SUV Of The Day: March 20, 2011

Today's car of the day is Realtoy's 1994 Mercedes-Benz G-Class.

The Mercedes-Benz G-Class or G-Wagen, short for Geländewagen (or cross-country vehicle), is a four-wheel drive vehicle / sport utility vehicle (SUV) produced by German automaker Mercedes-Benz. Designed to be a durable, reliable, and rugged off-roader, the G-wagen is characterized by its boxy styling and body-on-frame construction. It utilizes three fully locking differentials, one of the few vehicles to have such a feature.

Mercedes-Benz secured military contracts for the vehicle in the late 1970s and offered a civilian version in 1979. A major reason to start development was the need of the German Army for a light military vehicle. Without any joint test the cheaper Volkswagen Iltis were chosen, but since 1990 it is replaced by the G-Class "Wolf" and LAPV Enok. After a design change to a civilian cross-country vehicle in co-operation with the Austrian car manufacturer Steyr-Daimler-Puch, production of the G-Class began in 1979 with the 460 Series models. The G-Class has been sold under the Puch name in certain markets, and the Peugeot P4 is a variant made under license, with a Peugeot engine and different parts.

Despite the introduction of an intended replacement, the unibody crossover SUV Mercedes-Benz GL-Class in 2006, the G-Class is still produced and is expected to continue in production until 2015.

For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: Mercedes-BenzG-Class

Realtoys are often overlooked as 'generics' these days, but the same thoughts applied to Playarts, Yat Mings, and Zylmexes thirty years ago and look where they are now.

The G-Wagen was developed by Steyr-Daimler-Puch and first offered for sale in 1979 and redesigned in 1990/1991. A new version was expected for 2007, but the new GL-Class will not replace the G-Wagen, and it will continue to be hand-built in Graz, Austria at an annual production of 4,000 to 6,000 units. In February 2009, Magna Steyr, an operating unit of Magna International, announced that it signed an agreement with Daimler AG to extend the production of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class at Magna Steyr in Graz, Austria until 2015. Besides the production, the further development of the G-Class by Mercedes-Benz is also located in Graz since 1992.