When Daimler Chrysler invites you to drive its entire range of Mercedes-Benz on the exotic Golden Triangle, what else can you say but yes please? Anamit Sen turns all royalty.

The Golden Triangle – an amazing route comprising the cities of Delhi, Agra and Jaipur – was one tour that I never got around to doing, until one sunny November day the phone rang. It was Manas Dewan, DaimlerChrysler India's PR guy inviting me to do just that. Which Merc shall we be going in? The reply: “All of them – including the Maybach.” It started off in Delhi. Except for the CLS and the SL500, every other Merc sold in India was there. But it was the latest ML and an SLK that accelerated my heart beat till I realised the latter was the one with the 'smaller' four-cylinder job and not the full-blown 350 V6 version.
Two-man teams were formed. A draw was conducted and the SLK went to someone else first and I started to think the whole thing was rigged. What did I get? The C-Class diesels. As we started off, one on biodiesel I figured at least I would be able to compare the gasoline-powered car with the plant-derived fuel. So not having the SLK was not a big deal. Strangely, the heart kept overriding the brain shouting 'SLK! SLK! SLK!'
I switched to the Jatropha seed-derived biodiesel C-Class at a place called Badkhal Lake. Getting past traffic I managed to find my way back to Mathura Road and in order to make up time, I drove pedal to metal. While I did manage to get to 160kph, it seemed as if there was more vibration. But this was more due to the engine having been thrashed over close to 100,000km and not the fuel.
Next up was the E200K. As my team-mate whizzed down NH2, I inspected the interiors on what is the E-Class with a C-Class engine. The aura of luxury that surrounds E-Class and the increased amount of cabin is the difference between the two. When it was my turn to drive, I slipped into the driver's seat easily. Everything around me was so…Merc-like!. Soon it was time for a break and that meant swapping cars again.
Now, it was time for…the Maybach and the SLK – one, the stateliest car in the world and the other, one of the sportiest. It was getting dark and we were heading into one of India's oldest cities. This meant people, heavy traffic, people, poor lighting, narrow roads…and did I mention people? So I decided to opt for the Maybach and leave my partner to fend off all of the reasons mentioned above in the SLK.
The Maybach was at the head of the convoy leading all the other cars into Agra with its own police escort – the kind that's similar to visiting Heads of State! Earlier, after the door was opened for me, I stood there for a while staring…nay, gaping… at the opulence and vastness of the interiors. I know the interior length, from the driver's accelerator to the rear seat back, is a mega 2682mm. I know that the distance between the seats is 1570mm. But when figures translate into reality the only thing one can do is gape. Anthony drives the Maybach. Serious, bespectacled, he knows all about the car. He should, considering he is the only company driver allowed to drive it. The others are allowed to pose only. Gaping, I got comfortable on the enormous armchair of a rear seat, done up in the finest of leather! As I sunk into the seat I realised that the car was in motion only when the outside scenery started to move.
Like a magician, Anthony opened his bag of tricks. There was a thick wall of aluminium, wood and glass between us. He pressed a button and silently, an opaque glass went up while curtains drew behind me converting the cabin into a one private room. Then his voice emanated from somewhere with a very metallic tinge to it. Want to see where you are going and still have the partition glass up? Just tell Anthony – the glass turns from opaque to clear. It's called electro-transparency. The Maybach's best trick is the armchair seat. Not only can it give you a full back massage, it also turns into a bed, reclining by up to 47 degrees. Of course, you can pre-programme your best position too.
We reached Agra and as per the plan I lost my 'crown'. It was back to ground realities the next morning. If the E200K is chalk, the E280 turned out to be cheese. Its 456Nm of torque certainly makes its presence felt every time you step on the accelerator. The 280CDi's engine always had the power available but…the auto' box wasn't complimenting it. After the E-Class experience I hopped into the ML 350 and then the SLK. The difference could not have been starker! But as we negotiated the madness entering Jaipur, we got lost. Much after sunset, after several stops at traffic lights thereafter where alternately the SLK's roof would go up or down causing a little commotion every time, we reached the hotel.
The final morning, I was lucky to be the first one to the SLK. And before anybody realised, we were gone. Jaipur streets, however, still had me foxed and I lost my way again. Fortunately the streets had no traffic and alternately asking around and blasting the little car through the empty bits of road I got to the photo shoot area behind Jal Mahal. After the shoot, I decided to give people rides in 'my' SLK charging down the twisty road that led to the photo shoot site behind the Jal Mahal, revelling in the sound of the exhaust and the way the car gripped the road. My fun came to an end however when 'they' decided somebody else would be driving the little roadster. So, I decided to sulk and for the drive back to Delhi, I decided against driving anything at all. Besides, I wanted to hold on to my experience in the Maybach and the little I drove in the SLK, ferrying it from the hotel to the photo shoot.