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Mercedes-AMG hopes the G63 Grand Edition will have the Midas touch with buyers. Picture: SUPPLIED
Mercedes-AMG hopes the G63 Grand Edition will have the Midas touch with buyers. Picture: SUPPLIED

The Mercedes-AMG G63 is a curious mishmash if ever there was one. The truck-shaped SUV blends legendary off-road ability with a fire-spitting V8 turbo engine more suited to a racing car, with matching low-profile 22-inch tyres and side-exit exhaust pipes.

The burly Benz has become a status symbol for the well-heeled and has now been released in a special Grand Edition with even more kerb appeal. Limited to 1,000 units globally, it is blinged up with gold detailing for a striking visual contrast with the night black colour.

Ensuring no head goes unturned when it cruises past, the glammed-up G63 adopts gold tones in the AMG logo, Mercedes star, forged wheels, side foiling, and the inlays in the front and rear bumpers.

Black and gold contrasts also garnish the interior of the Mercedes-AMG G63 Grand Edition, including seats finished in G Manufaktur black nappa leather with contrasting gold stitching. Plaques with a gold AMG logo and gold edging are set into the backrests, while AMG emblems on the black door sill trim have illuminated borders. 

There are no mechanical changes to the beast, and the range-topping G-Class remains powered by a snorting 4.0l turbo V8 with outputs of 430kW and 850Nm.

Glammed-up G63 adopts gold tones for more head-turning appeal. Picture: SUPPLIED
Glammed-up G63 adopts gold tones for more head-turning appeal. Picture: SUPPLIED

The G-Class traces its lineage back to the first G model from 1979 and the G63 made its debut in 2002. Vehicles like the fuel-sucking G63 are becoming a dying breed in an automotive industry increasingly moving to planet-friendly hybrid cars and electrics — and yes, there’s an electric-powered G-Class around the corner.

How long the V8-powered one will still be around is unknown, but old-school horsepower hounds might take heart in the words of Michael Schiebe, CEO of Mercedes-AMG, who says: “With the expressive and limited Grand Edition, we are celebrating the success story of the G63, which is far from over”.

The Grand Edition is priced at R4.7m and it isn’t known whether any units are headed to SA.

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