We threw a multitasking L.A. money man into a Mercedes S65 and set him on an obstacle course to LAX. Could the world’s most powerful sedan seal the deal?

It was barely past sunup when I got to Mark Varo’s house in Santa Monica, and he was already out front on his BlackBerry text-messaging somebody about something. As a private wealth manager at a major Wall Street firm’s West Coast office, Varo, 38, isn’t the sort of guy who waits for opportunity to set up a meeting. His work schedule, he says, isn’t so much a schedule as an absolute commitment to act, react, instigate or report whenever necessary from wherever he is. And, like everyone else in Southern California, that usually means from his car.

Thus the early hour — necessitated by the small window within which Varo’s availability coincided with that of the 2007 Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG that I had arranged for us to drive. The car is generally considered the finest overall production four-door sedan in the world; it’s a road-churning monster; we had three hours to kill; we were hungry. Our plan therefore seemed clear: We would bolt up the Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu, eat breakfast, then take the long way back across the Santa Monica Mountains toward LAX. If all went well, by 10 a.m. Varo would be hopping on a plane and heading to Vancouver for some client face-time.

(Continue reading on Dealmaker Daily).

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