The existence of the Mercedes G-Class is due to Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, who was a major shareholder of Mercedes-Benz in the 70 years. His Highness suggested the idea of a military 4 × 4. Daimler-Benz and the Austrian manufacturer Steyr-Daimler-Puch (now Magna Steyr) then joined forces and the companies started the joint development of an off-road vehicle in 1972. The first prototype of the 'G' was ready in 1974. The vehicles were sold as "Mercedes" and "Steyr Puch". The nameplates were interchangeable. Oh yes: The NATO name for this all-rounder was 'Wolf'.
Started as an army vehicle
The Mercedes G-Class was presented in 1979 as a military off-road vehicle and all-road vehicle for civilian customers. Those G Class Mercedes were Spartan workhorses. And the first copies went directly to the German border police (the 'Bundesgrenzschutz), the Argentine and the Norwegian army. That was a very good start to what was definitely going to be a decades-long success story.
The robust character of the car and its off-road capabilities made the best advertisement for this Mercedes right after the start of the sale. The G Class is therefore without much serious competition (UMM, Iveco, Land Rover) choice for the Dutch (since 1992) and German army and a huge number of civilian and military security units worldwide. During the construction period, the workhorse became more and more an anabolic luxury horse. And when the jet set had discovered the G, the G grew so far from its basic roots that enthusiasts from the very beginning turned away from the mastodon in disgust.
But the basis has always been that of a worker: All models have a four-wheel drive that can be engaged while driving. In addition, you can opt for road and off-road gear ratios (high and low gearing, respectively). The car is equipped with lock differentials on the front and rear axles.
The car is extremely robustly built for a long service life
The age that a military vehicle on active duty can reach is just 20+ years. Then come 'the Domains', not the demolition. And if such a veteran ends up with an enthusiast, he is expected to have eternal life.
An early G like this feels like a truck on the public road, whether he started his life as a civil servant or as a civilian. The owner of our fashion model drives it on highways at a truck pace. And so he even drove up and down Italy. But that had something to do with the towing capacity for a tandem axle. A lot of later, more luxurious, civilian G's have never been off the asphalt. There was a time when the entire PC Hooftstraat in Amsterdam was full of it. Every celebrity had one.
Many versions
Over the years, the Mercedes G-Class has been offered in very many variants: as three-door, five-door, pick-up, extended version and convertible, and we are not even talking about the numerous utility versions such as ambulances, rescue vehicles and versions for special units. A Pausmobile G has also been made. Mercedes has promised to continue the production of the standard military G-vehicles until 2025.
But the earliest copies are of course the most 'real'. When purchasing, make sure that the least motorized ones are actually hardly motorway resistant and, despite, or precisely because of, their small cylinder capacity, are very thirsty. The demand for diesels is currently under pressure due to the hassle about environmental zones that must make the cities cleaner so that Schiphol can continue to grow indefinitely.
Have ever been in a garage where G models were equipped with ML engines. Something with taxes or something. The Mercedes 240D engine from the G is still happy in my camper, pulling it over every Alp or Pyrenee.
Hello Peter, We will have to learn to live with it. We are ruled by Shell and the duty-free jet fuel is the holy water of the neo-liberal faith of the people who believe that 'more' is never enough.
@ Jan Keijzer. Hi Jan, It's not even a matter of 'Oops, senior moment, forget it'. Only limited space is available for these types of web texts. That's why AMK just keeps on selling. There is more time and space on paper. But even then… You could write a full Bible about the G types alone. By the way, a subscription to AMK costs almost nothing ...
Say Dolf are we going to forget the Peugeot variant?
Unlike the MB and the Puch, which has MB blocks, the Peugeot own engines.
The last sentence is another one to frame.