The new Mercedes G-Class very purposefully apes the design that has carried it since the late 1970s, and for good reason: it looks brilliant. Old school. Sturdy. Hard.

But not as hard as this. This is a very special Mercedes-Benz G-Class – or indeed, G-Wagen – built to test the very limits of its own capability, and the sturdiness of its drivers’ stomachs.

It is a 280 GE rally car, built specifically to take on the inordinately terrifying Paris-Dakar rally. It featured an optimised body featuring much aluminium to make it lighter than the standard G.

The engine too had been fettled, that 2.8-litre straight six petrol here pumping out 230bhp, up from the standard car’s 150-odd horses.It was campaigned in 1982 by no less a driver than Jacky Ickx alongside Claude Brasseur. They finished second. Another 280 GE rally car finished third, in the hands of Jean-Pierre Jaussaud.

The following year, Jacky and Claude campaigned the Paris-Dakar Rally yet again. And won the car class. This is that ‘car’.

Like we said, this thing’s hard. 

STORY Vijay Pattni