New Mercedes G-Class Cabriolet – the car the world needs the least is on the way

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.

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, long before trumpeting side-piped G63s became a Park Lane fixture.

An open roof after all was once seen as 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 teaser image shown by Mercedes doesn’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.

There’ll be more as we have it on the G-Class’s technical constitution, whether there'll be a G63 or a G580 electric variant. We’ll also be curious to know the price and whether just any customer can order one. No doubt it'll carry a premium over the £141k a base G-Class costs, or the £189k a basic G63 currently costs.