If you thought the seemingly everlasting “old” Mercedes G-Class would actually go away completely, you underestimate its power over the militaries and corporations of the world. It’s still being built alongside it’s refreshed and improved replacement.
Icons never die, especially when they still provide a secure source of revenue and promising growth. That seems to be the case with the now-old 461 chassis code non-luxurious G-Class, according to Road&Track.
Here’s more from R&T:
[…]Known by the 461 chassis code, this is the version used in military and commercial applications. While the 463 was becoming a fashion icon, with ever-more-opulent interiors and increasingly outrageous AMG drivetrains, the 461 soldiered on doing the serious gruntwork.
And while the old-school 463’s run ends in the 2018 model year, there’s no end in sight for the 461. “The 461 continues, and we offer that in a number of markets, but only markets that will accept Euro 5 or have a professional application where Euro 5 is acceptable,” Ian Hadley James, the Mercedes marketing executive responsible for the G-Class range, told me at the launch of the new civilian 463. “Government use, armed forces, that kind of thing.”
Like the civilian 463, the industrial 461’s popularity is only growing as the model ages. “We’ve been fascinated in the last few years,” James told me. “We’ve seen a growth in the 461 sales as well. It’s becoming more unique, there’s no other vehicle like that out there. And yet there’s still very much a need for that sort of vehicle.”
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According to the report, the 461 G-Wagen can be ordered in chassis-cab, four-door or 6×6 configurations. The vast majority of 461 production is reported to be for commercial use in countries like Germany, Australia and in the Middle East.
Mercedes claims it plans to continue investing in the old G-Class with no plans of ending production, and is built by hand alongside the new G-Class at Magna Steyr. If there’s no reason to stop, may it never die.
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