MERCEDES-BENZ G-CLASS – THE NEVER ENDIN…G-STORY

When a car like the Mercedes-Benz G-Class is built for 40 years in a row – and no end is in sight – it says a lot about the vehicle’s quality. Among other things, it shows that the G-Class is more than just a commercial success and that it has managed to reinvent itself over decades without losing its character.

Ten years before the G-Class was presented in Toulon, there was the first tender approchement between the Daimler-Benz AG and the Austrian Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG. Initially still broadly defined as a cooperation producing passenger cars, buses and off-road vehicles.

At the latest during the comparative test drive in June 1971, it became increasingly clear that there were a lot of overlaps in the field of off-roaders. Puch with the Haflinger and Pinzgauer models and Mercedes-Benz with the Unimog demonstrated their strengths off-road and showed the upper management that this is where profitable cooperation can be found. As early as autumn 1971 the idea of jointly designing an off-road vehicle was put into concrete terms. However, it was not only to be a pure off-roader, but also to show good handling on the road. Until then, there were often two separate worlds – the off-roaders and the everyday cars – but the new model was also to be a kind of leisure-oriented off-road vehicle.

PURE FUNCTIONALITY IN THE FIRST G-CLASS

The first G-Class in 1979 still showed nothing of a lifestyle four-wheeler. Practical, functional, sparse – this is probably the best way to describe the 460 series.

But that’s exactly how it should be, among others it was the Shah of Persia, then major shareholder of the Daimler-Benz AG, who wanted an off-road vehicle with a star for his military. History did not allow for the large order: for with the fall of the Shah, the large order went down the drain.

Even in the German Army the car wasn’t a fit at first. They went with the VW Iltis. But the fact that the military had no use for the G-class for the time being does not detract from the altogether good start. After all, there were still enough commercial customers, local authorities, rescue services, forestry, forest industry and last but not least private individuals willing to buy.

The technical basis of the W460 was completely adapted to the terrain. The frame of the G-Class is formed by a box frame of closed longitudinal profiles and cross beams. Rigid axles, a long suspension sweep, selectable differential locks and high ground clearance make it ready for the terrain.

Two petrol and two diesel models were available for the start. The 230 G was offered with the M113 four-cylinder carburettor engine, which generates 90 hp and later 102 hp. The famous straight six-cylinder M 110 was used in the 280 GE with 156 hp – from 1984 with catalytic converter 150 hp. 240 GD and 300 GD are the two-, four- and five-cylinder diesel engines that bring 72 hp and 88 hp to the road. These first performance figures can be called manageable. Surely sufficient for off-road use, in road traffic you can at least swim along.

The G-Class was initially available as an open two-door model with a short wheelbase and as a closed “station wagon” with two or four doors or the short or longer body. Less well known is the W 462 series, which consists of “completely knocked down” kits which were assembled in assembly plants all over the world, including Turkey and, from 1992, in the ELBO plant in Greece.

CONSTANT FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THE G-CLASS

Up to 1982, the G-Class was developed in smaller and larger steps. The fact that sales were better than initially forecast naturally favoured the further steps. Just as the fact that the G-Class did not plough unrecognised through the forests of Europe, but was also clearly visible in the road scene. It is not without pride that the G-Class, which was converted into a popemobile for Pope John Paul II, is now on display in the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart.

From 1982 onward, the Mercedes- Benz G-Class increasingly began to become a more comfortable leisure vehicle suitable for everyday use. Not only does the basic 230 GE version have the 125 hp – with catalytic converter from 1984 122 hp – strong injection engine, but also new upholstery, interior fittings and the steering wheel from the S-Class W 126.

WITH ALL-WHEEL DRIVE TOWARDS LIFESTYLE

In fact, hardly a year goes by without the G-Class experiencing some innovation. In 1989, after ten years of production and around 75,000 units built, Mercedes-Benz presented the new W 463 series at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It is the most comprehensive change to date in the relatively recent history of the G-Class series. Among other things, the G-models of the 463 series now feature permanent four-wheel drive. The differential locks can be engaged at the touch of a button in a fixed sequence. In the first step the longitudinal differential was fully locked. Then, if required, the lock on the rear axle could be activated and, in addition, depending on requirements, that on the front axle as well.

Systems such as the anti-lock braking system (ABS) were also available as optional extras. With the market launch in 1990, all kinds of changes were also made to the interior.

Be it the changeover to the dashboard of the 124 series and some wood applications, which was already available as standard equipment, or the leather upholstery, which was admittedly offered as an optional extra for an additional payment. Slightly delayed to the presentation of the new series, the were given the new identifier “W 461”. They differ from the lifestyle aspirations of the 463 models and are still available, for example, with two-wheel drive and selectable four-wheel drive. In 1993, the way was once again paved for the G-Class to appeal to a performance-oriented clientele. The special model 500 GE V8 was built in a limited edition of 446 units and – with its 241 hp eight-cylinder engine – so well received that the G 500 went into series production in 1998. Then even more powerful with 296 hp.

This of course also calls for the AMG in-house tuners, who would be bringing G 55, 63 and 65 AMGs onto the market over time. Whether or not it is necessary to give an off-road vehicle such an amount of power is a matter of taste. Sooner rather than later, the air resistance at the latest shows the G driver that propulsion will eventually come to an end, regardless of whether 354, 444 or even 630 hp are slumbering under the bonnet. And some G 63 AMG drivers don’t seem to need to reach top speed anyway.

Bringing back THE G-CLASS

After more than 300,000 units have been built, the time was ripe for a new G-Class in 2018. Even the biggest G fan will have to admit that all 4×4 veterans will at some point no longer comply with regulations regarding pedestrian protection or exhaust emission values.

But instead of a smoothed out, rounded SUV, Mercedes-Benz presented a completely new vehicle in Detroit in 2018, which from the general design language to the details looks like a twin of the W 460. And so the history of the G-Class is far from over, it simply opens a new chapter.

Photos Daimler AG

Author: Paolo Ollig

As editor-in-chief Paolo regularly writes about all the big and small stories related to classic cars and motorbikes. Classic dreams: Lamborghini Countach and Mercedes-Benz 300 SL. View all posts by Paolo Ollig →