History of G-Class at a glance
Early models in the GClass were developed as military vehicles.
By Kim Tae-jong
The G-Class was first developed in the early 1970s as a military vehicle from a suggestion by the Shah of Iran to Mercedes, focusing on off-road abilities and maximum safety and comfort.
But born out of a joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and two other firms, Steyr and Puch of Austria, it was later offered in a civilian version in 1979.
It was called the G-Wagen until 1994, short for Gelanderwagen, meaning tough terrain vehicle in German. As its name suggests, it was the first and foremost heavy-duty off-road vehicle favored by various military groups and safari zealots.
The early versions of the G-Wagen were not luxurious by any stretch of the imagination but later developed a reputation for being able to drive on roads in extreme conditions.
The first major refinements were introduced in 1981, including an automatic transmission, air conditioning, an auxiliary fuel tank, protective headlamp grilles, a cable winch and fuel injection became available in 1982.
In 1985, differential locks, central locking and a tachometer became standard and in 1986 the 50,000th vehicle had been produced.
The G-Wagen underwent a design makeover in 1990. In 1989, for the 10th anniversary of the model, a new variant with permanent 4-wheel drive, a wood-trimmed interior and optional Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) debuted at the Frankfurt International Motor Show.
As with all other Mercedes-Benz models, the G-Wagen’s naming system changed in 1994 to the G-Class. To celebrate the G-Class’ 20th birthday in 1999, Mercedes rolled out a special edition of the G500, called the G500 Classic.
The year 2000 marked a turning point for diesel-powered versions of the G. Featuring the latest diesel technology, the powerful G400 CDI provided brisk performance equal to same-sized gasoline engines.
The model celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2009, with over 200,000 cars having been manufactured in Graz since 1979.
This year, the automaker launched the facelift model after improving designs and safety and comfort features, and the G-Class has now finally come to Korea for the first time.