo. The old school front grille, massive slotted chrome wheels, and chrome bumper accents are reminiscent of that luxury land yacht as well.
The chrome-framed headlights, on the other hand, bring to mind a much newer and much sportier Benz: the SLS AMG. On the sides, the vents topped with two bars of brightwork look decidedly SLR-McLaren-ish. Out back, the SLS makes another appearance; it seems one of the Mercedes supercars donated its pointy tail lights to this creation.
Overall, this is what you could call a “parts bin car,” but what a helluva parts bin to raid. Whoever came up with the S600 Royale certainly didn’t pick ugly parts, even if they combined them in an awkward way. Personally, I think it almost works. Almost. Clearly, it’s a car with an identity crisis. It’s part sports car, part ultra-luxury sedan. It needs to be one or the other. Given its size and what it appears to be based on, it should be a purely posh four-door with less chrome. Get rid of the brightwork around the headlights, ditch the hood vents, nix the side gills, and it might look a little less goofy. The SLR and SLS touches would make more sense on a smaller Mercedes, like a custom E- or C-Class. That’s just me making things up in my head, though – like someone did to create the S600 Royale.
What do you think of this? Does it have any redeeming visual features or did someone Royale-y screw up a Mercedes?
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
