2006 BMW 750 Test Drive

The German Giant

Yank tanks are out, but German ones are in. BMW's freshened flagship 760Li sedan defies its size with athletic moves.

During the 1960s, "Yank tanks" — huge American cars that cast shadows the size of Sherman tanks — were mocked by Europeans. Today, the tanks are Panzers.

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German manufacturers dent asphalt with the most enormous cars around — not only the three-ton Maybach, Rolls Royce Phantom and Bentley Arnage (all manufactured by German companies), but the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Audi A8L and, our subject at hand, the long-wheelbase BMW 760Li sedan.

Aside from the three $300,000-plus superlimos and the 5,200-pound Volkswagen Phaeton, the 2006 760Li is the heaviest car on sale in the U.S. — at 4,905 pounds, it weighs just over a half ton more than the biggest Japanese luxury car, the Lexus LS 430.

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Yet, like a running back who can do the 100-yard sprint in nine seconds despite having a torso like a steamer trunk, the 760Li has the beans to accelerate to 60 mph in 5.8 seconds and run to a silent 120-mph Autobahn cruise in just a dozen exhilarating heartbeats more. Like all German cars, other than Porsches and the Mercedes McLaren supercoupe the 760Li is electronically limited to a top speed — 150 mph in its case — that doesn't require racecar-quality tires, even though its 438-hp engine could run substantially faster.