500,000th Mercedes-Benz G-Class Built Is Something Extra Special

To celebrate a big milestone, this special, one-off Mercedes-Benz G-Class was created with inspiration from the 1986 280 GE.

The Mercedes-Benz G-Class is something extra special, one of the most iconic nameplates in the automotive world in general. Amazingly, interest in this long-running model hasn’t waned one bit, and has only grown with the launch of the current-gen model, which is still selling like hotcakes, making it difficult to find and even harder to locate without some sort of dealer markup attached to the sticker price. However, when it came time to build the 500,000th Mercedes-Benz G-Class recently, the automaker decided to do something extra special, and in the process, it created one of the coolest looking specs we’ve seen yet.

After building the G-Class for 44 years, Mercedes knew that the right thing to do with this milestone model was to give it more of a retro vibe – not as if the regular model isn’t already a bit of a throwback with its big, boxy body and classic, upright styling. Taking inspiration from the 1986 280 GE, MB painted it in the classic hue known as Agave Green before moving on to the trim.

Those pieces – the grille, bumpers, fender flares, door handles, and rub strips – were all painted black, though Mercedes opted to give it a more conventional set of silver wheels rather than some large, modernized pieces. It also added stone guards over the headlights, some meatier tires, a vinyl spare tire cover, and one nifty little throwback – brighter amber plastic for the front turn signals, which is another nod to the past.

Inside the cabin, MB gave this G-Wagon retro 1986-style checkered fabric for the seats, a special badge on the grab handle that signifies that this is the 500,000th model built, and a host of other old school touches, though it sadly didn’t provide pictures of the cabin. Regardless, this is still an incredibly cool machine that we’ll hopefully get to see much more of in the near future.

Photos: Mercedes-Benz

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Brett Foote

Brett Foote has been covering the automotive industry for over five years and is a longtime contributor to Internet Brands’ Auto Group sites, including Chevrolet Forum, Rennlist, and Ford Truck Enthusiasts, among other popular sites.

He has been an automotive enthusiast since the day he came into this world and rode home from the hospital in a first-gen Mustang, and he's been wrenching on them nearly as long.

In addition to his expertise writing about cars, trucks, motorcycles, and every other type of automobile, Brett had spent several years running parts for local auto dealerships.

You can follow along with his builds and various automotive shenanigans on Instagram: @bfoote.