Go Offroading In Mercedes’ Portal-Axle Highlighter Yellow Gelandewagen
Mercedes may sell most G-Wagens to folks who want attention in Beverly Hills, but it’s equally at home dominating the Rubicon.
This thing is ridiculous, over the top, absurd, ludicrous. Level any synonym for “crazy” at this truck, and it will almost certainly deserve it. The thing is, the Mercedes G500 4×4 Squared is fantastic at going places other trucks simply won’t. Nobody who pays a quarter of a million dollars for this bonkers machine will ever take it off road. But if they did, it would get them there and back again. It can cross water up to a meter deep. It’s portal-style axles provide an insane level of ground clearance. This Mercedes, more than any other Mercedes, is wretched excess.
The most wonderful thing about Chris Harris’ review of this truck for Top Gear’s YouTube channel is that Chris takes the Merc out to be used as it was built to be used. Rock crawling, water obstacles, steep inclines, and slow measured descents, this big bruiser can handle it all and hardly a bat an eye. Does anyone really need a mega-luxury interior or carbon-fiber over-fenders on their G? Mercedes seems to think so.
ALSO SEE: Is Mercedes Trying Too Hard With The New X-Class Pickup?
As hard as we try to dismiss this truck as ostentatious, we can’t help but fall in love with it. It’s a powerful example of a company using decades of engineering expertise to build a seriously capable off-road machine that isn’t pure trash when on pavement. Mercedes knows how to build a G, and this is possibly the best one they’ve ever built. Chris Harris says it best in his review: “What a wonderfully absurd car.”
