Alright, let’s be clear. A rear wheel drive car does fine in the snow, as long as you have the right tires. Now that’s clear, growing up in northern New Jersey, we loved our luxury sedans. The only problem is that sometimes it snowed. So, we never could enjoy these cars year round as no one ever wanted to get snow tires for their car. Why? Because it was too inconvenient? First world problems, I know. Instead, everyone always resorted to all wheel drive, without knowing that a rear wheel drive car with snow tires is pretty damn good.
Luxury manufacturers didn’t introduce all wheel drive to their cars until Mercedes did with their 2003 S-class 4Matics Before that, if you wanted a luxury car that was all wheel drive, it was an SUV. In the late 1990s, the market was introduced to the luxury SUV - first the Lexus RX, then the Mercedes ML class, and then the BMW X5. All the while, there was the Range Rover, but its shortcomings with its reliability always made it a hard sell. There also was the Toyota Land Cruiser, but it was a hard sell to convince a luxury buyer to trade driving a Mercedes for a Toyota.
As this luxury SUV war was ensuing, a competitor from the past came out as the king of luxury SUVs, even though it was never designed to even be a street legal passenger car. It was a truck that was being imported in the grey market since the 70s - the Mercedes Benz Gelandewagen, or as we now know it as the G-Wagon.
The origin of the Gelandewagen is interesting as it was a military vehicle that was created due to a suggestion made by the Shah of Iran to Mercedes. A military vehicle eventually evolved into the ultimate Mercedes passenger SUV. Extremely capable with three separate locking differentials, once introduced to the US market, the G-wagon would see more shopping mall parking lots than any arduous terrain.
Even today, the G-wagon maintains the rugged body on frame set up, remaining extremely capable, but Mercedes has gone to great lengths to modernize the car with swathes of leather and the accoutrements that are expected from a 6 figure car.
With that antique door clasp, a ridiculously upright seating position, a nearly 90 degree front windshield and little to no interior space, the G-wagon WAS one of the worst cars to drive, but EVERYTHING has changed with the 2018 G550.
Mercedes realizes the G-wagon is extremely valuable to its identity. It is the most unique looking Benz, harkening back to boxy designs of yesteryear. With this in mind, Mercedes went to great lengths, not only to modernize the interior, but finally making the new G-wagon a wonderful driving experience.
Listen, the drag coefficient is still as good as a brick wall with wheels on it, but the new G-wagon offers a responsive and enjoyable drive. No longer do you feel like you’re driving a 1970s military truck, but you actually feel like you’re in a modern day car. The front suspension is now a double wishbone setup. The rear subframe has been reworked to have bushings that don’t rattle your teeth. And finally, Mercedes has used a proper steering rack which makes the G-wagon no longer handle on par with a cargo ship.
There is one big problem. And this problem is why I hate that I love the G-wagon so much. That problem is the price. The G starts at $125k. That is $50k more than the car cost new when it was introduced in 1998, at $75k.
Besides the price, the car has gotten so damn good, that it might be worth it. What other car on the market, can you get, that can drive through the Sahara desert, scale a 45 degree wall, has more road presence than a Rolls Royce, be parked at the front of the trendiest restaurant in Beverly Hills, and comfortably take your kids to hockey practice with all their equipment?
I can’t think of any other than the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon.