Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen 280GE

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Adored and ignored in equal measure, the G-Wagen is one of those vehicles that seem to polarise opinions. Ugly, boxy and crude to some, it is the finest, most capable and best engineered 4x4 of all time to others.

However the facts speak for themselves: despite having a cripplingly high price tag right from its launch in 1979, the G-Wagen has won such a loyal fan base that it remains in production to this day, making it the longest running model in Mercedes history.

Available with a range of engines from a 2-litre petrol to a 3-litre diesel in both long and short wheelbase formats, its trump card was a set of three fully locking differentials, controlled by a profusion of knobs and levers, that gave it the ability to cross even the worst terrain that Planet Earth could throw at it. To prove the point, Jacky Ickx and Claude Brasseur won the world’s toughest rally, the Paris-Dakar, in a G-Wagen 280GE in 1983.

Considered essential equipment by the German military and emergency services (not to mention the Russian mafia, who like theirs bullet-proof), it also proved an irresistible security blanket to middle class parents terrified that young Wolfgang might not make it to school on time.

This 1989 G-Wagen has had just five owners since it was first UK registered in June 1991 and is showing less than 71,000 miles on the clock which is believed to be genuine although there is insufficient history to warrant this figure. A 280GE three-door model, it is powered by Mercedes’ tried and trusted 154bhp 2.8-litre six-cylinder fuel-injected engine (familiar to many an SL owner) allied to a 5-speed automatic gearbox which gives it a top speed of 98mph and a 0-60 time of 13.3 seconds with power steering as standard.

The current owners acquired the car in December 2011 and have spent a small fortune keeping 'Gertie' (as she is affectionately known) in tip top condition, including a full respray in February this year. Other recent work includes a new head gasket, valve stem seals and radiator rebuild in February 2014 at 68,489 miles; a new fuel tank in 2013; reconditioned starter motor in 2012; full cat back stainless steel exhaust in 2011 at a cost of £649; new windscreen in 2009; a recent new set of tyres plus a host of other items detailed in the history file, much of the work being carried out by marque specialists G-Centre of Birtsmorton Court, Worcestershire.

With an MOT until August 2016, Gertie is said to drive superbly and is only reluctantly for sale to fund the restoration of an old Porsche 911 which has been in the family from new. In very smart order throughout it is certainly one of the best we have ever offered and, with such low indicated mileage, should have decades of useful life ahead of it. Although, as any G-Wagen fan will tell you, mileage is irrelevant with these tanks and they just keep on keeping on until everything around them has died or fallen to bits and then they just keep on going some more.

If they can take anything that the Albanian, Egyptian, Mexican and Mongolian armed forces can throw at them (to name but a few), they can certainly shrug off any puny tasks that you might have in mind. Just ask President Putin’s bodyguards what they think of theirs. On second thoughts…

Amendment: The registration number shown in the photograph is not with the car.