Mercedes-Benz G-Class: ‘It is to regular 4x4s what Rambo is to reiki’ | Martin Love

Built for the rough, the hugely intimidating new G-Wagon is actually a bit of a smoothie

Mercedes-Benz G-Class
Price 143,305
0-62mph 4.5 seconds
Top speed 137mph
MPG 21.4
CO2 299g/km

Looking across the street to where I've parked a whopping Mercedes G-Class, I watch a short scene unfold, which sends me plunging down memory lane. A little boy is walking to school with his mum. His younger sister is thrashing around in her pushchair like a netted salmon. Suddenly, they all stop. The boy has spotted the emerald green G-Wagon lurking across the road. His mum patiently wheels the buggy across to it and then, slowly, they inch around the car - the boy's mouth gapes with incredulity. His toy car has been reborn as a colossal giant. At one point he delicately lays his hand on its immense flank - as if he's touching a sleeping tyrannosaurus. He's mesmerised by the car's size and promise of power. It's exactly what I would have done" Scratch that, it's exactly what I did do a few days earlier, when I collected the car. If machines get you, they always will. And there are few with more emotional traction than the G-Wagon.