Friday, 06 July 2018 08:55

She’s a truck; not a ute!

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Prominently displayed at the Mercedes Benz site at Fieldays was a vehicle that gives merit to the saying ‘there’s plenty of life in the old dog yet’.

The venerable G-Professional cab chassis can trace its heritage back to the early 1970s when the Shah of Iran – a major shareholder at Mercedes – suggesting the company develop a military vehicle, which we know morphed into the ubiquitous G-wagon.

Now, 45 years later, the G-Professional might be termed middle-aged but it can still hold its own, and more, in a market dominated by youngbloods.

Shown in an interesting configuration, as a rural fire service vehicle that would have most brigades salivating, the vehicle produces 135kW and 400Nm from a 3.0L, V6 turbo-diesel that mates to a five-speed auto-transmission and three independent differential locks.

Looking at the vehicle’s abilities, a gross vehicle mass of 4470kg enables the truck to carry a 2085kg payload and pull a braked trailer of 3200kg, combining to give the G-Pro a combined mass of 7500kg.

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