As I've said over the years, one vehicle that always seems to make me gasp is the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, formerly known as the G Wagon. Every time I see one I can't help but become entranced.
And after I drove it I wasn't impressed. Hell, I've told interested buyers to go drive a Jeep Wrangler and compare them. Aside from the status symbol, it's not a better product.
Now though things are different. That's because the three-pointed star has done a complete overhaul of the G-Class. When I first spent time with it at the 2018 New York Auto Show, I was star struck all over again.
It kept what made the G great but improved on all of its weaknesses. No door shuts quite like a G's door.
Of course when an automaker does something to this degree it is walking a tight rope. Do too much and you sour the magnificent recipe. Don't do enough and, boy, you're left with the same problems you were trying to overcome.
So, how did Mercedes-AMG do with the all-new G63? See Autocar's first impressions, below.
Should I buy one?
If you were already considering a G-Class – and given that last year was the most successful sales year in the model’s 300,000-unit history, you might well be – there’s nothing here to put you off. The bodywork isn’t quite a dramatically acute as before, but that’s offset by vast improvements to ride, handling and within the interior.
So great are the developments in those areas that you might now consider the G-Class a rival for a Range Rover, in fact. The German car is less refined at speed, of course, and in its general disposition, but a 350-mile day at the wheel is no longer an undertaking of which to be fearful (for one thing, the driving position now feels more natural). You could tour in a G-Class, happily...
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