The Extremes
The outliers: the six-wheeled G 63 AMG 6x6, the portal-axled G 500 4x4², the 1980 Popemobile built for John Paul II, and the tuner builds that pushed the shape further than the factory would. Each one tests how far the basic design can be stretched.
Part of G-Class
31 moments in this segment.
- — The Popemobile in the crowd, 's-Hertogenbosch 1985. A second Anefo frame of the 230 G popemobile working its way through the crowd in 's-Hertogenbosch. The raised armoured-glass cabin was grafted onto an otherwise standard long-wheelbase G-Class chassis. The 1981 attempt on the Pope's life is what turned this from an open car into a glass box.
- — John Paul II in the Mercedes 230 G Popemobile, Netherlands 1985. Pope John Paul II standing in the glass-topped Mercedes-Benz 230 G popemobile during the Marian procession in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, May 1985. Mercedes had built the first G-Class popemobile for the Pope's 1980 visit to Germany, and the conversion became the template for papal vehicles for the next two decades. This is a genuine period press photograph from the Dutch national photo agency Anefo.
- — The Popemobile in newly independent Estonia, 1993. John Paul II in the Mercedes G-Class popemobile in Tallinn in September 1993, on the first papal visit to the Baltic states after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The same vehicle type had by then been used on papal visits across four continents. A genuine 1993 photograph, not a later reconstruction.
- — Brabus G V12 Biturbo. A Brabus G V12 Biturbo displayed at the 2003 Frankfurt IAA. German tuners turned the G-Class into an extreme luxury object well before Mercedes did, and cars like this pointed directly at the later factory AMG models.
- — The 1980 Mercedes-Benz 230 G Popemobile. A short film on the 230 G built in 1980 to carry Pope John Paul II during his visit to Germany, with a raised rear floor and a transparent dome over the Pope's bench. It was the first G-Class adapted for papal use and the vehicle that attached the 'Popemobile' name to the model.
- — The G 63 AMG 6x6. The Mercedes-AMG G 63 6x6, launched in 2013 and derived from a three-axle G-Wagen built for the Australian Army. It combined portal axles, six driven wheels, five differential locks and a 544 hp twin-turbo V8 with a leather-lined pickup body. Roughly 100 were built, all sold.
- — Photographing 24 G-Class models for a Mercedes-Benz advent calendar. Behind the scenes at the Munich Mercedes-Benz branch as 24 different G-Class vehicles are photographed one by one for the branch's advent calendar. The shoot assembles an unusual cross-section of variants in a single place.
- — GRIP tests the G 63 AMG 6x6 in the Dubai desert. German motoring show GRIP takes the six-wheel-drive G 63 AMG 6x6 into the desert outside Dubai with presenter Det Mueller driving. The programme frames it as the most expensive, heaviest and largest off-roader Mercedes-Benz had ever built, and the dune running shows what six driven wheels do in soft sand.
- — Richard Hammond drives the G63 6x6 in Abu Dhabi. A television film in which Richard Hammond takes the six-wheeled Mercedes-AMG G63 6x6 into the dunes of Abu Dhabi, including a water crossing and dune driving. The 6x6 was a low-volume factory build on portal axles that led directly to the later 4x4² road car.
- — Top Gear drives the G 63 AMG 6x6 in Abu Dhabi. Richard Hammond drives the six-wheeled G 63 AMG 6x6 through the dunes of Abu Dhabi for series 21 of Top Gear, which notes the vehicle's origins in a machine developed for the Australian military. The film gave the 6x6 the mainstream audience that turned it from a niche derivative into the G-Class's most recognisable halo car.
- — First drive of the Mercedes-Benz G 500 4x4 squared in Andalusia. GTspirit drives the G 500 4x4 squared at an exclusive preview in Andalusia, Spain, covering road behaviour, off-road running and onboard footage. The 4x4 squared took the portal-axle idea from the 6x6 and applied it to a two-axle car, and this is early footage of it working.
- — The G 500 4x4². ², shown in 2015, took the portal axles and huge ground clearance from the 6x6 and put them under a normal two-axle G-Class body. It sat about 45 cm higher than a standard G and was the last of the extreme factory specials before the 2018 redesign.
- — What is underneath the Mercedes G 500 4x4 squared. The Drive's Chris Cantle goes under the portal-axled G 500 4x4 squared with Jonathan Ward of ICON 4x4 to work through its mechanical layout. It is the most technical look at the 4x4 squared in this set, explaining the hardware rather than the spectacle.
- — G 63 AMG 6x6, three axles. The G 63 AMG 6x6 from the rear, showing the pickup bed and tandem rear axles. Its tyre-pressure control system, borrowed from the military version, let the driver deflate and reinflate all six tyres from the cabin.
