The craziest creation that the mental engineers of Affalterbach made in recent years.
Starting with a special variant of the G-Wagen designed for the Australian Military with lengthened frame and an extra axle with five locking differentials as base. Upgrade the three axles with portal axles similar to the versatile Unimog with heavy duty military grade suspension raising the truck to wade through over 3 feet of water with a central tire inflation system that can deflate and re-inflate all 6 wheels in under one minute for even more extreme off roading. Driving force of choice is AMG’s “one man, one engine” hand crafted 5.5 twin turbo V8 fed by two fuel tanks. Top it with a redesigned cab and bed stuffed with luxury like quilted leather seats with infotainment for both front and rear passengers and other exotic materials like polished wood and carbon fiber.
The finish product is a scary, comfortable, and somewhat fast 3 3/4 ton monster.
Mercedes showcased the G63 AMG 6x6 as a fully functional concept with an initial plan to produce just 20 units of the monster G-Wagon. The concept was so well taken that Mercedes kept getting phone calls from wealthy elites around the world wanting one. So they increased the production number to 100 with each priced at 450,000 Euros (roughly $600,000 US) and the value have soared to double that on second-hand markets in recent years.
Despite the G63 AMG 6x6 was never officially sold in the U.S. that didn’t stop wealthy clients from importing them in under the “Show and Display” law which is kind of a shame since this intimidating go anywhere urban assault vehicle can only cover a capped distance of 2,500 miles annually.
Many long term LaLD readers know I absolutely adore the 6x6, it is is my Top 3 favorite AMGs. So did I went out of my way and got myself a 1/43 scale model to satisfy my love for the truck? No, this is the first proper 1/64 scale 6x6. Many will also know that a 6x6 in such small scale already exist by MBX. And this is where my rant comes in.
I was overwhelmed by excitement when MBX announced they will be making the 6x6. But once it was released I was heartbroken. The one by MBX is a complete failure, an absolute disgrace to the true form of this beast. It’s no wonder there are several still warming the pegs at my local Kroger stores. The scaling was way off due to them cutting cost by sticking with the normal size blister packs and scaled the cast to fit. I’m surprised that Mercedes themselves approved it in the first place as in the past they were a stickler on how their products are represented, Mercedes should’ve never given the green light. Either MBX get it right or choose a different model to represent.
If you think I sound bitter then you’ll be right, I’ve been bitter about the MBX 6x6 for the past two years and MBX seems to want to torment me further with another color wave next year. But now all of that grudge can finally be soothed with the discovery of this cast. I stumbled across it on IG noticing this is something very different. It took me less than 8 minutes to search up the cast and put down an order from Hong Kong. The maker of the diecast remains a mystery as this cast is made exclusively for Mercedes dealerships in China and it appears that not only do they make the 6x6, but also the 6x6 little brother the 4x42 and the normal G63 AMG. There are 4 colors to choose from this white example, black, military green, and Gulf livery which is a bit too over the top for me. The 6x6 is much larger than… just about anything, definitely larger than a normal G-Wagon. But they figured out on packaging with a one size fits all length for the acrylic case display and design different mounting points on the base of the casts to suit the normal G-Wagon and the 6x6.
Detail wise on this monster is great, certainly close to Kyosho level with maybe a few refinements can be done like the taillight inserts. A very miniscule niggle is the missing silver center caps on the wheels which are easy to resolve and some 6x6 got the Brabus treatment that ditched the original Mercedes center caps for black Brabus ones.
Will I still be a holding a grudge on the MBX version? Maybe, but now everytime I walk by the toy aisle at my local Kroger store with those peg warming MBX 6x6 from the Jurassic World series collecting dust, I can chuckle to myself that I have finally found the one to match the one I pictured in my head for the past few years. The antidote to my sorrow.