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Jay Z and Kanye West's gutted Maybach expected to fetch $100,000 [w/video]

The memory of Jay Z and Kanye West laying waste to a $350,000 Maybach for the duo's "Otis" music video continues to bring a smile to our face. We're always fans of the Mad Max treatment on any vehicle, and taking a Sawzall and a cutting torch to a ludicrously expensive luxury barge remains the stuff of our twisted fantasies. If you've been wondering what ever happened to the zombie Maybach, wonder no more. What's left of the 'Bach is officially headed to auction, with the proceeds going to Save The Children, a non-profit charity dedicated to improving the lives of children around the world. In this case, the auction will benefit families in East Africa.
How much will the cannibalized Maybach fetch once the gavel falls? Early estimates say bids could reach as high as $100,000, or less than a third of the vehicle's total value pre-Otisification. Worth it? Well, we certainly won't tell you how to spend your cash, but if you're a fan of hip hop royalty and/or Save The Children, we're inclined to think so. Hit the jump to check out the video for yourself.

Jay-Z and Kanye's wrecked Maybach fetches just $60,000 at auction [w/video]

Sorry, Phillips de Pury & Company, but you guys evidently had no business auctioning this car at a sale of contemporary art. Because no matter what the dynamic rap duo of Kanye West and Jay-Z did to it, this 2004 Maybach 57 is, first and foremost, a used car. Clearly the art community has voted with its wallets - and decided that the vehicle's value is about what you could make if you parted it out. Frankly, that's sad.
For those that don't remember, the Maybach was heavily modified for use in the music video for the song "Otis," the Grammy Award-winning hit from Kanye's 2011 album Watch The Throne. Despite its overt ugliness, the car certainly has provenance. (Did we mention that the song won a Grammy?) We only hope that whomever ponied up the paltry sum of $60,000 for the "Otis" Maybach is either a real music fan or someone who goes on to resell it at Barrett-Jackson or another car auction where they know how to move the celebrity metal.
Be sure to check out our gallery of the "Otis" Maybach, and click past the jump to watch the music video.

Daimler bringing resurrected Maybach name to 2014 LA and Guangzhou auto shows

According to a report in Reuters, we will get to know the new face of Maybach at this year's Los Angeles Auto Show and Guangzhou Motor Show. The revival of the name has been in the news for a while now, but what hasn't been clear is where it will fit in with other models like the coming Pullman. The Reuters piece says it will be "used to adorn an exclusive version of its S-Class limousine," but the real punch is reading that it is expected to "cost more than double the 165,000-euro ($228,000) asking price of its current flagship, the Mercedes-Benz S600."
The base price of a 2012 Maybach 57, the year the brand died, was $376,300. If Reuters is correct, and depending on how much "more" is added to "double," the price of Maybach just as a trim level and not as a standalone brand could still carry a gaudy premium for what the article calls "soft-touch leather and bespoke materials." True, that listed euro price will be higher than our own S600 - which we don't know the price of yet. But our 2103 S600 cost $160,300, which - again, assuming the double-down price is correct - would have a Maybach buyer staring at a $321,000 bill, or more, before he puts his Conway Stewart pen to work on options.
On the other hand, that still leaves room for a Maybach-branded S-Class to tout its cost difference relative to the Rolls-Royce Phantom, which currently starts at $402,940; if you have a third hand, though, the Bentley Mulsanne is "only" $303,700. We look forward to the LA show to find out exactly how Daimler is going to spice and slice this one up. As for that Pullman, Reuters says it will be a state limousine that has an additional, rear-facing bench in the chauffeured quarters. A camouflaged version of the reported limo - all 21 feet of it - was spotted recently in Germany.