Fleet of V8 G Wagens
Discussion
Further to the Japanese BMW import I thought I would introduce you to what some will find as quite divisive vehicles. I have a complete obsession with them and since being a boy one of my uncles who was a farmer had 3 short wheel base versions both petrol and diesel which i always remembered though out my childhood.
After coveting these quite unique cars I bit the bullet in 2018 and bought a SWB 300GES which was a great car. It had been restored by a Mercedes specialist and was in excellent structural and cosmetic condition. As this was my first 4x4 I used it for several green laning group events as well as a couple of charity events and I was bitten by the bug. During the beast from the east I took the car out and used it to get some local nurses to hospital for work and on the way back pulled vehicles out of stranded positions, one of which was an articulated lorry which, to my amazement, it pulled out of its stuck position.
I decided to sell this car and when the new owner took it away my 2 children were in tears watching it driven up the drive and out of our lives. It was within a matter of an hour or so that I realised I needed to begin the search for another if not to appease my girls but to scratch the itch for another, this time the criteria was a LWB and again, RHD. The more I looked into it the more I realised that I did not want the older diesel models because these would make a cyclist look like a speed merchant and the alternative 3l petrol models were not without fault. With this in mind I had it set in my mind that a G500 V8 would be best however to find a RHD model was going to be a challenge since only 10 were made for the UK market with a further 23 as Dresden imports via a company called Caversham.
After looking around for this unicorn I came across a post on facebook of all places for what turned out to be my March 2020 lockdown purchase, sight unseen! It was supposed to be put into the CCA auction however the seller was given the option to pull out when COVID started to put everything into lockdown and the person acting on behalf of the owner (a billionaire living offshore) decided to take me up on an offer, so I set about getting a transport company to collect the car and bring it back to me.
The previous owner was the only owner from new and it had been maintained by Mercedes every year with no expense spared. The service bills add up to nearly the cost of the car when new! To say that the car was in good condition when it arrived would have been a big understatement. Since no one was allowed to drive I put the car into our garage and set about cleaning the underside and using dinitrol 77B and touching up and surface rust with Hydrate 80 it was ready for use all year round without worrying about salt on the roads.
This car is different to the usual G500’s because after ordering the car and having it delivered to the UK the owner specified that he wanted the tints taken off of the windows, the leather interior replaced with an earlier S class brown fabric (which matched his shooting gear) and the jump seats taken out of the boot with new panels so that it would look like it was meant to come like that from new. These alterations were an additional £3500 on top of an already eye watering price from new; an era when finance was not really something people had the option of using as widely.
When we were allowed to get out and about I picked up some newer wheels with decent tyres and fitted these which I think go well with the red colour while maintaining the large tyre profile so that we can use it for some light off-road fun…
|https://thumbsnap.com/fbCBEQnA[/url]
I have been minded to keep the Mercedes service history going however I am happy to do some of the simpler tasks such as changing the differential and transfer box oils which is quite satisfying to do and easy given the ground clearance of the G.
The car was also featured in the Mercedes enthusiast magazine with Jonathan Ashman who was a fascinating chap to spend an afternoon conversing with. We also took the red G up to the filming of the Top Gear Christmas special which was a long day but the other cars there were a diverse cross section.
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I shall put up the next in chronological order soon…
After coveting these quite unique cars I bit the bullet in 2018 and bought a SWB 300GES which was a great car. It had been restored by a Mercedes specialist and was in excellent structural and cosmetic condition. As this was my first 4x4 I used it for several green laning group events as well as a couple of charity events and I was bitten by the bug. During the beast from the east I took the car out and used it to get some local nurses to hospital for work and on the way back pulled vehicles out of stranded positions, one of which was an articulated lorry which, to my amazement, it pulled out of its stuck position.
I decided to sell this car and when the new owner took it away my 2 children were in tears watching it driven up the drive and out of our lives. It was within a matter of an hour or so that I realised I needed to begin the search for another if not to appease my girls but to scratch the itch for another, this time the criteria was a LWB and again, RHD. The more I looked into it the more I realised that I did not want the older diesel models because these would make a cyclist look like a speed merchant and the alternative 3l petrol models were not without fault. With this in mind I had it set in my mind that a G500 V8 would be best however to find a RHD model was going to be a challenge since only 10 were made for the UK market with a further 23 as Dresden imports via a company called Caversham.
After looking around for this unicorn I came across a post on facebook of all places for what turned out to be my March 2020 lockdown purchase, sight unseen! It was supposed to be put into the CCA auction however the seller was given the option to pull out when COVID started to put everything into lockdown and the person acting on behalf of the owner (a billionaire living offshore) decided to take me up on an offer, so I set about getting a transport company to collect the car and bring it back to me.
The previous owner was the only owner from new and it had been maintained by Mercedes every year with no expense spared. The service bills add up to nearly the cost of the car when new! To say that the car was in good condition when it arrived would have been a big understatement. Since no one was allowed to drive I put the car into our garage and set about cleaning the underside and using dinitrol 77B and touching up and surface rust with Hydrate 80 it was ready for use all year round without worrying about salt on the roads.
