The First Generation
The civilian G-Model went on sale in 1979 as the W460, offered as the 230 G and 280 GE petrol and the 240 GD and 300 GD diesel; the fuel-injected 230 GE only replaced the carburettor 230 G in 1982. Badged a Puch G in Austria, Switzerland, Yugoslavia and COMECON markets under an agreement that ran until 2000, it set the shape four decades of successors would keep.
Part of G-Class
29 moments in this segment.
- — Geländewagen launch film: "Die Antwort auf alle Ansprüche". The full-length 1979 Mercedes-Benz promotional film introducing the Geländewagen under the slogan "Die Antwort auf alle Ansprüche" — the answer to every demand. Nearly fifteen minutes of period driving and demonstration footage showing how the factory itself pitched its new off-roader at launch.
- — Mercedes-Benz G-Class advertising film of 1979, short version. The short version of the 1979 advertising film for the original W460 G-Class, built around the line 'die Antwort auf alle Ansprueche' - the answer to every demand. It is the launch-year sales argument for the Gelaendewagen in the manufacturer's own words.
- — Period advertising film for the 280 GE. A five-minute period Mercedes-Benz advertising film for the W460 280 GE. The upload's notes recall that the W460 was introduced at a press event on the off-road proving ground at Toulon in France and went on sale in September 1979, and that the vehicle is built in Austria by the firm that also sold it under the Puch name.
- — Period German-market Geländewagen television commercial. An original Mercedes-Benz television commercial for the German-market Geländewagen, about a minute long. It is a straight period advertisement rather than a later retrospective.
- — A working 240 GD in Liechtenstein. A Mercedes-Benz 240 GD registered in Liechtenstein. Cars like this - unrestored, in daily use, in mountain country - are the G-Class's actual habitat for its first two decades, before the model became a status symbol.
- — Papal motorcade, Netherlands 1985. A third Anefo frame from the same 1985 Dutch papal visit. The G-Class popemobile is the reason a purpose-built military off-roader became one of the most photographed vehicles in the world.
- — A 230 G with special bodywork. A Mercedes-Benz 230 G fitted with a special raised body of the kind used for the papal conversions and for parade and inspection vehicles. The G-Class chassis was chosen for these jobs because it could carry a tall, heavy superstructure and still crawl through a crowd at walking pace. The vehicle or site is period; this photograph was taken in 2006.
- — Motorvision replays a period G-Modell advertisement. An instalment of Motorvision's 'Historische Autowerbung' strand, which replays vintage German car commercials; this episode covers the Mercedes G-Modell. It is a modern television package built around an older advertisement.
- — 230 G Cabriolet, short wheelbase. A short-wheelbase 230 G Cabriolet. In the early 1980s this was the cheapest way into a G-Wagen and the version closest to the original military concept: two doors, a canvas top and very little else. The vehicle or site is period; this photograph was taken in 2011.
- — Long-wheelbase 230 GE. The long-wheelbase five-door W460, the body style that carried most of the civilian sales volume. The extra 400 mm of wheelbase turned the Geländewagen from a two-seat working tool into something a family or a survey team could actually live in. This body style has been in the catalogue continuously since 1979. The vehicle or site is period; this photograph was taken in 2014.
- — 300 GD, the five-cylinder diesel. A 1981 Mercedes-Benz 300 GD in long-wheelbase station-wagon form. This was the top diesel of the original W460 range and the model most often specified by government and expedition users. Its OM617 five-cylinder engine is one of the most durable diesels Mercedes ever built. The vehicle or site is period; this photograph was taken in 2015.
- — Finding and restoring a 1980s W460 G-Wagen, part one. The first part of an owner's account of finding and restoring a 1980s W460 G-Wagen. Restoration footage of the first civilian generation is comparatively rare next to the coverage the modern car attracts.
- — The 230 G, the petrol entry model of 1979. A Mercedes-Benz 230 G, one of the four models the Geländewagen launched with in 1979: the 230 G and 280 GE petrol, the 240 GD and 300 GD diesel. The 230 G used a 2.3-litre carburettor petrol four making about 90 hp, which in a two-tonne off-roader made it deliberately slow and deliberately unbreakable. The flat panels, exposed hinges and bolt-on wheel arches were all chosen so field repairs could be done with hand tools. Photographed at Techno-Classica Essen) of a preserved 1979-era car - NOT a period photograph. The vehicle is period; the photograph is not.
