For the more affluent off-road aficionados among us, the Mercedes-Benz G-Class — better known as the G-Wagen — has been the millionaire’s answer to the Jeep Wrangler. Not that many of them actually go off-roading, mind you, as the G has moved decidedly upscale in recent years. But there’s been one hole in the G-Wagen’s game lately that the Jeep has had from the jump: a factory designed open-air model. Now, some 13 years after offering the last G500 Cabriolet, Mercedes has apparently decided that it’s time to bring back a drop-top G-Wagen.
When comparing the overexposed teaser image at the top of the story to the current 2025 Mercedes-Benz G-Class hardtop, everything up to the back of the rear doors and the roof drip rail appears to be the same. Once you get past that, however, there looks to be some sort of aerodynamic cover at the front and a roll hoop that extends all the way rearward, past a new, sloping C-pillar. The design hints at a soft, roll-up top, but it could also be a solid panel design much like the Freedom Panel setup of the Wrangler. That might also explain the interesting shape of the rear bed — where you potentially could store those panels when not in use. But this may also serve as a regular hard bed cover as there look to be hinges at the base of the C-pillar.
The new model’s overall profile and C-pillar design appear to take some of their cues from the G500 Cabriolet, the last convertible G-Class Mercedes offered for the 2013 model year. It also seems to have cribbed elements from the amazing G-Wagen from nearly the same era: the G63 AMG 6×6, pictured above. The C-pillar isn’t as acute as that of the G63 6×6, but the cargo bed looks to be similar in scope.
The new G is far from the first open air G-Class. Much like the Jeep Wrangler and HMMWV (Hummer), the Geländewagen, or G-Wagen for short, was born out of a military necessity and eventually morphed into a civilian utility vehicle. The G-Wagen started out as both with the W460 model in 1979 and the convertible was offered as one of the five variants Mercedes-Benz built. It was only offered in the short wheelbase (SWB) configuration, the same chassis as the three-door model. Artillery carrying G-Wagens ware technically hardtops, but the gunner could pop open a hatch in the roof roughly above the rear passengers to reach their mounted machine gun. You could count that as a convertible depending on how fast and loose you play with the term.
In 1980 Mercedes built the very first Popemobile for Pope John Paul II using a 230 G Cabriolet. Which brings up an interesting side note: if you count Popemobiles as the continuation of the G-Class cabriolet, then the all-electric G580 built in 2024 for Pope Francis — shortly before he passed away — could be seen as the last two-door cabrio. One could argue these are too custom to count, but it’s worth pointing that out.
One of the wildest models in G history is the Mercedes-Maybach G650 Landaulet. The Maybach Landaulet was a long wheelbase (LWB) four-door, but it featured a roll-up glass partition between the front seatbacks and rear passenger area that could go from clear to opaque for rear passenger privacy. This crazy contraption of a G-Wagen sat those rear passengers further back with the seat backs sitting past the angled portion of the C-pillar and even featured the same portal axles found in the G63 AMG 6×6, but only used a pair instead of a triplet. It came equipped with the Mercedes 6.0-liter twin-turbo V-12 that outputted 630 hp and 738 lb-ft of torque, more than enough to drive the 36-inch diameter Pirelli Scorpion ATR tires it wore. Technically, is was also only a half-cabriolet as only the rear passengers would enjoy top-down driving, and the roof folded into the cargo area. The front occupants rode under a solid roof, which makes calling this a proper convertible a bit of a stretch (pun intended).
Regardless, fans of the G-Class but who have wanted a factory-made cabriolet version will be getting their wishes granted soon.
Photos by MotorTrend Staff, manufacturer

source