Encountered a 30-year-old Mercedes-Benz G-Class and experienced a German fairy tale that never wears out

Although I have been to Guangzhou several times, I have never stayed at the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou, which is known as the "originator of five-star hotels in China". I probably just saw it blurry from a distance when looking at the Canton Tower. outline.

Of course, today I don’t want to introduce the “Hometown Water” viewing platform on the upper and lower floors of the White Swan Hotel. I am filled with emotion because I recently encountered a Mercedes-Benz G that once served in the White Swan Hotel in Hainan? 300?GD.

Hong Kong Weichang Development Co., Ltd., a company jointly established by Mr. Fok Yingdong and Mr. Peng Guozhen, signed an agreement with the Guangdong Provincial Tourism Hotel Project Leading Group in 1979 to build the White Swan Hotel. In the end, this hotel was independently designed by the Chinese , an independently constructed and independently managed five-star hotel opened in 1983. In order to meet the needs of business guests, Huo Yingdong spent his own money to buy more than a dozen Mercedes-Benz cars as a fleet to pick up and drop off guests. Among them, a W463 Mercedes-Benz G?300?GD was left in the logistics department of the White Swan Hotel as a work vehicle. However, according to the available information, this is not the earliest Mercedes-Benz G-Class in China - I can find the source of a car of a similar age, which is a W460 registered in 1989.

As the Guangzhou Baiyun Hotel celebrates its 20th birthday in 2003, the contract between Hong Kong Weichang Development Co., Ltd. and the Guangdong Provincial Government expires. The assets and trademarks of this legendary five-star hotel Officially nationalized, more than a dozen Mercedes-Benz cars that had entered the scrapping stage also entered the market through auction procedures. The most eye-catching one is naturally this Mercedes-Benz G-Class, which is still in its prime - it was eventually acquired by Mr. Xie Mo, who won the Portrait Gold Award at the 19th National Photography Art Exhibition and was the first Chinese "Hasselblad Photography Master". , and has been carefully maintained to this day. This time I also met Mr. Xie Mo, who was working on his creation, by chance in Haikou, and had the opportunity to experience the G?300?GD that he still uses as his daily transportation.

From the appearance point of view, based on my understanding of G-Wagen, apart from the separated headlights and center grille, it is also difficult to distinguish the difference between W460 and W463. The towering hood, The fog lights on both sides of the front of the car, the rough door locks, the exhaust pipes on the side of the body and the straight lines are all design elements that are still used today. However, this black-looking square box with a white roof is a very advanced preview of the currently popular "suspended" effect. The exposed rivets and the hidden car paint have a little rust, indicating that this G?300 ?GD is not young.

After entering the cabin, I can more easily identify its identity as W463 - compared to the attributes of the W461 tool truck, this civilian version of the same period has leather seats, electric windows, and wood visibly. In addition, the ABS system, four-wheel disc brakes, power steering and a full-time four-wheel drive system with three electronically controlled differential locks are also quietly installed in the car, and a vanity mirror behind the sun visor is also impressive. A knowing smile.

It is worth saying separately that this almost 30-year-old G?300?GD can still make me fall in love with the texture at first sight like Katharine Hepburn. The leather of the doors and seats has experienced After the wind and rain, it still retains its soft touch. Now it seems that the somewhat old-fashioned wood grain veneer also has a warm luster, and those hard plastic parts that have turned white are still tightly spliced ??without any signs of looseness. MINI, which has only been used for ten years, is ashamed.

However, compared with the latest W464 Mercedes-Benz G-Class that I tested last year, this G?300?GD is obviously smaller, about 0.2 meters shorter to be precise. However, the wheelbase of the new model is only 2890mm, which is only 40mm longer than the W463 in front of me. So in terms of the seating space in the car, I don’t feel that this G?300?GD is a product of the last century. The change in the sense of space will not be as obvious as that from the Volkswagen Santana to the Magotan, and the space left in the back row is still "just right". Women with long legs cannot fully use it. Fortunately, the square shape of the G?300?GD brings a good sense of openness to the head, and the square box body also allows the horizontally opening tailgate to contain extremely efficient storage capabilities.

Finally, I would like to briefly report on my short driving experience. This G?300?GD uses an OM603 diesel engine with the same 3.0L displacement. It has been upgraded from the W460's five-cylinder to a six-cylinder. Although the 83kW power and 191Nm torque are less than half of the new G?350, they are better than the old one. The money data has at least improved a bit.

However, after 30 years and more than 280,000 kilometers of use, this book data should be discounted again. Judging from the starting state, a tough guy like the G?300?GD still retains some dignity. If you step on the heavy accelerator with the force of stepping on the seated leg press in the gym, the speed can actively climb to 2000rpm, allowing The full torque makes this big car of more than two tons run like crazy. At least it does not consume too much fuel. However, the inability to do what it wants after the speed is increased shows the sense of crisis in middle age.

When I pressed the clutch, I felt like there was a fat Ronde goose stuffed under the pedal. Its hard struggle meant that I had to spend twice as much effort to shift gears.

Fortunately, when upshifting, the smooth feel of the gear lever makes the long journey less difficult and dangerous, which slightly makes up for the physical exertion during driving.

Another thing that surprised me came from the chassis quality of this G?300?GD. Although it has a similar structure to the W461, the suspension is obviously more suitable for urban use, crushing it on the road leading to the sea. There is no trivial bounce on the dirt road. Even if the hard bridge and hard horse are rough, the steering feel is so blurry that it feels like 1000-degree myopia. The roll after driving fast makes people unable to stop braking, but this car The overall driving feedback of the G?300?GD has satisfied most people's fantasy of daily transportation.

According to official data, the climbing gradient of this G-Wagen reaches 100%, and the wading depth is 60cm. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to build "other people's cars" so well, and for such For a 30-year-old car, doing this also loses the bottom line of respecting the elderly.

Driving summary:

This encounter with this Mercedes-Benz G?300?GD is really a chance, and I would like to thank Teacher Xie Mo again for generously allowing me to experience what I experienced 30 years ago. One of the best off-road vehicles - of course some people will say that Toyota's LC80 was a better choice at that time, but if you learn to be a fan of it and regard the efforts of the Germans as nothing, there is no need.

Although time has passed and the style of this G-wagen has been overshadowed by the W464, which is more technological, more powerful, and more lovable in design, if I choose to keep only one in the garage As an off-road vehicle, I would probably choose this G?300?GD, regardless of the terrible maintenance costs and the difficult road of vehicle review. It really doesn't have any modern feel, but this time-traveling charm makes me feel mechanically cute. As Mr. Xie Mo said, as time goes by, this G?300?GD will only bring more fun. Maybe in the future when everyone drives electric cars, they will better understand the wonderfulness of it.

Text | Louis

Pictures | Louis? position.