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Mercedes
Mercedes G-650 Landaulet
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Daimler AG - Global Communications Mercedes-Benz Cars Daimler AG
Mercedes G-650 Landaulet
Open air rear seats for the elite in a vehicle built to kick up dust and mud… We don’t get it.
By Budd Stanley, photos courtesy of Mercedes
If your 4WD is fitted with portal axles and running on 36” tires, it’s a safe bet that you don’t spread Grey Poupon on your toast in the morning and you have no fathomable idea what a cravat is. Or a Landaulet for that matter. Well that bet is no longer safe as some strange renegade faction over in Stuttgart decided to marry two very different vehicles.
Needless to say, this one caught us completely off guard, however, what you see here is what happens when a G 500 4x42 breaks out of the house and has a little fun with a cute Maybach over on the good side of town. The result is the Mercedes-Maybach G-650 Landaulet, a horrifically posh example of a vehicle that is already swinging way above its class. Oh how far has the lowly G-Class come since 1979.
So, to break this down, we have the chassis from the G 500 4x42 and custom body that has been lengthened by over half a metre to accommodate a Maybach interior.
The good news, this brute is sporting Mercedes-AMG twin-turbo V-12 that delivers a mahoosive 630 hp with a peak torque of 1000 Newton-metres (that’s 738 lb-ft). Fuel efficiency is rated at 17L/100km, which is a moot point, as the majority of prospective owners will likely already own an oil well. All that power gets distributed to three locking differentials and two portal axles that provide 450 mm of ground clearance.
Inside, you will find that the owners don’t sit in the front seats, rather the open-air rear seats that are lifted from the S ‑ Class and are capable of fully reclining and providing the occupants with a relaxing heated massage. Well, after a day being bumped and tossed all over a trail, that’s actually not a bad idea. The cab is lined with the high-grade design upholstery with diamond stitching.
To afford the rear passengers the optimum in comfort, there is a large business console with thermal cup holders between the individual seats. These allow beverages to be cooled or heated over a lengthy period of time. The controls for opening or closing the glass partition are integrated behind the cup holders. Similar to an aircraft seat, the centre console comes with two tables, which can be easily folded in or out with one hand. The table tops have leather inserts to provide a comfortable writing surface or to allow the use of tablets and notebooks.
The Landaulet name relates to the convertible top over the rear passengers that opens at the press of a button. Along with the vast majority of the vehicle, this really doesn’t make any sense. Do the 1% really want to be chauffeured along rough off-road trails getting mud and dust tossed into their luxurious leisure environment, covering themselves and all the fine materials and gadgets with filth? Really?
Mercedes plans to build 99 examples of the G-650 Landaulet, which they have not given a price for - but if you have to ask…