“Mercedes G class” by Benoit cars is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
We are always sad to see legendary names in off-road history evolved into comfy, well-mannered SUVs, soft enough for soccer moms and flashy enough for hip hop videos. We know that manufacturers love degrading their cars for profit and that there is nothing more lucrative than the SUV market, and that mud, dirt, sand, and rocks are easily replaced by well-paved boulevards and shopping mall parking lots. Losing rough edges makes the vehicle more livable and usable but robs it all of its charm, swagger, recognition, and legacy.
One of the greatest classic off-road SUVs still produced today is the eponymous Mercedes G Class. Produced for over 40 years and continuously improved and developed, the G-Wagen went from being a tough, military vehicle to being expensive décor of the fashion world and must-have for any celebrity. Yes, the G Class is more popular than ever, but is it still relevant as an off-roader?
History of the Mercedes G Class
Back in the day, Mercedes was known for its world-class sedans, but the company was also involved in truck manufacturing. Among the commercial lineup models, Mercedes produced the Unimog, a small truck with a capable four-wheel-drive train and durable mechanics. In the late ’60s and early ’70s, Shah Reza Pahlavi, ex ruler of Iran and one of Mercedes’ shareholders, proposed the company to develop a competent and dependable four-wheel-drive with the military market in mind.
Mercedes had a lineup of dependable diesel engines, cooperation with Austrian company Magna Styer (experts in the field of all-wheel-drive technology) and Unimog chassis as a basis. This means that practically all components were there, and the company just needed to come up with the design, name, and test the prototypes. Iranian Shah put the money where his mouth was and ordered a thousand vehicles upfront for his personal guard and elite police forces.
The development started in the early ’70s, and soon the model was known as “G Wagen,” with “G” standing for “Geländewagen,” meaning “all-terrain vehicle.” From the beginning, Mercedes engineers insisted on sturdy steel ladder chassis and a complicated but very effective drivetrain setup with three locking differentials for the Mercedes G Class. This remained the main characteristics of this model, even four decades later, and G Class is one of the very few models with such a drive train design.
The G-Wagen development was finished in 1979, but the Mercedes sales department encountered unexpected difficulty. Iranian Shah was overthrown and forced to seek exile, which meant that the Iranian Army and special police will not be buying a thousand G Classes and that Mercedes needs to find buyers.
Mercedes G Class W460
The full-scale production started in late 1979, and the G Class was given the chassis code W460. The first models were bare-bones three-door wagons and pickups with five-door wagons and panel vans following soon. Mercedes concentrated on the military market, industrial users, so the equipment and engine options consisted of four and six-cylinder petrol and diesel engines. Simultaneously, in Austria, Mercedes G was produced under the name Puch G and sold only to fleet buyers. Interestingly, in France, Peugeot assembled P4 under a licensing deal from Mercedes.
During the ’80s, the Mercedes G Class was sold mostly in Europe and became standard equipment of many European armies and police forces. With plain steel wheels, often in drab green color and with Spartan interiors, G-Wagen served in the Alps as a rescue vehicle as well as on the Aric circle. Back then, nobody could imagine that G Class would be one of the most expensive SUVs in the world in a few decades.
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W461 and W463 Chassis Codes
The modern Mercedes G Class’s birth happened in the early ’90s when Mercedes decided to make two distinctive versions of this model. One, W461, was the continuations of military and commercial vehicles, with slightly improved features and turbo diesel engines as standard equipment. The W463 retained the chassis architecture and overall design but added more comfort, features, and luxury trim and became Mercedes’ competitor to Range Rover. This G Class was sold to civilian users and was produced only as a three and five-door wagon and three-door convertible model.
When W463 was released, it was apparent that Range Rover was not the dominant force in the segment. The G Class had as many luxury features but kept the ladder chassis and three locking differentials set up, which gained it enormous advantage off-road. The magazine testers of the day called it “solider in the three-piece suit.”
With the emerging luxury SUV market, Mercedes presented the V8 powered model in 1993 but sold it in limited quantities. However, in 1998, the G500 became part of the lineup, and the Mercedes G Class finally had the sophisticated power to matched its extremely capable chassis.
Interestingly, the boxy design, enormous room, dependable mechanics, and military charm became its most significant assets, and by the early ‘2000s, G Class had emerged as one of the most expensive Mercedes products. Especially in AMG trim with a choice of supercharged or turbocharged V8 or V12 engine. With the SUV boom, the Mercedes G Class gained the top position in its class with its enormous power and capabilities.
Despite its global popularity, Mercedes didn’t offer G Class on the US market until the 2005 model year. Since then, this model has become one of the most popular luxury SUVs on American soil. Our love for overpowered SUVs has helped further detach this competent model from its off-road roots and place it firmly in the passenger car segment.
Mercedes continued to play with G Class and, as a result, introduced several special editions and limited-production models. Still, the obscenely opulent G AMG 6×6 is the most extravagant of them all. Yes, it is a real 6×6 vehicle with twin-turbo V8, all the luxury amenities you can think of, and an MSRP of $615,000 in 2015.
Currently, there is a refreshed model on sale, and it features the most significant redesign in the last two decades. Even though the new Mercedes G Class is all-new, the overall look, technology, and appearance stayed the same. Too bad that this capable off-road drive train was born to go through mud, sand, or snow but will spend its life parked in front of high-end stores.