Photo: Armenian Auto Forum
With an ongoing life span of 35 years and counting in its civilian version, the legendary Mercedes-Benz G-Class has truly become an icon in the three-pointed star lineup.
Apart from the equally-legendary Unimog, the good ol' Gelandewagen is the longest produced Mercedes-Benz model in history, and the way that recent sales numbers have evolved, it is far from heading towards the automotive equivalent of an elephant cemetery.
Its three major selling points have stayed the same over the years it has been in production, and by that we are of course talking about the three locking differentials, live-axle front and rear suspension (read: it can be lifted like a breeze) and the Bauhaus-like exterior design.
Over two decades before the G-Class was being developed and a little more to the East, a Russian off-roading icon was being born, a model which sadly only remained a legend in the old USSR.
The GAZ 69 first started production back in 1953, but certain technical updates and even rebranding kept it alive first as a UAZ 69, and then as the Romanian IMS 57, IMS M59 and finally as the ARO M461 until 1975, when the G-Wagen was still on the drawing board as a civilian vehicle.
Just like the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, the GAZ 69 was first developed as a light reconnaissance military vehicle - civilian versions following afterwards - with both models sharing the same type of chassis.
Despite the similarities in design, the only way that the two dinosaurs would ever meet is via off-road trials in Eastern Europe, unless some ingenious Russian fellow decides to simply weld two of them together, like in the image above. We're not sure if the powertrain and the front axle also come from the GAZ 69, but the overall look is certainly a little on the mind-bending side, don't you think?
Its three major selling points have stayed the same over the years it has been in production, and by that we are of course talking about the three locking differentials, live-axle front and rear suspension (read: it can be lifted like a breeze) and the Bauhaus-like exterior design.
Over two decades before the G-Class was being developed and a little more to the East, a Russian off-roading icon was being born, a model which sadly only remained a legend in the old USSR.
The GAZ 69 first started production back in 1953, but certain technical updates and even rebranding kept it alive first as a UAZ 69, and then as the Romanian IMS 57, IMS M59 and finally as the ARO M461 until 1975, when the G-Wagen was still on the drawing board as a civilian vehicle.
Just like the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, the GAZ 69 was first developed as a light reconnaissance military vehicle - civilian versions following afterwards - with both models sharing the same type of chassis.
Despite the similarities in design, the only way that the two dinosaurs would ever meet is via off-road trials in Eastern Europe, unless some ingenious Russian fellow decides to simply weld two of them together, like in the image above. We're not sure if the powertrain and the front axle also come from the GAZ 69, but the overall look is certainly a little on the mind-bending side, don't you think?
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