The Coolest G-Wagen Looks Absolutely Nothing Like a G-Wagen

When I think of a Mercedes-Benz G-Class, I think of a boxy SUV with two round headlights, big, chunky wheels, and a spare tire mounted to the rear door. The G-Wagen has, famously, looked more or less the same since its debut in 1979.

Some G-Classes are cooler than others. There’s the mega-capable 4×4 Squared, the highly desirable G-Class Cabriolet, and the utterly ridiculous 6×6. None of these variants really deviates from the G-Wagen’s famously boxy design. The coolest G-Class of all, though, looks nothing like any of these cars.

The Mercedes-Benz G 600 TE AMG uses a totally unique design with parts pulled from other Mercedes models of the late ’80s. Built by AMG to race in the Paris-Dakar Rally, it carries virtually no visual indicators that there’s a G-Wagen frame underneath. It’s also reportedly the only one in existence, which makes it extra-weird.

This Wasn’t The Original Design

The G 600 TE was conceived as a collaboration between Mercedes and AMG, which, at the time, was still very much a separate entity. Remember, it wouldn’t be until the mid-1990s that the two brands would formally join forces to start selling AMG-badged cars in dealerships. And it was long before Mercedes-Benz purchased a majority share in AMG in 1999, effectively merging the two companies.

Though many consider the 500GE of the mid-1990s the first V8-powered G-Class, this Paris-Dakar runner has it beat by about four years. The engine is a 6.0-liter version of the V8 found in the W126-generation S-Class sedan, rated at 331 horsepower and 383 pound-feet of torque.

AMG, ever the one to squeeze the most performance out of Mercedes products that were never intended to go racing, moved the engine back in the frame for better weight distribution. The drivetrain mounts, as well as the rest of the chassis, were reinforced to handle the brutal terrain of the rally. The fuel capacity was increased to 118 gallons in total—necessary for some of the extra-long desert stages, where the stops were far and few between.

For its first race in 1989, the G 600 TE wore its original steel bodywork, meaning it looked a lot like any other G-Wagen of the late ’80s. It ended up breaking down in that first Paris-Dakar campaign and was retired. Before its return in 1990, AMG tossed the original body and replaced it with the funky mish-mash you see here, crafted from a combination of fiberglass, Kevlar, and aluminum. Note the headlights and grille, which were seemingly lifted from a W124-generation E-Class sedan.

The Only One Of Its Kind

After 1990, the G 600 TE would run the Paris-Dakar Rally two more times, for a total of four entries. Each time, the truck was driven by none other than Clay Regazzoni, a Swiss F1 driver who drove for teams like Ferrari and Williams throughout the ’70s. He was paralyzed from the waist down in 1980 after a crash at the US Grand Prix, but that didn’t stop him from competing in motorsport.

After its fourth Dakar entry, Regazzoni retained the car for his personal use up until his death, racing it in a few regional rallies. It was sold after his death, but continued to make appearances in multiple classic-car-specific rallies. Going by the photos, it looks like all of the hand controls were removed. According to Mechatronik, the German dealership that has the truck listed for sale now, this is the only G 600 TE known to still exist of the two built by AMG.

This G-Class is one of numerous weirdly designed AMG products that emerged from the ’70s and ’80s, and while it’s certainly not as iconic as a standard G-Wagen, its history and rarity make it far more interesting. There are hundreds of thousands of G-Classes out there, but only one that looks like this. I’d bet most people at your average Mercedes meetup wouldn’t know what this thing is if they saw it in front of them. To me, that’s the coolest part.

Top graphic image: Mechatronik