The most preposterous machine ever built by Mercedes-Benz – a 2014 G63 6×6 pickup truck was sold at Barrett Jackson on Saturday, January 19th. This is the first ever appearance of the vehicle in an auction and amounted a massive $1,210,000 winning bid.
It’s no wonder that the G3 generated so much interest – Mercedes produced just over 100 of them between 2013 and 2015, and very few of them made their way to the U.S.
The Mercedes G63 isn’t exactly road legal in the U.S., either. It’s listed under the Show or Display exemption. You can own it, but you can only drive it 2,500 miles per year on public roads. And those will be 2,500 glorious miles, because this truck is packing a serious powertrain underneath its enormous shell.
For a start, it’s driven by a 5.5-liter AMG V8, with dual overhead cams and 4 valves per cylinder. The engine is rated for 536 hp and 561 lb/ft of torque.
Fitted to the back is a 7G-tronic automatic transmission, followed by a transfer case with a 0.87:1 ratio for the road and 2.16:1 for everywhere else. An extra shaft delivers power to the rearmost axle and with a nominal 30:40:30 split across all three.
There are five locking differentials on this vehicle operated via 3 switches on the dashboard. This allows 100% lock-up of all six wheels.
Finally, the power makes its way to the 3 portal axles. Portal axles have individual reductors on either side, transferring nominal torque to all wheels. This reduces the mechanical requirements from the entire drivetrain and increases the ground clearance.
In total, the G63 has 18 inches (460mm) of clearance and can cross 3 feet-deep (1 meter) bodies of water.
Last but not least, onboard compressors can deflate or inflate the huge 37-inch tires depending on where you want to go.
The G63 6×6 is a monstrous machine that combines almost military-level performance with Mercedes-level luxury in the cabin.
You can watch the Top Gear review by Richard Hammond.