This car is different to the usual G500’s because after ordering the car and having it delivered to the UK the owner specified that he wanted the tints taken off of the windows, the leather interior replaced with an earlier S class brown fabric (which matched his shooting gear) and the jump seats taken out of the boot with new panels so that it would look like it was meant to come like that from new. These alterations were an additional £3500 on top of an already eye watering price from new; an era when finance was not really something people had the option of using as widely.
When we were allowed to get out and about I picked up some newer wheels with decent tyres and fitted these which I think go well with the red colour while maintaining the large tyre profile so that we can use it for some light off-road fun…
|https://thumbsnap.com/fbCBEQnA[/url]I have been minded to keep the Mercedes service history going however I am happy to do some of the simpler tasks such as changing the differential and transfer box oils which is quite satisfying to do and easy given the ground clearance of the G.
The car was also featured in the Mercedes enthusiast magazine with Jonathan Ashman who was a fascinating chap to spend an afternoon conversing with. We also took the red G up to the filming of the Top Gear Christmas special which was a long day but the other cars there were a diverse cross section.
[url]I shall put up the next in chronological order soon…
Edited by Somerset Jim on Saturday 23 April 00:41
Thanks all. It’s a great car and one that I said that I wouldn’t part with when I bought it. That could have changed since and I will add to this when I have some more time later.
Yes mike, the guard is fitted but not to the Red G. I trust the work on your bonnet is coming along nicely.
Yes mike, the guard is fitted but not to the Red G. I trust the work on your bonnet is coming along nicely.
Somerset Jim said:
Thanks all. It’s a great car and one that I said that I wouldn’t part with when I bought it. That could have changed since and I will add to this when I have some more time later.
Yes mike, the guard is fitted but not to the Red G. I trust the work on your bonnet is coming along nicely.
The (MB Approved) body shop have had it for a month now.Yes mike, the guard is fitted but not to the Red G. I trust the work on your bonnet is coming along nicely.
Waiting on some parts from Fatherland! FYI - New bonnet; £1500 plus VAT!
Following on from the March ‘20 purchase I had developed a habit of looking for the illusive RHD G500 with the legendary M113 engine. During the summer last year another popped up but this time with half the mileage of the red G and with one owner from new (another billionaire) and with full service history from Mercedes. This car was part of a 30 strong collection and as such the owner was selling 4 of his G wagens to make way for new ones. They were all matching colours however the others were LHD and no V8’s. The only worry was that this car had a colour change which was to match his other Mercedes which was borne by the other cars in the collection. The colour is now paint code 189 which is green black metallic and I really like this colour having had it on a previous R129 SL500. There is an invoice from Mercedes who did the paint change which amounted more than a whopping £12k! To look at the car you would not have any idea that this work had been carried out at any point other than the factory.
So having done the due diligence on the car with the seller, and having been sent some videos of it inside, outside and underneath, I could see that it was in great condition and worth a punt. So I put a deposit down on the car and arranged for a hire car to drive up and collect it. The advert was live for less than 4 hours! Having collected it the broker on behalf of the seller offered to fill up the tank (on the reserve) which was kind so we headed over to a garage and I filled up with premium as I do with all my petrol cars. I don’t think he was aware quite how big the tank is on these cars. To take the car back home there were a couple of options of which I opted for the slightly longer but more scenic route via the Cotswolds and via Diddly Squat Farm. It was packed so I didn’t hang around long there but it was a great setting for a snap or two…
Once home I couldn’t quite believe that I had two of these rare beasts and both in such great condition. Still now I will sometimes just open the garage door and gaze at them with a cuppa in hand. I can’t say exactly what it is but there is something that draws me to them.
So with the car back home I set about giving it a clean as I do with each car I purchase second hand. This involves cleaning and feeding the leather interior, removing surface rust and treating with hydrate 80 followed by dinitrol 77B and then fixing any minor issues or niggles. In this case that consisted of getting rid of one of the 3 phones this car came with, installing a missing mud flap and replacing the crazed front turn signals. The car was used for the sole purpose of travelling from London to Scotland (with the other 3 G Wagens) for shooting trips in the winter months. Other than this, it was stored inside when not in use and serviced whenever Mercedes called to say something was required.
Next on the agenda was to find a second set of more modern wheels which would be used in the summer months, remove the grills in front of the headlights and change the bulbs for LED bulbs to give better night vision. I had changed the bulbs on the Red G and used the exact same on this one. In addition I wanted to change the fluids in the drive train for piece of mind so did the front and rear diffs as well as the transfer box.
So having done the due diligence on the car with the seller, and having been sent some videos of it inside, outside and underneath, I could see that it was in great condition and worth a punt. So I put a deposit down on the car and arranged for a hire car to drive up and collect it. The advert was live for less than 4 hours! Having collected it the broker on behalf of the seller offered to fill up the tank (on the reserve) which was kind so we headed over to a garage and I filled up with premium as I do with all my petrol cars. I don’t think he was aware quite how big the tank is on these cars. To take the car back home there were a couple of options of which I opted for the slightly longer but more scenic route via the Cotswolds and via Diddly Squat Farm. It was packed so I didn’t hang around long there but it was a great setting for a snap or two…
Once home I couldn’t quite believe that I had two of these rare beasts and both in such great condition. Still now I will sometimes just open the garage door and gaze at them with a cuppa in hand. I can’t say exactly what it is but there is something that draws me to them.
