G-Wagen is built to go off-road, and this one blasts up and across a massive wall of desert sand.
If you watch anything on the Bravo channel for more than a minute, there’s a very good chance you’ll see a reality show star driving around in one of two vehicles: a Land Rover Range Rover or a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen. Eleven times out of 10, they’re on paved roads. That’s just how it is. Those incredibly capable off-road vehicles happen to be popular with people who have no interest in using 4LO and getting mud on the tires. But that’s OK because there are people out there who do drive G-Wagens over rough terrain and share their antics online, such as this person who drives a new Mercedes-AMG G 63 flat out up a giant sand dune.
Judging by what we can see in the background of the footage we found on the mb63trendInstagram page, the action seems to take place somewhere in the Middle East (we’ll take a guess that it’s Saudi Arabia).
Almost all of the SUVs and the clothing the nearby people are wearing is white. But there’s one notable exception. Way down at the bottom of the dune, a black G 63 goes rocketing away from the grooved, well-trodden sand underneath it to the paler, less disturbed sand ahead of it.
The driver uses every one of the 577 horsepower and 627 lb-ft of torque at their disposal to keep their momentum going up the steep incline. The G 63 keeps moving forward, but it also begins to slide sideways as the grit it’s churning up sandblasts its passenger-side doors. That lateral slip doesn’t stop the G-Class from thundering skyward, though.
When the G 63 comes into the middle of the shot, the driver turns the wheel right. As they push on in their new direction, the rear tires send up huge rooster tails. It’s definitely a cool, dramatic sight, but what’s more impressive is the angle at which the G-Wagen tears across the dune. The G 63 weighs 5,845 pounds and is nearly 6.5 feet tall, so watching it charge over the sand leaning like that is nerve-racking…but impossible to turn away from.
Fortunately, the G63 doesn’t tilt over too far and turn into a $156,450 firework that only shoots off sand and shrapnel. It swings right and goes down to safer ground. Not bad for a rig that’s usually stuck in big city traffic on flat pavement, huh?
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
