The limousine underwent its extraordinary transformation for its role as the centrepiece in the ‘Otis’ music video, performed by Grammy award-winning rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West. The final scene of the video promised that the car would be auctioned off for charity – and the duo have made good on their pledge.
Built in 2004 and thought to be formerly owned by one of the multi-millionaire rappers, the Maybach will go under the hammer as lot 1 in Phillips de Pury’s Contemporary Art sale in New York on March 8. Among the ‘modifications’ are a decapitated roof, a crude swap of the bonnet and bootlid, and doors that have been relocated as ‘wings’. Needless to say, the car isn’t road-legal.
With an estimate of 100,000 – 150,000 U.S. dollars for a car that cost upwards of 300,000 dollars when new, it might seem that butchering the Maybach was a tad unseemly, to say the least. But it’s worth remembering that a 2004 Maybach would be likely to fetch a similar figure on the used car market – and that’s before you factor in the publicity it drummed up for Jay-Z and Kanye in its video appearance, which has had over 37 million YouTube views to date.
![Rappers' 'Mad Max' Maybach to be Auctioned for Charity](http://www.classicdriver.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_half/public/import/articlesv2/images/_uk/15817/otis_maybach_03pop.jpg?itok=LZa7-z_i)
![Rappers' 'Mad Max' Maybach to be Auctioned for Charity](http://www.classicdriver.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_half/public/import/articlesv2/images/_uk/15817/otis_maybach_02pop.jpg?itok=iMPPk_2k)
![Rappers' 'Mad Max' Maybach to be Auctioned for Charity](http://www.classicdriver.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_full/public/import/articlesv2/images/_uk/15817/otis_maybach_04pop.jpg?itok=2iteQxWC)
So, wanton destruction or stroke of genius? We’ll let you decide. But at least the rappers' hearts are where they should be – unlike their car’s doors.
Photos: Phillips de Pury