It's A G-Thing

Ridiculously fast and ludicrously expensive modern icon from Mercedes gets a thorough makeover and we drive one to find out what makes it so special

At some point during my time with the Mercedes AMG G63 I started wondering what the point to it was. Despite the fact that fast SUVs are very much in vogue, the G63’s existence still beggars belief. Mercedes-AMG has enough of those in its lineup, ten to be precise if you count all the body styles and engine variations. Why then did the company feel the need to create what is essentially a brick which can do 0-100kmph in just 4.5s? Well, if you’re reading this thinking I will have a convincing answer to that question by the end of this write-up then spoiler alert, I won’t. But with my words I will attempt to tell you what makes the MercedesAMG G63 so special.

The G-Wagen started out as a utilitarian vehicle for the military in the late 1970s. Over the decades, Mercedes-Benz has retained the original’s design. But if you think that made life for the design department easy, well think again. It is more than just a simple copy-paste job. Take the front turn indicators for instance. They cost around five times more because of modern safety regulations that require them to sink back into the body in case you end up hitting a pedestrian. Although the turn signal will be the least of my worries if I had a 2.5tonne brick hurtling towards me! The door hinges and handles also hark back to the original and closing the door takes a fair amount of strength. All this adds to the old school charm of the G-Wagen. Features like all LED headlamps and LED tail lamps and AMG’s signature Panamericana front grille seem to be the few contemporary bits around.