So with the car back home I set about giving it a clean as I do with each car I purchase second hand. This involves cleaning and feeding the leather interior, removing surface rust and treating with hydrate 80 followed by dinitrol 77B and then fixing any minor issues or niggles. In this case that consisted of getting rid of one of the 3 phones this car came with, installing a missing mud flap and replacing the crazed front turn signals. The car was used for the sole purpose of travelling from London to Scotland (with the other 3 G Wagens) for shooting trips in the winter months. Other than this, it was stored inside when not in use and serviced whenever Mercedes called to say something was required.
Next on the agenda was to find a second set of more modern wheels which would be used in the summer months, remove the grills in front of the headlights and change the bulbs for LED bulbs to give better night vision. I had changed the bulbs on the Red G and used the exact same on this one. In addition I wanted to change the fluids in the drive train for piece of mind so did the front and rear diffs as well as the transfer box.
The previous owner changed the springs so that the car was lowered like the look of an early G55. Back between 1998 and 2001 mercedes would offer to build the car and then it would in turn be sent to AMG for the engine to be altered to 5.4 litres from 5 litres and they would also alter the suspension so that the ride height was a little lower and the exhaust was then changed to 2 square side pipes on the left side of the car (the only time square AMG pipes were used on a G wagen). This car has the same suspension as the G55 from the same era as well as a genuine AMG exhaust albeit with the silencing of the normal 500 engine. As can be seen from the photo of the wheel arch the middle silencer is perishing somewhat and as such I am keen to straight pipe this section to give the car a more lively but not panic inducing V8 sound. Below is the car as it looks presently with the 20 inch alloys taken from a new car with brand new tyres. They had covered delivery miles before the seller took them off of the car for a more bling set.
We then started to use the car and the family first wanted to “christen” the car by taking it to Tarr Steps for a drive across the river and back followed by a picnic on exmoor. I was of course happy to oblige and we had a lovely day.
At the end of the summer it was put to bed for the winter and the Red G took on winter duties. The plan will be to alternate this each year to even the wear and tear out. Over the winter months I have changed the rear brake pads and polished the exhaust tips. Since putting it into storage the fuel lines have developed a leak which I shall sort over the coming week or two in anticipation of taxing the car again for 6 months from May. The wheels have now been removed (for another project I shall cover soon) in favour of some other similar style wheels with a grey green colour which suits the car better IMHO.
Quite picture heavy but hopefully interesting none the less.
We then started to use the car and the family first wanted to “christen” the car by taking it to Tarr Steps for a drive across the river and back followed by a picnic on exmoor. I was of course happy to oblige and we had a lovely day.
At the end of the summer it was put to bed for the winter and the Red G took on winter duties. The plan will be to alternate this each year to even the wear and tear out. Over the winter months I have changed the rear brake pads and polished the exhaust tips. Since putting it into storage the fuel lines have developed a leak which I shall sort over the coming week or two in anticipation of taxing the car again for 6 months from May. The wheels have now been removed (for another project I shall cover soon) in favour of some other similar style wheels with a grey green colour which suits the car better IMHO.
Quite picture heavy but hopefully interesting none the less.
Amazing cars, and how cool to have two of them!
If the first owner of the red car was South African, then I've had some very happy days in your car getting out onto the hills of Glenesk, but only once or twice as the driver. And if it is the same car, you may like to know it was pretty much exclusively used to get from Berkshire to Scotland for two week summer trips, so you have a winter and summer pair!
If the first owner of the red car was South African, then I've had some very happy days in your car getting out onto the hills of Glenesk, but only once or twice as the driver. And if it is the same car, you may like to know it was pretty much exclusively used to get from Berkshire to Scotland for two week summer trips, so you have a winter and summer pair!
Ambleton said:
They're eye wateringly ugly, big boxy, pretentious, expensive, thirsty, horrendous, old fashioned brutes and I should hate them.
But I really like these and really like the fact theyre not relegated to chelsea tractor usage either. More photos please.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess. I love them but my other half calls it a box on wheels and my father the bone shaker! 😂But I really like these and really like the fact theyre not relegated to chelsea tractor usage either. More photos please.
GrandTourer said:
Amazing cars, and how cool to have two of them!
If the first owner of the red car was South African, then I've had some very happy days in your car getting out onto the hills of Glenesk, but only once or twice as the driver. And if it is the same car, you may like to know it was pretty much exclusively used to get from Berkshire to Scotland for two week summer trips, so you have a winter and summer pair!
That’s quite remarkable. Yes the red G was owned by the company of a SA man who has the initial NO. Can you share any stories or the use of the car when you were in/with it? I’d love to hear more even if it is by PM. If the first owner of the red car was South African, then I've had some very happy days in your car getting out onto the hills of Glenesk, but only once or twice as the driver. And if it is the same car, you may like to know it was pretty much exclusively used to get from Berkshire to Scotland for two week summer trips, so you have a winter and summer pair!
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