Spy Shot: Mercedes-Benz G-Class - 11th Mar 2005 8:12pm
**Please note, final car bodywork is being kept secret by Mercedes**
![[Linked Image]](http://www.cruisewirral.com/gallery/uploads/01/05march/cruisewirral14054.jpg)
The latest M-Class was unveiled at the Detroit Motor Show (January 2005), and the new G will make its debut later in the year. The military-issue G has always been M-B's answer to the Land Rover Defender, and was always a no-compromises off-roader with full separate chassis and go-anywhere abilities, though this next time around, it will be much-improved as a road car. Aimed more squarely at the Range Rover, it will - like the RR - now have a more car-like monococque (unibody) construction, with much of its underpinnings shared with the M-Class and upcoming R-Class luxury crossover vehicle. It will no longer be built by Steyr-Puch in Austria, but will come off the same production lines as the M and R in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, reflecting Mercedes' ambitions for the model in the US market. To be positioned further upmarket than the M-Class - and almost in Hummer territory - US price tags are expected to hit the $100,000 mark for the more powerful models, which will include a fully AMG-ed monster, probably with the new 6.5-litre engine as used in the S65 AMG saloon. A small number may be bought to the UK under special order, though these will be left-hand drive only and solely the reserve of those after a bit of Benz exclusivity.
The latest M-Class was unveiled at the Detroit Motor Show (January 2005), and the new G will make its debut later in the year. The military-issue G has always been M-B's answer to the Land Rover Defender, and was always a no-compromises off-roader with full separate chassis and go-anywhere abilities, though this next time around, it will be much-improved as a road car. Aimed more squarely at the Range Rover, it will - like the RR - now have a more car-like monococque (unibody) construction, with much of its underpinnings shared with the M-Class and upcoming R-Class luxury crossover vehicle. It will no longer be built by Steyr-Puch in Austria, but will come off the same production lines as the M and R in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, reflecting Mercedes' ambitions for the model in the US market. To be positioned further upmarket than the M-Class - and almost in Hummer territory - US price tags are expected to hit the $100,000 mark for the more powerful models, which will include a fully AMG-ed monster, probably with the new 6.5-litre engine as used in the S65 AMG saloon. A small number may be bought to the UK under special order, though these will be left-hand drive only and solely the reserve of those after a bit of Benz exclusivity.