- — The 240 GD, the launch diesel. The 240 GD was the smaller of the two launch diesels, a 2.4-litre four making roughly 72 hp. It became the standard military and utility version across Europe and formed the basis of most NATO fleet orders through the 1980s. Its reputation rested entirely on the fact that it would keep running when nothing else would. Photographed at Techno-Classica Essen), preserved car, not period. The vehicle is period; the photograph is not.
- — W460 G-Wagen restoration: the finished car. The final part of the "Saving Private Iggy" series, in which a W460 G-Wagen is revealed after a full strip-down restoration. Owner rebuilds of this depth are a large part of why first-generation cars survive at all.
- — The shape that never changed. A 1984 230 GE in profile, showing the strictly rectilinear body that would survive essentially untouched for 39 years. The flat glass, the vertical windscreen and the spare wheel hung on the tailgate were all packaging decisions made for a military brief, not a styling one. Mercedes kept them because customers refused to let them go. The vehicle or site is period; this photograph was taken in 2019.
- — A 1981 W460 climbs a forty-degree slope. A first-generation W460 Geländewagen takes a dry forty-degree climb using four-wheel drive and its differential locks. Unedited amateur footage of the mechanical basics the whole model was built around.
- — Project Thor: fighting the rust in a 1988 300 GD body. The second episode of an owner restoration in which two friends, having completely disassembled a 1988 W460 300 GD, try to bring the rust-ridden bodywork back. It is an honest look at how far corrosion goes on a first-generation car and what saving one really costs in labour.
- — Fitting a turbocharger to a W460 300 GD. A time-lapse of a turbocharger being fitted to the OM617 diesel of a 1990 W460 300 GD. Mechanical, unnarrated owner work on the naturally aspirated first-generation diesel.
- — Rust-proofing a G-Model: the classic weak points. A German classic-car specialist goes through the typical corrosion weak points of the G-Model and shows the preparation for a cavity treatment with Mike Sanders grease. Practical ownership detail for the generation of cars that is now old enough to rot away.
- — The panel-van G, sold to utilities and armies. A short-wheelbase panel van W460. Windowless commercial bodies like this were sold to utilities, forestry services and armies and almost never survive, which is why period photographs of them are scarce. The vehicle or site is period; this photograph was taken in 2021.
- — 250 GD, the workhorse diesel. The 250 GD replaced the 240 GD in 1987 with a 2.5-litre five-cylinder diesel. It became the basis for the Bundeswehr's 'Wolf' and for military orders across Europe, and is the single most-produced G-Class variant of the era. The vehicle or site is period; this photograph was taken in 2021.
- — A 1989 Steyr-Daimler-Puch 280 GE starting up. Start-up and idle of a 1989 280 GE badged as a Steyr-Daimler-Puch rather than a Mercedes-Benz. The badge is the visible trace of the Austrian partner that has assembled every G-Class in Graz since 1979.
- — 230 GE: fuel injection arrives. The 230 GE replaced the carburettor 230 G with Bosch fuel injection, lifting output to about 125 hp. It was the first meaningful power increase the G-Class received and the version that made the car tolerable as a road vehicle. It remained on sale in W460 form until the range gave way to the W461 and W463. The vehicle or site is period; this photograph was taken in 2023.
- — 250 GD at the end of the W460 line. A 1989 250 GD, from the last full year of W460 production before the W461 and W463 split the range in two. After 1990 the W460's direct successor, the W461, kept the simple part-time four-wheel drive for military and utility buyers. The vehicle or site is period; this photograph was taken in 2023.
- — Inside a W460: a dashboard built for gloves. The interior of a 1984 300 GD. The first-generation cabin was almost aggressively plain - painted metal, rubber mats, upright seats and switchgear sized for a driver wearing gloves. Nothing in it anticipated the car's later career as a luxury object. The vehicle or site is period; this photograph was taken in 2024.
- — 280 GE, the petrol six. A Mercedes-Benz 280 GE in the Automuseum Prototyp, Hamburg. The 2.8-litre straight-six was one of the four engines available from the February 1979 launch and was the most powerful option in the range. It is also the engine used in the Paris-Dakar rally cars. The vehicle or site is period; this photograph was taken in 2024.
- — Restored W460 300GD. A short film on a fully restored W460 300GD, the first-generation civilian G-Class. The restorer describes taking the body off the frame, refurbishing both separately and overhauling the engine and gearbox over ten months.
- — The 300 GD Cabriolet of 1980. A short-wheelbase 300 GD Cabriolet from 1980, the soft-top body style that was in the range from the very first year. The five-cylinder 3.0-litre diesel was the most powerful engine offered at launch at about 88 hp. The cabriolet stayed in the catalogue for decades and became the collectors' favourite. The vehicle or site is period; this photograph was taken in 2025.
