Mercedes-Benz has published the first images of the new G-Class Cabriolet, which is expected to arrive next year, almost a decade after the last open-top version of the hardcore off-roader was phased out.
Pictured in Austria, the new soft-top G-Class is undergoing early dynamic road and track tests before heading to Sweden for colder, off-road testing.
Technical details have yet to be released, though the official pictures appear to confirm that the new open-top off-roader is based on the ICE G-Class, rather than the electric EQ model, meaning it will be offered with a choice of diesel or petrol.
The current G450d diesel uses a turbocharged 3.0-litre straight six with 362bhp, while the G500 petrol model has a turbocharged 3.0-litre six-cylinder with 443bhp. There is also a G63 with a 577bhp twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8.
No launch timing has been disclosed yet, but given it is already testing and is a variant of a model already on sale, an arrival date to coincide with the start of summer in Europe – the drop-top season – is plausible.
Details of the G-Class Cabriolet were first revealed in September ahead of the Munich motor show. The German car maker has said “the G-Class portfolio will be expanded to include a cabriolet”, offered “almost everywhere in the world – and for the first time also in the US”.
The latest images have been published just a week after Autocar spy photographers caught sight of the new so-called Little G – the new entry model of an expanded G-Class range.
The new G-Class Cabriolet is expected to carry a hefty premium over current models, which start at more than £130,000.