Mercedes G-Class Cabriolet goes testing – open-top SUV due in 2026

The list of changes we’d ask for on a new version of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class do not include less practicality, potentially less structural rigidity, more expense and more exclusivity. The upcoming G-Class Cabriolet however will, we expect, deliver all of those things. And none of it is likely to stop the G-Cab appearing on a Kardashian’s driveway near you very soon, with the car now undergoing extensive prototype testing.

Yes, a G Cabriolet is returning to the Geladewagen lineup next year after an eight-year hiatus. Following in the tread-punched tyre tracks of the Mercedes-Maybach G650 Landaulet, the wild V12-engined, pumped-up soft-top formula that sent off the last-generation G-Class is on for a comeback. It will be the next in a long line of cabriolets that are a part of the G-Class’s history and date all the way back to the SUV’s 1979 introduction.

An open roof after all can be a utilitarian feature, though over the years, like the G itself, it evolved into more of a lifestyle choice and style statement. It was a 230 G Cabriolet that served as the basis for Pope John Paul II’s popemobile G that Mercedes created for his visit to Germany in 1980.

Obviously the G-Class has changed quite substantially in recent years, with today’s car technically being the second generation, arriving in 2018. It was, despite appearances, a total engineering overhaul – wider, longer, lighter (by 170kg!) and stiffer. 

So unlike previous G-Class Cabriolets, this new one won’t simply be the work of recycling a design used for decades previously. This will have been an extensive (and expensive) engineering exercise, for the G Cabriolet has to maintain the second-gen car’s higher standards of refinement and dynamics.

The upcoming G-Class Cabriolet and the engineering changes it features are now undergoing extensive physical testing. The first test miles under the wheels of prototypes have been taken in Austria, the country where the G-Class is manufactured. It will then move on to Sweden for cold weather testing.

The first teaser image shown by Mercedes didn’t tell us an awful lot. The car is roof-down in the image, obviously, with the ‘deck lid’ looking relatively high up – halfway up the passenger window. That means rear visibility probably won’t be great, though rear cameras will help with this. It also appears to retain the iconic back door-mounted spare wheel. 

The prototype images give a little more away, showing that the canvas reaches as far forward as just aft of the A-pillar, albeit with the sides of the car (and the framed doors) sitting untouched. We could tell in the teaser image this wouldn’t be a short wheelbase, two-door car. 

What we can see on the prototypes too is that the canvas does start at the window line, meaning the high deck lid shown by the silhouette in the teaser could mostly be comprised of folded roof. There are no side pipes denoting a G63 AMG version yet. Probably for the best…

The G-Class Cabriolet is set to be revealed some time in 2026 and will likely be more exclusive than its hard-top kin, given Mercedes refers to it as a ‘special edition’.