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September 1993 brought with it a concept that duly became the A-Class, new AMG models, and a revised G-Wagen, keeping the off-roader alive and well. Then, in November, the company announced it was taking a stake in Britain’s Ilmor Engineering, which signalled a wish to enter the Formula One and Indycar arena.
More S-Class and E-Class variants put in an appearance at the 1994 Geneva Show in March, but it was the Turin Show, which opened a month later, that held the interest of sports car fans, as that was where the SLK prototype made its debut, which ultimately led to a production model being launched in spring 1996. It has to be said, the timing couldn’t have been better to announce a sports car. The end of March 1994 had witnessed the company’s first involvement in Formula One for four decades, as an engine supplier to the Sauber team at this stage, and a couple of months later, Al Unser Jr won the prestigious Indianapolis 500 in the States with a Penske-Mercedes PC23.
For now, though, let’s go back to the start of the 1994 season, and take a look at what was happening with the G-Wagen competitors before taking up the Geländewagen story again ...
The rivals
The SUV market was hotting up, with the Range Rover becoming more luxurious, and joined by the new P38A model in 1994; the two ran alongside each other for a little while. Then the compact Land Rover Freelander made its debut in time for the 1998 season, and a new version of the Discovery was launched soon after.
The J100 Land Cruiser replaced the J80 model at the start of 1998, both spawning a luxury Lexus variant, and the smaller, shapelier Harrier was launched at a similar time, which also provided the basis for a second Lexus SUV line. The rather more mundane RAV4 (XA10) was introduced in 1994, becoming bigger and bigger as the years passed, and was joined by the Toyota Highlander/Kluger as the new millennium dawned.
The third generation Mitsubishi Pajero (also known as the Shogun or Montero) was released in 1999, with the smaller Pajero iO sold alongside it, while the Isuzu Trooper had fallen by the wayside a couple of years into the new century; at least the second generation MU was there, built from 1998 to 2004, and the short-lived – and now quite rare – VehiCROSS model. At Nissan, the Y60 gave way to the Y61 Patrol in 1997, looking much like its Japanese counterparts; Subaru introduced the Forester in 1997, too, and Suzuki launched a fresh Escudo range in the following year.
Jeep continued to develop its Wrangler, Cherokee and Grand Cherokee ranges, although they all looked rather dated against their Japanese foes, while Ford launched a new Explorer in 1995 and an Expedition soon after as a replacement for the Bronco. Chevrolet had its Tahoe (GMC Yukon) in the full-size category, and the Suzuki-based Tracker by the end of the 1990s, while Chrysler brought out the truck-based Dodge Durango in 1997.
Other heavyweights included the 1999 Model Year Cadillac Escalade – a badge-engineered Tahoe, brought out in response to Ford’s new UN173 Lincoln Navigator (launched in August 1997), but the undoubted star of the era from US soil was the Hummer marque. Based on the military Humvee, it was released in civilian guise in April 1992, powered by a huge V8. The H1 (as it was later called) started something of a boom for He-Man-type SUVs that possibly helped other manufacturers punt their more sensibly proportioned goods – including the boxy Benz – although the Hummer brand was carefully nurtured in the new millennium with vehicles of a more modest size.
Although the likes of Asia’s SsangYong and Mahindra were always going to be small fry on the global stage, one of the huge advantages enjoyed by many of these rivals was a strong export market, whereas that for the G-Wagen was weak – while the American market stuttered back online in its own roundabout fashion, others were shrinking and, as we’ll find out in the coming pages, even the UK gave up on the Graz-built machine for a time. As US-based journalist Don Schroeder so eloquently put it in 1994: “You might find it in a stream or atop a mountain. But not at the local Mercedes dealer.”
The 1994 to 1996 cars
The 1994 season brought with it a number of changes, not least a new numbering system for all the Mercedes-Benz passenger car lines. Starting in the spring of 1993, the compact car line was christened the C-Class, with the intermediate models becoming the E-Class, positioned below the top-flight S-Class machines, and the old-style engine-size-related number followed by a series or body style designation was replaced by a class letter followed by a number. As such, the 200GE became the G200 for the 1994 season, the 230GE the G230, the 300GE the G300, the 300GD the G300 Diesel, and the 350GD Turbo the G350 Turbodiesel.
All G-Wagens gained ABS as standard from September 1993, although the introduction of the G320 at the Frankfurt Show that month threw the future of the G300 into question. Indeed, greater changes were afoot in Stuttgart, with the G200 run ending in March 1994 (the last lwb estate had been built in June 1993, as it happens), the G230 variants being dropped in the middle of 1994, and the G300s and G300 Diesels at the tail-end of summer. All of a sudden, this left just two G-Class models – the G320 and G350 Turbodiesel, both being made available with swb and lwb estate bodywork, as well as with an open cabriolet body.
A driver’s-side airbag was fitted as standard from March 1994, with the steering wheel being similar to the one introduced in the previous year, but naturally featuring a new centre pad to house the airbag. With all the commotion surrounding the other G-Wagen grades, full-scale production of the G320 didn’t start until two months later, with the cabriolet costing DM 94,300, the short-wheelbase station wagon DM 94,185 (the three-door hardtop variant becoming a new entry-level model in the process), and the long-wheelbase estate DM 101,775; the contemporary G350T line-up started at DM 91,080 at this time, by the way, meaning the diesel engine option was cheaper, although that situation changed after the diesel-powered machine inherited 7.5J x 16 alloys shod with 225/65 rubber as standard, along with the ventilated front discs used on the 500GE, in July 1994.
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