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Mysterious Mercedes-Benz G500 4x4 Squared Prototype Makes Snow Spyshots Debut

Mercedes-Benz’s 2018 G-Class is in the final stages of development, but the company’s engineers are still testing the 4x4² version of the legendary off-roader.
Mercedes-Benz G500 4x4² prototype 31 photos
Photo: Stefan Baldauf/SB-Medien
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This is not the first time when spy photographers see this weird G500 Squared, but the exhibit has now been spotted in winter conditions. As you can observe, the off-roader has a much longer wheelbase than the regular G-Class, and its rear end has a mysterious layer of camouflage.

We are referring to the blacked canvas that sits on top of the back of the G500, and that covers bits of the body that are already camouflaged. Automakers tend to use thick layers of material to conceal key design features, but the G-Class has already been spotted with less camo, which makes this test mule unusual.

Curiously, the same automobile was previously seen without the canvas cover on its rear, but that happened when it was sitting in a closed parking facility. Some believe that the prototype in the images is a pickup version of the G-Class Squared, but we are inclined to think differently.

We believe that the vehicle in the photo gallery is not a pickup version of the G-Class. A truck would not make a lot of sense if we take a look at the proportions of the body, which would lead to a minuscule truck bed, making it almost unusable.

Instead, Mercedes-Benz might be experimenting with a Maybach version of the G500 Squared. The said model would make sense because it will offer an unprecedented level of luxury in the off-roader segment, along with impressive all-terrain capabilities. It would also enable the German automaker to make more money off the aging G-Class platform.

Mercedes-Benz is expected to reveal a production version of this exhibit in 2018 or at the end of 2017, almost like a swan song for the venerable G-Wagen.
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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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