30 Days Of 2013 Ram 1500: Camping In Your Truck
We've pitched a few tents in our time, and we're no strangers to camping. Still, when a 2013 Ram... Read More
- #5LEADERBOARD RANK
- 5168ARTICLES CONTRIBUTED
- 111COMMENTS POSTED
Around The Web
big, boxy and about as modern as a dial-up phone
utilitarian appearance
retains its bygone-era design
STYLING | 7 out of 10
Expert Quotes:
big, boxy and about as modern as a dial-up phone
Kelley Blue Book
utilitarian appearance
Cars.com
retains its bygone-era design
Edmunds
Timeless and T-square-drawn, the G Class stands out in any crowd, unless the crowd has its own strike authorizations and U.N. peacekeeping force. Based on a military vehicle from the 1970s, like the old HUMMER lineup, the G Class has hardly altered its flat sides, nearly vertical windshield, and strikingly boxy greenhouse. Today the G Class still stands angular and perfectly taut, just like some of its Beverly Hills test pilots, only without the telltale creases and scars of repeated touch-ups.
G-watchers will point out the modest changes marking the 2013 models, small changes like LED daytime running lights, new sideview mirrors, and chromed brush guards. The G63 AMG wears a louvered grille and its own bumpers, with optionally red brake calipers, 20-inch five-spoke wheels, and subtle AMG badging on its flanks and down its standard stainless-steel running boards.
Dressed more for success than for grudge-matching it out with Mother Nature, the G Class cabin hides its rugged origins beneath a nicer veneer of wood and leather this year. The regular shapes, flat door panels, and tall glass areas keep the bygone flair intact, but hosing it out after a day completely off the beaten path? No, you won't be doing that, not with all this lush finery covering up the G-Wagen's formerly bare bones. The extreme price tag nets lovely leather trim on the seats and door panels, chrome on the differential-lock switches, and a choice of finishes to replace the burl walnut--carbon fiber-alike trim or piano black, if you like. The new cut-tube gauges are a handsome, worthwhile update, as is the large LCD panel now stacked on top of the dash. But as we felt with the latest BMW 3-Series, the screen's placement seems fragile, maybe more so here, in a vehicle where reaching for Jesus handles is almost part of the sales pitch.
Â
Conclusion
Largely unchanged for more than thirty years, the G Class' iconic straight-edged sheetmetal now wraps itself around a softened interior.
