For the first time in seven years, Mercedes is offering a drop-top G-Class.
Over nearly half a century, the Mercedes-Benz G-Class — the Geländewagen — has been everything from a troop carrier to a V12 (and now V8)-powered speed machine. A tall, high-riding and boxy SUV probably isn’t what you’d think about as a prime contender for a convertible, but Mercedes did that too, with the 2018 Mercedes-Maybach G650 Landaulet. Now, the automaker announced Thursday that a G-Class cabriolet would return to the lineup in virtually every market where you can buy the base SUV, including the United States.
Apart from a single teaser photo showing off the model’s silhouette, Mercedes-Benz did not disclose much else for the time being. It simply said “a G-Class cabriolet is coming” and to expect worldwide availability. So, right now we don’t know whether it will again be a Maybach-level exclusive offering, whether it will be available as a (relatively) more affordable G550 model, or even if you’ll be able to get an AMG version.
Given that the last drop-top G-class set buyers back nearly $550,000 and was limited to just 99 units, something tells me the answer is somewhere in the middle from that last example.
We’ll have to wait and see, however, as Mercedes-Benz left the question open on when we could expect it. The company did just freshen up the G-Wagen this year, so it’s likely we won’t have to wait too long to see it. As for pricing…no G-Class is really “cheap”, but I would expect it to land somewhere in the $150,000 to $175,000 range, at minimum.
