Gelandewagen (G-Wagen) may be available on civvie street

http://www.carpoint.com.au/news/2010/commercial/mercedesbenz/all-go-for-gwagen-18591

Local fans of the esteemed G-Wagen will be offered the chance to own the sturdy offroader late next year.

Benz has been courting mining companies for a while now and the company has moved another step closer to committing engineering resource and the factory to the development of a civilian version of the G-Wagen. Previously, the Carsales Network was told that the G-Wagen for the Army doesn't comply with upcoming ADRs, hence the delay in a formal announcement. The latest word from our reliable contacts at Mercedes-Benz Australia is that the G-Wagen or Gelanderwagen as it's affectionately known, will be available from the first quarter of next year, or possibly a little earlier.

It's expected a diesel-powered V6 version, the G350, will be offered as well as a petrol V8 G500. There's even talk that the AMG-developed G55 version will be on offer to high-end Aussie offroaders, on special order only.

The business case for the civilian G-Wagen has been bolstered by the Australian Defence Force's order of 1200 units of the G-Wagen, under the auspices of 'Project Overlander', over a 15-year period.

According to our source at Benz, the ADF's investment has encouraged local interest in private ownership of the G-Class and Mercedes-Benz Australia has been listening...

M-B Australia first investigated the addition of the G-Wagen to the local lineup due to would-be buyer demand back in 2004 -- well before confirmation of the ADF's order. Until the opportunity of the G-Wagen presented itself, local offroaders have had to size-up options such as Benz's GL or the robust Land Rover Discovery.

But demand for the big, blocky G has finally overwhelmed the crew at Mulgrave and we expect some word on the G-Wagen's availability mid next year. Again, the model will be obtained by order only, so interested customers need to sit tight until then...


How much were these things anyway? Weren't they dearer than a fully loaded 200 Series or something??