Who's Your Daddy?

The Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen and the Jeep Wrangler are two hardcore 4x4s that have been around longer than we remember. But what is it that allows them to defy the ravages of time?

- Aatish Mishra

Your mind plays tricks on you. Out here, on the seemingly infinite flats of the Rann of Kutch, there is no telling how imposing the G-Class really is. The Rann dwarfs it, but then again, the 5000 square km of nothingness that makes up the Little Rann could make an Antonov look like a Cessna. I walk up to the G, and that’s when things come back into perspective. It towers over me and in matte black paint with all-black-everything, it looks thoroughly intimidating. No wonder every gangster worth his street cred wants one. The G gives you the impression that the entire car was designed with a ruler and a pencil, and to be fair, it probably was — the G-Wagen hasn’t actually changed its shape all that much since the first Gelandewagen rolled off the line in 1979. The two punch-hole LED rings up front leave it with a blank, slightly soulless expression — a poker face that gives away nothing of what lies waiting for you on the inside. I need to use the foot-board to haul myself into the cabin before I slam (and you really have to slam) the door shut. The locks clank shut with the violence of loading a shotgun, it’s a whole different animal on the inside.