Axon's Automotive Anorak: Immortal off‑roaders

Those loyal and faithful old mud-plugging friends – the current but fading Mercedes-Benz G-Class and Suzuki Jimny – both made their final exhibition appearances as ‘brand new’ cars at the 2018 Brussels Salon a couple of weeks back, with their replacements waiting impatiently in the wings to grab the limelight.

In the case of the Mercedes, rather than being a side-show debut as expected, the ‘new’ 2019 G-Class surprisingly stole most of the headlines at last month’s Detroit Auto Show – as if to verify what a disappointment this year’s Motor City event was. In the Suzuki’s case, the all-new Jimny is expected to be unveiled in early March at the Geneva Salon.

In the past, many ‘proper’ functional 4x4s enjoyed long lifecycles, with firm farmer favourites such as the Land Rover 88-110-Defender, the Jeep CJ5, Toyota Land Cruiser BJ40, second-generation Datsun/Nissan Patrol, and so on, being produced for decades with infrequent changes and modifications.

The tough and long-lived Mercedes-Benz (made for 39 years) and Suzuki (a 20-year production run) will soon to leave the muddy tracks and be dispatched off to that great off-road green lanes in the sky; replaced by brand new models, re-tuned for our more indulgent 21^st Century SUV ‘fashion accessory’ tastes. 

The demise of these faithful older 4x4s now leaves the legendary and current Mitsubishi Shogun/Pajero SUVs as one of the longest-serving models on the market, if we exclude some crude developing market off-roaders such as the Russian UAZ 469 and Indian Mahindra Thor Jeep.

Though no longer homologated and available in the UK, the Lada Niva – now simply called the VAZ Lada 4x4 – was originally launched in 1977, and survives in production today in original form, as well as more recent long-wheelbase 5-door, pick-up and box van models.

Today’s Mitsubishi Shogun – marketed as Pajero elsewhere, except in Spanish-speaking countries, where it is badged as the Montero, as Pajero means something rather distasteful in Spanish! – was first seen in 1999, with a mild facelift appearing in 2006. An all-new replacement model is believed to be due for release in the near-future. The much-missed Land Rover Defender is briefly back too, just re-introduced for 150 lucky buyers as a JLR SVR-built V8 special. 

So, what of the out-going Mercedes and Suzuki? Tackling the German (but Austrian-built) G-Class first, this model was originally launched as a functional off-roader with a posh badge in 1979, with the G-Wagen (short for Gelandewagen) first being revealed to the German military forces as long ago as 1972, in the precise, unaltered form of the 1979 production version!

During its long near-40-year production run, the G-Wagen (now G-Class) was built in many stocky forms, from SWB 2-door wagons and pick-ups, through to more opulent and rapid long-wheelbase models, as favoured in more recent times by rap artists, drug barons and questionable political leaders. Over its 40-year reign, the Mercedes has moved from being a basic, functional 4x4 for military and agricultural use, to become a pimped-up glitzy SUV for wealthy extroverts. Sadly, the new replacement 2019 model looks set to appeal more to this latter audience. 

Over the decades the G-Wagen has also been branded as a Puch (in Austria, where it has always been built, in Graz, plus Switzerland), with the model also built under licence for the French Army as the Peugeot P4, using a Peugeot 505 engine, plus assembled in Egypt and Greece.

Though never a G-Wagen rival, Suzuki’s more basic and down-to-earth dinky Jimny 4x4s have long been affordable off-roaders, aimed at fulfilling a utilitarian need for less affluent buyers.

Suzuki’s first tentative steps off-road begin in 1970 when the appealingly functional Jimny LJ10 (Light Jeep) was first introduced. This tiny but very capable 4x4 survived until 1981, forging a (now successful) path into many export markets for the until-then two-wheels-only motorcycle brand outside of Japan.

Indeed, the very first four-wheeled Suzuki to be offered in the UK was the LJ/SJ, initially sold mainly through British importer Heron’s established network of existing motorbike dealers, and soon joined by the charming Giugiaro-design SC110 ‘Whizzkid’ rear-engined coupe in the late 1970s.

The LJ was replaced by the more exuberant second-generation SJ range in 1981, with some ‘lifestyle’ orientated models sold as the Samurai, these being all-the-rage in the late 1980s with hairdressers and ‘Essex girls’, attracted by the cheap price, wind-in-the-hair soft-top and all-white colour-coded bodywork so typical of the era.

When the SJ was eventually replaced after a 17-year run by the current Suzuki Jimny in 1998, the then-new third-generation model partially returned to the 1970 original LJs roots of providing excellent off-road capabilities, but with an abysmal on-road driving experience. This hasn’t stopped today’s Jimny proving to be a hit with the huntin’, fishin’, shootin’ country-set fraternity though, and the model looks as much at home in a charming picture postcard Cotswold village as it does buried up to its axles in gloppy farm track mud.

Here’s hoping that the new Suzuki Jimny, as well as the 2019 Mercedes-Benz G-Class, is as honest and capable as their long-lived predecessors. If they’re not, Land Rover might just have to build a few more of its planned 150 Defender V8 specials!