Mercedes-Benz G63 2013 News

Despite its resemblance to the 6X6 G-wagon used by the Australian Army, the Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6X6 isn't coming here.Mercedes-Benz Australia spokesman Jerry Stamoulis says the G63 -- with an overseas price equivalent to $550,000 -- a left-hand drive vehicle only and is being produced in "very, very limited numbers".And it shares almost no drivetrain components with any of the other G-Class vehicles. "It has a very complicated drivetrain and chassis," Stamoulis says. "It has absolutely no relation to the other G-Class vehicles including the 6X6 G-wagon used by the Australian Army. The G63 is a complex, super-articulated machine designed for extreme off-road conditions."However the G63 is built alongside the other G-Class vehicles in Austria by Magna-Steyr. Like the other G models, the G63 is hand built. The less complex G models, such as the G350 and G500, take 11 days each to hand assemble. Stamoulis says the G63 6X6 started life as a concept but drew demand from some countries. Mercedes recently started making limited numbers to satisfy demand.The G63 AMG model gets a 5.5-litre bi-turbo V8 with 400kW and 760Nm that's enough to haul the 3.8-tonne monster to 100km/h from rest in 5.9 seconds. It's even farm-friendly with its 650kg payload. But if that's too lame for you, specialist fabricator Brabus has its own interpretation.The Brabus 700, launched at the recent Frankfurt motor show, boosts the AMG's output to 515kW/965Nm using the same engine but with some clever tweaking. For example, the intake and turbo pipes are lined with gold leaf - that's real gold - to keep air temperatures as low as possible. It also gets two new, high-pressure turbochargers.The extra kit adds weight to Brabus has added a carbon-fibre bonnet and wheel arches. But it works - the 700 will rocket to 100km/h from standstill in only 7.4 seconds. Because of the off-road tyres, the machine is limited to only 160km/h.The price is about $700,000 and it too is made only as a left-hand drive. Though if you offered a bit more money they may consider moving the steering wheel.This reporter is on Twitter: @cg_dowling 