- — Doug DeMuro's detailed look at the G 550 4x4 squared. A long, systematic walk through the quirks and features of the portal-axled G 550 4x4 squared, which the presenter puts at around 250,000 dollars in the United States. It is the most thorough consumer-facing catalogue of what the 4x4 squared actually consists of.
- — G-Class 4x4² in white. A G 500 4x4² in white. Only around 300 were built before production ended, and they now trade for more than they cost new.
- — Chris Harris drives the G 500 4x4 squared. Chris Harris puts the portal-axled G 500 4x4 squared through its paces for Top Gear. It is the sharpest driving assessment of the model in this set.
- — The most unusual variants of the G-Class. A twenty-minute survey of rare G-Class derivatives, including the 300 GD Cabriolet, the 300 GD 'Otto', the 500 GE, short and long wheelbase 230 station wagons and a 230 G fire-service cabriolet. It is a useful catalogue of how many different vehicles have been built on one basic architecture.
- — The G 63 AMG 6x6 driven and dismantled feature by feature. A half-hour walkthrough and road drive of the three-axle, six-wheel-drive G 63 AMG 6x6. It covers the quirks of a road-legal six-wheeled pickup and what living with one actually looks like away from the desert imagery it was sold on.
- — Review of the portal-axle G 550 4x4 Squared. A review of the G 550 4x4², the factory portal-axle G, quoted here at 415 hp and 450 lb-ft from a four-litre twin-turbo V8 and CAD 268,500. The hosts weigh it against the other extreme factory G-Class variants, the G 63 6x6 and the AMG cars.
- — G 550 4x4 Squared and a 1976 Unimog on Hell's Gate, Moab. A 2017 G 550 4x4² and a 1976 Unimog 416 Doka run the Hells Revenge trail in Moab, including the Hells Gate obstacle. Rare footage of the factory portal-axle G being used on genuinely hard rock alongside the older Mercedes off-road workhorse.
- — The Brabus G800, a tuned V12 G-Class. A full review of the Brabus G800, a maxed-out version of the twelve-cylinder Mercedes-AMG G 65, including an acceleration run. It shows how far the aftermarket pushed the G-Class beyond even AMG's own output and pricing.
- — The 230 G Popemobile at the Mercedes-Benz Museum. The Vatican-registered Mercedes-Benz 230 G Popemobile filmed on display in Stuttgart. A first-generation G bodyshell was the base for one of the most recognisable ceremonial vehicles ever built.
- — The Brabus 900 XLP, a G-Class turned pickup. A review of the Brabus 900 XLP, a G-Class converted into a raised pickup with a load bed and extensive carbon bodywork, much of the venting on it decorative. The presenter is openly unnerved by driving it, which is a fair reading of what the conversion does to the car.
- — Brabus G800 built on the G63 4x4 squared. A walkaround of a Brabus conversion of the Mercedes-AMG G63 4x4², finished in Brabus Stealth Green, covering the exterior bodywork and the reworked interior. The 4x4² is the portal-axle version of the G-Class, and Brabus stacks its own engine tune and trim on top of it. It shows how far the aftermarket pushes the G once the factory has already built an extreme variant.
- — Testing the Brabus G700 against the standard G63. A driving review of the Brabus G700, a tuned version of the Mercedes-AMG G63 with wider arches, its own wheels and a reworked cabin. The video weighs whether the Brabus treatment improves on the factory AMG car at roughly triple the price.
- — Pope Francis receives the first all-electric popemobile. News coverage of Mercedes-Benz handing over an electric G-Class built as a popemobile in December 2024. The vehicle is intended for general audiences and official ceremonies, and is the first fully electric car used for that purpose. The G-Class has served as the base for papal parade vehicles since 1980.
- — Testing the G500 4x4 squared in deep snow. A snow test of the factory portal-axle G500 4x4², asking whether the extreme ride height is genuinely useful or purely for show. The footage documents one of the rarest factory G-Class variants being used hard rather than displayed.
- — Brabus 6x6 pickup based on the G63. A full walkaround of a Brabus six-wheeled pickup conversion of the G63, covering the exterior, cabin and the twin-turbo V8. It is the current commercial descendant of the factory G63 6x6 that Mercedes built in small numbers.
- — TopCar Design Inferno body kit on the G63. A studio walkaround of a G63 rebodied by the tuner TopCar Design, with the quoted output and performance figures for the standard 4.0-litre V8 underneath. It documents the wide-body tuning scene that has grown around the current G-Class.
- — The G-Class popemobile at the Mercedes-Benz Museum. A short clip of the G-Class-based popemobile displayed in the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. The museum holds the original papal G-Class built in 1980, which established the G as the base for parade vehicles decades before the electric version.
