The G-Class SUV is a proverbial money-printing machine for Mercedes-Benz. Dealers maintain years-long waitlists for buyers who are happy to drop up to (and over) a quarter-million dollars for their very own military-inspired box on wheels, despite its appearance not really having changed for the past 46 years.
To further capitalize on the G’s success (barring the electric version, which one executive reportedly called a “complete flop”), the company is doing something it should’ve done years ago: It’s adding a convertible to the lineup. But going by the teaser photo released by Mercedes, the drop-top reminds me more of an old Lamborghini than any previous G cabriolet.
Mercedes hasn’t released any info on the upcoming G-Class Cabriolet, other than confirming it’ll be coming to “almost every market around the world, including the U.S.” But we can make a few assumptions based on the singular teaser photo released alongside the announcement. The first: The new Cab won’t share its general shape with the old production-spec G-Wagen convertible, which rode on a two-door short-wheelbase chassis. It also won’t be a redux of the low-production, long-wheelbase Maybach G650 Laundaulet.
Going by the truck’s proportions, this Cab will most likely run on the standard G-Class’s wheelbase and use a four-door layout. The upper part of the cargo area has been sliced off, presumably to make room for the convertible top and operating mechanism, similar to the G650’s setup. The result is, at least from the side, a G-Class that’s shaped a lot like the Lamborghini LM002.
Source: Mercedes-Benz and Lamborghini
You see it, right? The long hood, the four-door cab space, and the slightly raised rear section—it all matches up, more or less. Hell, even the spare tire is in the same place. Staring at this teaser photo, it’s the only thing I can see.
Of course, the real thing likely looks far different from the Rambo Lambo, especially when it comes to that rear section. On the Lamborghini, it’s a real (albeit small) storage space. On the Mercedes, that space will be reserved for tucking the soft top away. I’m sure there will be some sort of tiny storage area out back, but it’ll be a far cry from the standard truck’s 38 cubic feet.
Source: Mercedes-Benz
The G-Class Cabriolet could even mirror the LM002’s powertrain—to an extent, anyway. Though Mercedes didn’t mention anything about a Maybach badge in its announcement, the download page for its singular photo had Maybach branding, suggesting the Cab will be a high-end, well-appointed model. Aside from Paganis, Maybach trims are the only cars to still use Mercedes-built V12s. And the G650 used a V12. So it wouldn’t be surprising for this latest G to have one, too.
No matter what form it ends up taking, the G-Class Cabriolet will be another huge money-maker for the brand. Those old, short-wheelbase Cabrios regularly sell for big money, with later, V8-powered models regularly raking in over $200,000 on the used market, according to Classic.com. The demand for new G-Wagen convertibles is so vast, numerous aftermarket companies have begun to build their own. I spoke with one such company, Refined Marques, back in 2023, which charges $1.3 million to build a G-Class Cabriolet with a set of fancy suicide doors. Mercedes, smartly, is simply taking advantage of the demand itself, cutting out the middleman.
Top graphic images: Mercedes-Benz and Lamborghini
Give me a C3 Pluriel
I’m getting the ugly Nissan Mirano Cabriolet (Cross Trek?) with the fancy exterior wrap and jacked up wheels vibe myself here…….
I see the resemblance but since the original was ugly and performed badly I don’t see why they would reproduce it. It’s like Cloning Rosie O’Donnell or Roseanne Barr.
“barring the electric version, which one executive reportedly called a “complete flop””
That just means the ask is too high.
This sort of thing is a rolling advertisement that billionaires don’t pay enough taxes.
That Maybach Geländ-aulet doesn’t look like a proper landaulet at all, as the area around the rear seat seems to be fully or almost fully enclosed. A landaulet should allow the passengers to enjoy the full open-air experience and onlookers the thrill of viewing their betters wave at them as they glide by, with a fully weatherproofed compartment for the driver provided in accordance with noblesse oblige.
“A landaulet should allow the passengers to enjoy the full open-air experience and onlookers the thrill of viewing their betters wave at them as they glide by”
They might desire some protection against the chance of those onlookers may throw a water balloon full of rancid cat piss.