With a name like 'Scary Spice', you'd imagine the singer Mel B would drive something a little more challenging than a run-of-the-mill family car. But you might not expect to find her behind the wheel of an armoured fortress bristling with hi-tech anti-personnel gadgets. However, now that the former Spice Girl is carving out a successful TV career hosting shows like Australian The X Factor, she has decided that what she really, really wants is a £200,000 ($345,000) specially modified attack-proof Cadillac Escalade capable of destroying the tyres of pursuing vehicles.Melanie Brown has joined the growing band of jittery U.S. celebrities who are driving armoured vehicles which can withstand bullets, bombs and chemical attacks. Her giant, gas-guzzling sports utility vehicle will even give an electric shock — up to 240 volts-worth of 'non-lethal current' — to car-jackers, paparazzi or anyone else foolish enough to grab the door handles in a bid to gain entry.At the push of a button, it will belch out dense white smoke to help the driver evade any pursuing vehicle, and pump out small spikes to puncture their tyres. Some customers specify pressurised cabins and on-board oxygen supplies to protect against chemical and gas attacks.Mel B's specially armoured and fully loaded seven-seater vehicle was delivered to her at her home in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, recently by Jason Forston, vice-president of the Texas Armoring Corporation in San Antonio. His 38-year-old Leeds-born client also has an armoured Range Rover and Mercedes-Benz S-Class on order, he said.Texas Armoring employs 50 people and customises about 200 vehicles a year, usually for heads of state, politicians, business executives, diplomats and royal families. But more recently, Hollywood celebrities and sport stars have sparked a mini-boom in armoured vehicles as the worsening international climate — from chemical strikes in Syria to terrorist attacks in Boston and Kenya — have made them twitchy about their personal safety and the risk of kidnap or worse.These stars include British actor Sacha Baron Cohen and the rapper Kanye West, who recently ordered two outrageous Latvian-built Prombron Iron Diamonds costing around £800,000 ($1.4m) each. They are made by Dartz Motorz, the same company which built Sacha Baron Cohen's gold-plated presidential SUV which featured in his film The Dictator.Texas Armoring's Mr Forston, 32, said: 'Five years ago we had no Hollywood celebrities as customers. Nowadays, we have anywhere between 10 to 15 orders a year from celebrities and professional athletes.' They include Steven Seagal and rapper TI, who has a blinged-up version of Mel B's Cadillac Escalade, including a 32in flat-screen television with satellite TV and mobile Wi-Fi.Love-cheat golfer Tiger Woods is also understood to have one of the firm's armoured cars, which is presumably more than capable of withstanding a sustained attack from an angry wife wielding a nine-iron. Mel B — who is a judge on America's Got Talent and has been co-hosting NBC's Today show — and her producer husband Stephen Belafonte have opted for a traditional family-friendly interior to suit the lifestyles of her daughters Phoenix, Angel, Madison and stepdaughter Giselle.Mr Forston said: 'I delivered it to their house in Beverly Hills. They are very good people. We all went for a test drive so they knew how to use all the different options. Her husband is a big car guy. She drove it for a while — and on the right side. 'It's pretty much the standard leather interior. They've got kids so are pretty down to earth about things.'From the outside, these cars are virtually indistinguishable from the standard models — but have been stripped down to the frame and rebuilt with armour and hi-tech gadgets. In a country where guns are part of the fabric of day-to-day life — 'I carry a gun in my pocket every day: we're in Texas,' says Mr Forston — customers can specify a special gun-port through which to shoot at attackers on the outside. And Texas Armoring clearly has supreme confidence in its product.In an astonishing video on the firm's website — which comes with a 'don't try this at home' health warning — president and chief executive Trent Kimball is seen crouching behind a sheet of the company's bullet-proof glass while a young employee shoots at him with an AK-47. He lives to tell the tale as the triple-glazing shows up the spider-web impact of the bullets which nevertheless fail to penetrate the glass.But the American firm draws the line at emulating one South African security company which fitted a flame-thrower to a top-of-the-range BMW. At the push of a dashboard button, it shoots up a wall of fire outside the driver's car door in order to incinerate any would-be car-jacker.Demand for armoured cars is also on the increase on this side of the Atlantic. In Britain they are popular with Eastern European oligarchs. Luxury car-makers such as Jaguar Land Rover, BMW, Bentley and Mercedes-Benz already have their own 'in-house' security arms which build in armouring from scratch. Mr Forston acknowledges their high level of expertise, but says his company — which takes apart existing cars and customises them with armour and gadgets before re-assembling them — can do almost as high a specification but at a fraction of the cost.Among the car makes they tackle are Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Lotus, Audi, BMW, Porsche, Maserati, Volvo and even the more humble Honda, Volkswagen, Toyota and Ford. The most expensive car Mr Forston has sold to date is a customised and armoured £500,000 ($870,000) stretch Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon for an unnamed client.When he was Prime Minister, Tony Blair took delivery of a fully armoured BMW 7-series — dubbed the 'Blair Panzer' after the German word for armour. Ironically, on delivery in London, police found that illegal immigrants had stowed away in the container lorry transporting it to Britain.David Cameron has, as his official car, an armoured, top-of-the-range Jaguar XJ. But trumping them all is U.S. President Barack Obama with his gargantuan armoured Cadillac-style limousine, dubbed 'The Beast', which follows him around the globe on official visits. Security expert Robert Siciliano, in New York, says that for the super-rich earning millions, the cost of an armoured vehicle is a drop in the ocean and a sensible investment.'What's your life worth?' he says. 'A bullet costs about 25 cents. It will go through a non-armoured vehicle pretty efficiently. So to spend three-quarters of a million dollars on an armoured vehicle isn't that outrageous.' No doubt, Scary Spice would agree. The former Spice Girl's current vehicle certainly brings a whole new meaning to the term 'girl power'. 

Never say never – at least at Rolls-Royce. In just months the luxury brand has backflipped on the statement they’d never build an SUV, announcing the reversal at Frankfurt motor show."We are intensively thinking about entering the SUV segment," Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös said at the event. The competition for the best concept design will heat up at the company, now in a catch-up race with rival Bentley who has already pre-empted this move, leading the charge with the ultra-luxurious EXP 9 F concept.Production of the high-riding Bentley will begin in 2016, at least a full year before Rolls-Royce can respond in the showroom.  Even so, Rolls-Royce and its parental conglomerate in Bavaria will likely use this opportunity to develop a large SUV platform that will give buyers an alternative to the Audi Q7 and Mercedes-Benz GL-Class. Just another sweetener for venturing into what has become a lucrative market segment.While every Rolls-Royce is hand-built in their UK Goodwood factory, the British brand has access to BMW's extensive parts bin, so that could help fast-track a future concept into reality. However, with the cheapest Roller starting at about $600,000 here, expect the SUV to be similarly priced if it hits our shores.