As a reformed hooligan, there is still nothing more paralyzing to me than flashing red and blue lights matched with the sound of a siren, on a car headed right toward me. But it happens. And it happened while I stood in a cold Detroit parking lot taking the photos of the matte black 2014 Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG you see here. On its own, the Merc ("Darth Benz" as my friend Eric aptly named it) looks all sorts of suspicious, with its murdered-out look only broken by chrome accents and the red brake calipers lurking behind those wheels. But I wasn't doing anything wrong. For once.
Two cruisers with four uniformed patrolmen pulled up, inspected the car, questioned me, and after realizing that everything was copacetic, two of 'em left. But the other pair hung out a bit longer, asking to see the engine, look inside, and finally, ask me for a ride down Fort Street. I happily obliged, and joked about it being a shame that I couldn't really open up the AMG G-Wagen for them, having to keep to the posted speed limit, after all. But the cop riding shotgun laughed, and instructed me to "hit it," when pulling away from a stoplight. So I did. And he laughed. Maniacally.
That's why the G63 AMG goes down as one of the best car's I've driven this year. It's not so much a dynamic masterpiece as it is a vehicle that just oozes cool across many levels, and is hysterically, ridiculously fun to drive. Everyone likes it, and it's easy to see why. First up, the twin-turbocharged, 5.5-liter V8 underhood, with 536 horsepower and 561 pound-feet of torque, with a brutal aural tone to match. Next, there's the absolutely unstoppable off-road ability (three locking differentials!). And beyond all of that, there's the style, the shape, the luxury, and the exclusivity that's all baked into the G63 package.
Because of this, I demanded we get Darth Benz on film. So as the final bits of our endlessly long cold season came to a close, I hit the streets of Detroit with our video crew in tow for another installment of Autoblog Unplugged. Again, the G-Wagen isn't really built for tackling curves – instead, it's all about the presence, and the noise. It's one of the coolest vehicles I've ever driven. Check it out in the video above.
Two cruisers with four uniformed patrolmen pulled up, inspected the car, questioned me, and after realizing that everything was copacetic, two of 'em left. But the other pair hung out a bit longer, asking to see the engine, look inside, and finally, ask me for a ride down Fort Street. I happily obliged, and joked about it being a shame that I couldn't really open up the AMG G-Wagen for them, having to keep to the posted speed limit, after all. But the cop riding shotgun laughed, and instructed me to "hit it," when pulling away from a stoplight. So I did. And he laughed. Maniacally.
That's why the G63 AMG goes down as one of the best car's I've driven this year. It's not so much a dynamic masterpiece as it is a vehicle that just oozes cool across many levels, and is hysterically, ridiculously fun to drive. Everyone likes it, and it's easy to see why. First up, the twin-turbocharged, 5.5-liter V8 underhood, with 536 horsepower and 561 pound-feet of torque, with a brutal aural tone to match. Next, there's the absolutely unstoppable off-road ability (three locking differentials!). And beyond all of that, there's the style, the shape, the luxury, and the exclusivity that's all baked into the G63 package.
Because of this, I demanded we get Darth Benz on film. So as the final bits of our endlessly long cold season came to a close, I hit the streets of Detroit with our video crew in tow for another installment of Autoblog Unplugged. Again, the G-Wagen isn't really built for tackling curves – instead, it's all about the presence, and the noise. It's one of the coolest vehicles I've ever driven. Check it out in the video above.
Related Gallery 2014 Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG
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