The G500's shape is not proprietary mind you, having shown up on everything from Land Rover's Defender 110 to
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| The G500's design dates back to 1972 when it came to life through a cooperative agreement between then Daimler-Benz (now DaimlerChrysler) and Austria's Steyr-Daimler-Puch. (Photo: Shawn Pisio, Canadian Auto Press) |
Nissan's Patrol and Toyota's Land Cruiser, just to name a few. Actually, in its 1985 75 Series Troop Carrier guise the latter SUV was almost identically styled to the current G. Troop carrier? It's true, the G, otherwise knows as the Gelandewagen, was designed for military purposes decades ago. That's why it looks so "Swiss Army" functional and, well, so darn old. While its Land Cruiser counterpart has been completely revamped a number of times since the 75 Series, the G has continued forward with only minor styling tweaks since its inception in 1979. For a bit more history, the Gelandewagen's development program began in 1972 with a cooperative agreement between then Daimler-Benz (now DaimlerChrysler) and Austria's Steyr-Daimler-Puch. Series production was given the go ahead in 1975, as was the construction of
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| Twenty-five years ago when the G500 was designed for military use, panel gap size wasn't a major priority. (Photo: Shawn Pisio, Canadian Auto Press) |
a new plant in Graz, Austria where my G500, and all G-Class SUVs, are still built today. While the purposeful SUV is mostly handmade and is impressively appointed, it's still hard to get the mind around its age. After all, 25 years is an extremely long time in car years, about five to six normal vehicle generations by today's average. That's why the G500's panel gaps make the Land Rover Discovery's seem tight, a fact that lets onlookers view in between to see the G's olde-world, bare-metal latches, even when the doors are shut. Its windshield sits so close to driver and front passenger with such an abbreviated dash-top that it brings back fond memories of a particularly "hip" VW Microbus experience. Also, like so many trucks of yesteryear its doors are hinged externally, causing the ones at the back of the press vehicle I was testing to show signs of extremely premature rust I might add.
