There used to be a limit to how much you could spend on a sport-utility vehicle, with the Range Rover holding the high ground pretty much all on its own. However, with the top luxury sedans now selling for six figures and exotic supercars for seven, the elite class of SUV's is following suit. Porsche already makes an SUV and soon so will Lamborghini, Bentley and Maserati, with Aston Martin, Spyker and even Rolls-Royce considering getting in on the action. But this auto...this is the new king of the hill.
As it is, the Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG is about as high up the market as it gets. The German automaker took its Gelandewagen workhorse (which has been produced since 1979) and handed it over to its AMG performance division, fitting it with a 5.5-liter twin-turbo V8 producing a whopping 537 horsepower and 561 lb-ft of torque. Only the G65 can out-class it with its 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12.
Just in case the “standard” G63 AMG isn't enough, Mercedes has taken it a step further (or an axle further anyway) with this new G63 6x6. The difference, as you can see, is that the 6x6 packs an extra set of wheels — very large wheels at that, wearing 37-inch tires — to give the G-Wagen even more traction. The six-wheel-drive system is derived from the military version, but takes it into more upscale territory. Instead of a wagon body-style, the G63 AMG 6x6 also has an extended pickup bed, lined with bamboo. The interior, meanwhile, is upholstered in leather and Alcantara micro-suede for an unsurpassably luxurious ride. The finished product measures some 19 feet long and weighs over four tons.
Mercedes isn’t saying how many it will build, but sources indicate it could produce 20 or 30 per year if it sees enough demand. Pricing also hasn't been released yet but it is expected to be the second most expensive model in its line-up, behind the $450,000 SLS Electric Drive supercar.