The craziest thing about the world’s heaviest cars isn’t the weight of the cars. You will find that’s pretty impressive too. It’s how recently we’ve built these behemoths. You might think, as I once did, that the heaviest cars would’ve been the beasts of old, weighed down with inferior engineering. Nope. In fact, the Model T was about 1,200 pounds. That’s less than half of today’s compact cars.
(source: trueautosite.com)
Most cars are in the range of 2,500 to 3,500 pounds at the curb, meaning with all their fluids and accessories in place. This average is moving down in the last few years.
For reference, it would take about fifteen adults, at about 150 pounds each, to balance that scale. Heavy duty trucks are worse, some over 10,000 pounds, but that’s changing too.
The good is, these winners are only for the folks who can afford to pay for gas like it was water. Apparently weight and luxury go hand in hand.
Bentley Brooklands – 5843 lbs
(source: bentleymotors.com)
This was not the first Brooklands produced. The predecessor they first released in 1992, but by 2008 the car needed some upgrades.
The (2008-2011) Brooklands is only slightly leaner than the Bentley holding the #2 spot on this list. We’ll come to that beast in a second. At 58-hundred pounds, it would take about 39 of our aforementioned average adults to balance this scale.
The Brooklands was pretty fast, all things considered. The 6.75 L twin turbo engine could do 0-60 in 5.0. Top speed for this model was almost 184 MPH. It could reach 100 MPH in 11.7 seconds.
Bentley Azure Mark II – 5941 lbs
(source: auto-database.com)
Bentley produced first this boat in 1995 as the Mark I, but the Mark II, produced in 2006 was the dreamboat model.
The Mark II is not only one of the heaviest cars every produced, in 2009 it was the most fuel consuming new car on the road in the USA. It gobbled one gallon every nine miles.
Despite its size, the Azure Mark II could move pretty fast. It took 5.6 seconds to 60 MPH, with a top speed of 168. That’s a whole lotta mass moving fast. All that speed was per the powerhouse under the hood of this giant, a twin-turbo V8 cranking 450 horsepower.
In 2009, Bentley produced an Azure T, which offered 500 hp, 0-60 in 5.1 and a top speed of 179. By 2010 it was all over. They stopped selling vehicles with the name Azure.
Maybach 62 – 6129 lbs
(source: caranddriver.com)
To answer the age-old question of hip-hop enthusiasts, regarding car choice, about who’s is bigger? The Maybach 62 is the heaviest vehicle before crossing into the truck category.
Mic drop.
Prior to 2002, the Maybach brand was dead. In 2002, DaimlerChrysler AG revived it, intending to take a bite out of the luxury car business, something Rolls Royce enjoyed exclusively.
They produced two models, the 57 and the 62 in various trims. Twin turbo V12s powered both models, but the 62 was faster and heavier. It did 0-60 in 4.8 seconds, faster than the two Bentleys above.
The 62 also enjoyed reclining rear seats, perfect for the artist who wanted to travel in style. The list of amenities is too long for this blog, but considering the rear seats, it’s safe to say it had everything.
For $431K, it’d better. Deep in the red, DaimlerChrysler closed doors on the Bentley line in 2013.
(source: articles.sae.org)
Since the early 2000s, we’ve seen lighter cars. Ford dropped 800 pounds on the F150 by switching to an aluminum frame.
I doubt Bentley or Rolls-Royce will start producing aluminum framed luxury cars, but who knows? No respectful truck enthusiast saw the F150 aluminum frame coming.
Despite the fact that Ford isn’t the only lightweight pony at the show now, critics still say the aluminum frame signals the end of everything holy to America. Maybe, but considering the total costs of fuel it stands to reason we should have more economic cars today than we did yesterday.
These three will remain in the annuls of history as the heaviest cars produced.