Rare SWB Geländewagen Turbo Diesel

Description for Mercedes-Benz G-Class 1980

Up for your consideration is this unique 1984 (eBay wont allow it to be listed as 1984 due to German market VIN) Mercedes-Benz Geländewagen.The G-class was developed as a military vehicle from a suggestion by theShah of Iranto Mercedesand offered as a civilian version in 1979.The original 460-series Geländewagen went on sale in 1979, after having debuted in February of that year. It was offered with two wheelbases, a short wheelbase (SWB) of 2,400mm and a long one (LWB) of 2,850mm. While always assembled in Graz at the Puch factory, the car was sold as thePuch Gonly in the Austrian, Swiss, and Eastern European markets. This particular SWB G Class was produced for the German market on 5/18/1984 and left the factory equippedwith the sluggishM110E 2.8L petrol engine. Later during its life the M110E was pulled and replaced with the highly desirableOM617A turbo diesel with had been sourced from a 300TD. The OM617A has long been the go to upgrade for the early Mercedes G Wagens as it is known to be one of the most bullet proof engines ever made and also does not have any complicated electronics to make it run which combined with the added power makes it a standard in the vintage Mercedes world. I believe it was it this time that the transmission was also changed from the 720.109 to a 722.109. The transmission had been rebuilt by the previous owner using Mercedes transmission specialist Sun Valley Transmission in CA. I recently had the transmission pulled and sent to them to address a slight slip when shifting in the higher gears which they did address. While the transmission was with them they noted that the transmission still looked brand new inside and showed basically no wear at all. Both my self and the previous owner have daily driven this 280GE and it has done very well. Subsequently we have both made every effort to repair and address any mechanical issues that have arisenduring our ownership and have fairly significant records to show the work that had been done. Recent work under my ownership includes a new custom built drive shaft with replaceable u joints rather than the non replaceableMercedes units (roughly 2000 miles ago), new brake master cylinder (roughly 300 miles ago), new steering stabilizer, full set of new suspension coil springs, etc. The speedometer was replaced right before I purchased it as it had recently stopped working. I still have the original speedometer and the currentmileage on the new unit is 10320 which will slightly change as I still drive this vehicle almost daily.The previous owner had the color changed years ago from the 8473 Champagne color to the Onyx Grey that is is now although the originalcolor is still present in the engine bay. During the time it was repainted the floor pans were professionally replaced due to a small amount of corrosion which was caused from wet shoes as it was from the inside out rather than the outside in. While doing this the previous owner added dynomat to help with road noise, added Recaro seats that were professionally recovered to match the interior, as well as having the rear seat and door panels done in the same leather. It does show some wear and tear as it has been a daily driven vehicle but presents well. It has a small amount of surface corrosion in the seams between the top and bottom halves below the rear windows. This is not significant and is certainly not a structural issue at this point. Please review the picturesand please contact me with any questions. I also have the service documents that I can send over if you would like them. This G Wagen is not fast but is most definitely faster than it would have been with the gas engine. It will cruise at 65-70 mph at around 3500 RPM. Heated seat functions were added to the Recaro seats when being reupholstered and rare factory dash switches were utilized to complete the factory look.

This beautiful G Wagen has certainly grabbed the attention of many over the years due to the fact that most people just never knew a SWB G class had ever been produced. It has been an absolute joy to drive over the past 3 years of my ownership. I have put a lot of love into this vehicle over the years I have had it to try to make it a good solid daily driver which it has been nothing less. These G Wagens drive similar to the Land Rover counterpart however are much more solid and feel far from the tin can feel of the Defenders and Land Cruisers.
A few items to note:The tachometer works intermittentlyThe radio antenna is not connectedThe horn is currently not workingIt leaks (very little) maybe a few drops a day I believeSmokes a small amount on cold start on colder morningsAn aftermarket alarm was installed under the previous ownership which I mention because it doesn'thave any specific problem however I am not a huge fan of aftermarket alarms.

I am happy to help with shipping although the buyer is responsiblefor contacting a shipper and arranging the shipment. I can then help the shipper pick up the vehicle.
Thank you for looking.