Modern technology can solve that problem with something like the pop-up roll bars on expensive German convertibles. A sensor will detect the incoming piss balloon and intercept it with an articulated arm with a catcher’s mitt at the end, just like the ones in the Homes of the Future in Looney Tunes cartoons.
The balloon will still burst though, thus making the thrower’s point.
This looks (to me) like a pickup with a sliding fabric roof. Maybe the roof will then move downwards like the old Smart ForTwo Cabrio. If not they’ll have a power rear window.
The sail panels over the C pillars have a curve at the bottom that hints to me the top won’t attach to the back of the sail panels or the top of the bedsides.
“We have Ineos Quartermaster at home.”
The LM002 always struck me as so garish and tasteless that I was never upset; eventually, I kind of liked it for its absurdity. As for the new G-class, I prefer it to the Urus, but that is faint praise.
Ewwwwww
As someone who hates the LM002 (I made this username back when I was a kid and kept using it for various accounts, including the Autopian, even after I drove an LM002 a good bit and learned firsthand how bad they are) the aftermarket Teal Paint Job on that one makes it look pretty damn Stellar.
But If I were spending LM002 money I’d rather have a custom electric buggy with long travel suspension built.
Checking in as someone who also hates that damn thing.
I think they are stupid, but I do admire the epic absurdity of them. I’d be embarrassed to be seen in one, which actually goes for pretty much everything Lamborghini was ever made, baring their very first cars. And tractors. I’d rock a Lamborghini tractor.
That ugly thing looks like this other ugly thing.
At least one of them had a V12 Countach engine in it
STOP USING THIS PHRASE.
It’s stupid. And tired. Some schmuck (probably Phillips or Yates) coined it back in the ’80s and it just won’t go away.
It’s like calling this site the Charles Foster Kane Autopi…ane. (look, it’s close).
Nobody even knows what the hell I’m talking about by referencing a movie that came out in 1939.
I mean, it’s Citizen Kane, it’s not like it’s some obscure German Expressionist film or anything
Yes, but there’s three or four whole-ass generations of people since then.
Rambo was not obscure, either. Pretty sure there’s going to be a lot of blank stares from a large swath of the population if you ask them about the movie.
“I’ve heard of it, but never seen it…”
Not to mention that First Blood was a fairly nuanced critique of how the US treats veterans and views PTSD. Rambo never killed anyone in First Blood, only one guy died by falling out of a helicopter.
The sequels turned Rambo into the memes we know today and completely missed the point; just like calling it the Rambo Lambo – there’s nothing nuanced about it and unlike Rambo, it never worked a day in its life.
Yeah – if you go watch First Blood again, you’ll find it’s a surprisingly sensitive and nuanced look at what Vietnam vets were suffering through.
And Brian Dennehy is fantastic.
Brian Dennehy has always been fantastic
I saw that movie back at a drive-in with my dad. And it really was a statement of Vietnam vets and how badly they got treated. But then again, Bruce Springsteen born in the USA is completely misunderstood by all kinds of people these days.
It’s not just these days. Born in the USA has always been misunderstood by most people.
Not to mention Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah…
And “Fortunate Son”
I can live with it – a very muscular, potentially violent, not very smart vehicle. I never saw Rambo, but it matches my preconceived notions about the movie.
Yates
Let them eat cake.
I never noticed the shape of the LM’s bizarre/rad front fender. I sure hope to see one in person someday!
I went to the non-corporate Lamborghini museum in Bologna, and they had a cutaway LM002 prototype. It was so dang cool. It’s a much smaller truck in person than you’d think. Current half-ton pickups make it look practically dainty.
A fool and his money are soon parted.
This is Nissan’s sign to bring back the CrossCabriolet.
Or just a convertible X-TerraI’m still seething that they are going to make the Xterra a softroad EV.
This is the first I’m hearing this and it pains me. Why do that when they’ve already got the Pathfinder?
Because people like to pretend and/or cosplay. I saw a new Pathfinder on the road today and I was kind of laughing because one of my colleagues had one a few years ago that was a stick shift second GEN, maybe, and that was a real off-road truck