Earlier this month, it was announced that the newest Mercedes-Benz G-class was officially Schockl-rated.
This week, the Volks Affair team talk about Mercedes Benz, the G class, and the brand’s history with Schockl Mountain.
The Mercedes-Benz G Class
Regular readers will remember that Mercedes-Benz reserves the G moniker for their SUV models. The G comes from the German, Gelandewagen, meaning cross-country vehicle. The G prefix can be then followed by an LS, LA, LE, or an LC/LK.
Like with the C class, an LA suffix means that the model is a hatchback crossover, and an LS denotes the larger size (though this isn’t what LS stands for — S, actually, stands for Sonderklasse, or “special class”). The remaining suffix, the C or K, is short for Compact.
The G class is an SUV. The first commercial version went on the market in 1979, and in 1980, became t
The interior of the first Mercedes-Benz G Class, the 1979 G-Wagen
he sixth Mercedes-Benz to be used as the Popemobile. The G class have changed a lot since then, with major shifts happening in transmission, safety and design.
Schockl Mountain
The Schockl is an Austrian mountain. Peaking at 1,447m above sea level, this limestone mountain is a popular tourist destination for visitors and apple orchard enthusiasts.
According to Mercedes-Benz lore, every G class must pass the Schockl test: a 5.6km stretch of twisty, turny road, with climbs of up to 60 degrees. Its turns can be sharp, some are at tight 40-degree angles. Rocky roads and uneven climbs make the track treacherous, and G testers cannot just drive it the once: every G class model must make it through 2,000km of the Schockl challenge.
Testing on Schockl’s steep inclines, uneven climbs and rough roads means that every G class model is set for off-road action. The chassis has to be high enough, and the engine powerful enough, to make it over craggy rocks, sudden ditches, muddy embankments — whatever wilderness the adventurous Mercedes-Benz driver might want to explore.
Before you take your G class through a rough patch, make sure it’s up to scratch. Book it in today for a Mercedes-Benz service. While you wait for our mechanics to repair your Mercedes, or service its air-conditioning.