The Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon's story dates as far back as 1973 when Mercedes' parent company Daimler-Benz signed an agreement with Austria's Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG (Now Magna-Steyr) to create a go-anywhere all-wheel-drive cross-country vehicle — also known as the Geländewagen. To this day, all G-Wagons are hand built at Magna-Steyr's factory in Graz, Austria.
The first prototype G-Wagon emerged in 1974, but a production civilian variant did not go on sale until 1979.
During the 1970s, no one truly understood the full potential of the SUV segment. Without conclusive data, Mercedes was hesitant to enter into the G-Wagon project. However, the program got a major boost in 1975 when the Shah of Iran - a major shareholder in the company at the time — placed an order for 20,000 military G-Wagons.
The first generation 460 Series G-Wagon debuted in 1979 with a heavy-duty ladder frame chassis, 100% differential locks, and all-synchromesh transfer case. Power for the 460 came from as series of four and six-cylinder gasoline and diesel engines producing 72 to 150 horsepower.
The 460 G-wagon came in a variety of body styles ranging from a fun two-door convertible to a long-wheel-base off-road delivery van.
This includes refreshed styling, more powerful engines, and the addition of three locking differentials to the G-Wagon's beastly four-wheel-drive system.
Even though the G-Wagon had been on sale to the public since 1979, it wasn't officially imported into the US until 2002.
In 1992, Mercedes went back to the basics with the model 461 Series. Based on the original 460 Series, 461 G-Wagons were designed to be utilitarian commercial work vehicles for governments and businesses.
Over the past four decades, the G-Wagon has proven itself to be an automotive chameleon. It has appeared as everything from military vehicles to the Pope Mobile.
For many years, the G-Wagon was even sold to Soviet Bloc and other Communist nations under the Puch brand.
Due to its exceedingly long service life, the G-Wagon's contemporaries have changed tremendously. In the early days, it competed against the original Range Rover,...
These days, the G-Wagon's rivals are considerably posher. They include the current generation Range Rover, ...
While early G-Wagons were modest in their power output, current versions are anything but. Our G550 test vehicle is powered by a 416 horsepower, 4.0-liter bi-turbo V8 engine. Believe it or not, it's actually the least powerful version of the SUV available in the US.
Two other versions come with hand built AMG powerplants. The G63 is equipped with a 563 horsepower, 5.5-liter bi-turbo V8 while the G65 gets a monstrous 621 horsepower, 6.0-liter bi-turbo V12.
Mated to a seven-speed automatic transmission, the 5,724 lbs G550 can hit 60 mph from a standstill in a brisk 5.8 seconds. The AMG powered models are even quicker. The G63 can hit 60 mph in 5.3 seconds while the V12 G65 reaches 60mph in 5.2 seconds.
Apart from a few updates and enhancements, the G-Wagon's styling remains virtually unchanged from the boxy military vehicle that debuted in the 1970s.
However, the interior is a different story. Over the decades, the G-Wagon picked up such luxury features as air conditioning, power windows, and an automatic transmission. Today's G is a veritable luxury palace compared to early editions of the truck.
Open up the heavy-duty doors and you'll find a leather-lined cabin filled with some of the latest technology from the Mercedes-Benz parts bin.
Dominating the center stack is a large infotainment screen running an older generation of Mercedes' COMAND Infotainment system. However, the G-Wagon does have full Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration.
In addition, the G-Wagon proved to be unexpectedly high tech. Highlights include adaptive cruise control, blind spot awareness, parking assist, and Mercedes-Benz MBrace app integration.
Overall, the G-Wagon's cabin conveys the sense of solidity one would expect. Everything feels like it's been hewn from the most durable and heavy-duty materials Mercedes could find.
So what is the G-Wagon like to drive? Unsurprisingly, it drives like a 38-year-old military vehicle.
On the road, G-Wagon's handling is numb and the ride is harsh for a luxury SUV. And since it has all of the same aerodynamic properties as a brick, the wind buffeting at highway speeds make for a rather noisy cabin. But that's not the worst part of it. At high speed, the slab-sided G-Wagon catches wind like a sail — making it alarmingly unstable and a bit unnerving to drive.
With that said, it would be unfair to expect the G-Wagon to drive like a modern car-based crossover. After all, you can teach an old dog new tricks, but there are limits to this approach that even Mercedes can't overcome.
However, the more road the conditions deteriorated, the better the G-Wagon got. At lower speeds, our test car handled the snowy New Jersey winter with aplomb. It also mastered the state's notorious potholes.
At the end of the day, the Mercedes-Benz G-Class is sui generis. It's truly unique in that no one has ever attempted to turn a hard-scrabbled military vehicle into a posh boulevard cruiser.
As a consumer product, the G-Wagon is far from perfect. It's incredibly expensive for a package that's objectively out of date. Compared to its contemporaries, the G is noisy, crude, and inefficient.
However, to judge this car by traditional metrics simply wouldn't do it justice. The G isn't for someone in search of an E-Class wagon with more ride height. (Mercedes has a slew of alternatives for you in that case.)
What you get with the G-Wagon is an effortlessly cool industrial strength war machine cloaked with a veil of civility. To experience the G-Wagon is to understand the piece of mind you have knowing your car was meant to handle conditions far more brutal than anything you can throw at it.
At the end of the day, the Mercedes-Benz G-Class isn't a car you buy with your head, it's a car you buy with your heart. And no matter how many flaws it has, there's no getting around the fact that it will always be an automotive legend.
