I have owned 2 g-wagens, an '89 280GE swb and a '91 300GD lwb, both manuals.
The 280GE was by far the most reliable vehicle I have ever owned. Normally it is is in rwd mode, but when the going gets tougher you can transfer to 4wd on the fly. There are only 2 diffs on this model and both can be locked seperately. It is important to keep all tyres at a similar depth if you do not want to suffer transmission wind up. ABS was not an option on this model, so some care is required stopping this beast on icy roads. The model I had was fitted with the optional Recaro seats, which were very comfortable.
Fuel consumption was a greedy 19 mpg despite fitting an engine pre-heater, and ultimately this was its main downfall. I owned the car for 3 years and sold it for 75% of what I paid for it, which was pretty good
In hindsight if lpg had been an option then I would probably still own it!
At the time I was keen on the newer type 463 model with all its electronic triple diff locks and ABS. The interior had come from the plusher E series salloon cars. I purchased a lwb 300GD fitted with the rarer 6 cylinder diesel. The performance on road was far smoother than my previous G and far quieter. Unfortunately for me the previous owner had failed to fix anything, perhaps due to letting their nanny drive it all the time. The car spent most of its first year being fixed under warrany by the local MB dealer. Stupid electrical things would fail like the fuel gauge, the filler lock, the door locks. The final trouble was rust started to appear on a panel seam and the power steering pump leaking. I think it must have been on the Paris-Daker never mind a trip to the park with Nanny!
Sadly this vehicle would have been ideal except for its gross unreliability, a fault I suspect of just this particular vehicle and not the entire range. Its fuel economy was around the 25mpg mark. I traded it in after 15 months and lost 25% again.
I'm told that great fun could be had with the G300 auto at the traffic lights if you were to select the low range on the auto box. Wait for the lights to change and floor it, you would give the boy racer a fright as you went through all the gears before hitting 30mph flat out!
If I were to buy another one it would be one of the 463 turbo diesels. Unfortunately RHD versions are extremely rare as they were never officially imported by MB UK. I would not worry too much about driving a left hooker as the very elevated driving position commands an excellent view of the terrain ahead.
There is a nice looking V8 twin turbo diesel for sale on Autotrader, at an even nicer price!
www.dealer.autotrader.co.uk/_seniors1.htm
Anyway I haven't won the lottery this week. I'll have to load some pictures up to my gallery some time.
Slightly impractical though :bannana: 
