WE CLIMBED INTO THE NEW MERCEDES-BENZ G-WAGEN

WE CLIMBED INTO THE NEW MERCEDES-BENZ G-WAGEN

Simple, rugged looks hide a beautifully detailed machine

With the 2019 Mercedes-Benz G-Class, everything new is made to look old. It’s not that Mercedes went out of its way to make a brand new, $100,000-plus SUV feel 40 years old, rather that they insisted on keeping classic touches that keep the character of the old alive.

As I pored over the new G-Wagen, as it’s known, on Sunday night at the Michigan Theater in Detroit, it was immediately clear that the work paid off to make what was an old car with a patchwork of new tech a more harmonious and unified experience befitting a luxury car. The doors open and close with a solid sound that inspires confidence. The cargo door in back still swings open wide and reveals a flat floor. The G-Wagen’s boxy shape makes the interior airy and upright, giving off another feeling of confidence that you’re above everyone else on the road.

Mercedes also knows how to put on a show. There was fire, smoke, and former host of Celebrity Apprentice, Arnold Schwarzenegger. The G-Wagen proved it could tackle all kinds of conditions, even if we were technically indoors and away from the below-freezing temperatures in Detroit.

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 Photo by Sean O'Kane / The Verge

Unfortunately, the excellent MBUX interface isn’t on the G-Class yet, with its rather intelligent voice assistant. Still, the experience lifted from existing Mercedes cars like the E and S classes is a vast improvement over what the G-Wagen managed before. The interior is also covered in beautiful materials, with high-quality stitched leathers. Even the air vents are solid and nicely finished, being large enough to easily operate them with gloved hands.

Check out our video to see even more of the 2019 G-Class. It’s an impressive new car, and it’s also impressive that Mercedes stuck to the winning formula and brought its off-road icon into the 21st century without changing its character.