It has been the definitive cross-country vehicle since 1979. It has won the Paris-Dakar Rally, is deemed a worthy means of transport for the Pope, ranks as an automotive design icon, is a serial winner of readers’ polls and constitutes the gene pool for a Mercedes-Benz SUV family that now numbers four model series in all. It is, of course – the G-Class.

It has been in production for 29 years now, making the G-Class by far the longest-serving passenger car model series there has been since Mercedes-Benz came into existence in 1886. And its haul of superlatives is set to grow still further, because the G-Class is subject to continual updating that keeps it in touch with the very latest motoring technology. This time, once again, the exterior has only been modernized to a limited degree quite deliberately. The advances mainly center on the vehicle’s telematics, along with the new 5.5-litre V8 engine that is available for the G 500.