40 Years of Mercedes-Benz G-Class

Mercedes-Benz has been known for decades for solid and luxurious automobiles. This was even more true in the 1970s than it is today, especially since the Swabian company didn’t yet dodge in a variety of different model lines. There were the E-Class (W123), S-Class (W116), SL (R107), SLC (C107) and the very luxurious presidential car 600 (W100). In addition, they offered some commercial vehicles and of course trucks. That’s it, quickly and clearly told. In 1969, however, they began the development of a completely new vehicle genre, which was initiated by the Shah of Persia. He wished for his military for a light and extremely durable offroad vehicle with the possibility to mount different body structures. In Stuttgart, it quickly became clear that a civilian variant would also be possible on this basis. They asked the experts from Steyr-Daimler-Puch in Austria for help. Ultimately, the large contract with the Shah was never substantiated for various reasons, but with the new G model a true automotive icon rolled off the production lines and soon acquired legendary status within the following four decades.

Already during the official press premiere from 4 to 9 February 1979 in Toulon/France, the W460, as the model series was called internally, was able to silence all critics. For the civil market Mercedes-Benz offered a three-door hardtop (2.40 meter wheelbase), a five-door hardtop (2.85 meters wheelbase), a convertible, a pick-up and various versions for commercial use as well as half-covered chassis for special coachbuilders to add own structures to the back of the car. They all have in common that they get further in rough terrain than many competitors. The team of engineers and designers provided this already during the development by linking large angles of repose in front of the wheels and a high vehicle height with an edgy yet pleasing styling. Together with Steyr-Daimler-Puch, Mercedes-Benz founded the Geländefahrzeug Gesellschaft (GfG) in 1977, based in Graz/Austria, where all G models are built until today right from the start. Parallel to the civilian W460, the W461 is being built for military customers, authorities and municipalities around the world. The German Bundeswehr for example uses it as ‘Wolf’. Starting in 1990, the W460 was deleted from the offering in favor of the significantly improved and much upgraded W463, while the W461 was now also offered to civilian customers such as hunters and rangers. If you now miss the number W462 above: this was the designation for CKD kits (Completely Knocked Down) of the military variant, which were produced in Graz, dismantled and then reassembled in countries like Greece.

At this point, however, we are staying with the civilian version of the G, whose fan base has been growing steadily. Even the Pope received a few copies with special bodyworks as a papa mobile. In 1983, Jacky Ickx won the infamous Paris-Dakar rally with a G that was prepared by a private race team. From 1985, all engine variants received differential locks as standard equipment, two years later also a power steering was available for all engines. With the facelift into the W463 the vehicle also took over the ABS, which was originally developed for the S-Class. The all-wheel drive system was now permanent and not switched on by a lever. In addition, the interior of the W463 is available on request with leather and fine wood trim. In 1993 Mercedes-Benz launched a small edition of the 500 GE with an eight-cylinder engine. It was a foretaste of other high-performance offshoots such as the G 36 AMG and the G 500 offered from 1998. As an independent tuner, AMG had already equipped some G with larger engines in the 1980s. Through the close cooperation with Mercedes-Benz in the 90s, which finally led to acquisition, eventually some sports versions of various models rolled officially to the dealers. Thus, in 1999, the premiere of the first G 55 AMG with a 354 hp naturally aspirated V8 engine took place. In 2004 it received a supercharger and got up to 476 hp, later to 500 (2006) and 507 hp (2008). This was followed by the G 63 AMG V12 in a very small series (444 hp, 2002 to 2003), the G 63 AMG with a V8 biturbo engine (544 hp from 2012 and 571 hp from 2015 to 2018) and crowning the normal model range was the G 65 AMG with 612 (from 2012) or even 630 hp (2015 to 2018) from a biturbo V12 engine.

These extremely powerful offshoots were never the highest-selling versions of the G, but marked only one extreme of the scale. Better sale numbers were reached by the diesel versions, which show high offroadability and also are popular as towing vehicles for horse lovers and boat enthusiasts. From 1993, the G model became the G-Class, to incorporate it into the nomenclature of the model range. In 2013, the carmaker from Stuttgart surprised even experts with the premiere of the G 63 AMG 6×6, which not only had six wheels, but is also equipped for various offroad adventures thanks to three portal axles and an electric tire pressure system. In the end it was rather bought by inner-city drivers who want to splurge with it in metropolises. Two years later, the G 500 4×4² was built for the same purpose, also with portal axles. It is also unlikely to see heavy terrain due to its alloy wheels. The same applies to the Mercedes-Maybach G 650 Landaulet, of which just 99 copies were built and with which the G was virtually raised into peerage shortly before its end of production. In 2018, the production of the G-Class ended in its original design, because various new regulations in the EU and US would have made registrations of this vehicle impossible in the near future. However, GfG developed an adequate successor, which offers more space in the interior, but should bring the same or even better offroad capabilities and of course inside it was adapted to modern connectivity needs of today’s generation. Interestingly, the newcomer got the same internal model code, W463, although it only shares the silhouette and the star logo in the grille with its predecessor.

Early models of the W460 are already among the collector’s vehicles in the offroad market. In good condition they reach prices between 40,000 and 70,000 €. Of course, they aren’t at the top of G prizes. After all, the G 650 Landaulet cost more than ten times as much from factory. Nevertheless, they will probably be used more cheerfully on dusty dirt roads than the glossy G with Landaulet convertible roof above the passengers and polished rims. Happy Birthday, big G, you’ve become pretty good.

Images: Mercedes-Benz