Buying A Used G-Wagen Is The Perfect Way To Celebrate This Rough-And-Ready Merc's 35th Birthday

Time to blow up some balloons and bake a cake: the Mercedes G-Wagen is celebrating its 35th birthday. Although, if you really want to celebrate 35 years passing since this rough-and-ready SUV was unleashed upon the world, we reckon you should buy one. And after having a good hunt in the classifieds, we reckon this 1988 example could be worth a look.

It’s a world away from the ludicrously powerful, glitzy and bombastic G63 6x6 AMG that’s become the latest must-have thing amongst the world’s super rich. This is a humble short-wheelbase version, with a 3.0-litre five-pot naturally-aspirated diesel under the bonnet. Power? About 87bhp.

What it lacks in performance it makes up with a go-anywhere ability, plus fantastic reliability and strength due to its rugged simplicity. It’s a proper workhorse, this thing. Underneath, there’s a ladder chassis and three locking differentials.

The G-Wagen came into being in the late 1970s, when the Shah of Iran - then a significant Mercedes shareholder - suggested that it’d be jolly nice if the German company made a tough-as-old-boots SUV for civilian and military use. Mercedes then entered into a collaboration with Steyr-Daimler-Puch - a company with a background in making stuff like military vehicles and big guns - and the G-Wagen was born.

G-Wagens (the ‘Wagen’ bit was phased out in the 90s, modern versions are called G-Class) aren’t all that cheap; despite being 26 years old and a little tatty in places, you’ll need £5,495 to buy the example we found. However, the way they hold their value means you shouldn’t ever lose money on one when it comes to selling up.

Go on, buy one and have some off-road fun. You know you want to.