Can't Afford a Mercedes-AMG G63? Convert a New Suzuki Jimny Into One Instead

Chad Kirchner
by Chad Kirchner

A brand new Mercedes-AMG G63 isn’t what we’d call cheap, if you can even get one. The luxury off-road monster can literally go anywhere in a style uniquely its own, but it’s big, pricey and not the most fuel efficient. So what if you want a G63 but want to get it on the cheap? You build your own out of a Suzuki Jimny.

The Jimny is the darling of forbidden fruit. It’s the opposite of the Mercedes. It’s inexpensive, frugal and small. It’s off-road prowess comes from determination and grit instead of horsepower and torque. But it is boxy like the G-Wagon. So that counts for something.

Fast Car Service out of Dubai offers this conversion for $12,250. It includes using bespoke Mercedes bits on the Jimny to make it look more like the G63. Custom components are used where Mercedes bits don’t work. What’s especially lovely is the little 1.5-liter engine in the Jimny gets side-exit exhausts just like the Mercedes-AMG version does. Though it’s safe to say they don’t sound the same.

The upgrades are nearly half the price of a brand new Jimny. Though that’s only a fraction of the starting price of a $147,500 for the full-size, full-on version of the Geländewagen.

I like the new Jimny the way it is. I like the quirky colors and simplistic interior. While I get why it wouldn’t do well in the United States, I’m not sure if I had one I’d want to drop a bunch of money into it to make it look like something else. But the quality of the Dubai firm’s work looks great and it is well executed. I feel like it’d be a great supplement to a regular G-Wagon already in the garage for those who are positioned well enough to have one.

[Source: Autoblog] [Image: Instagram]

Chad Kirchner
Chad Kirchner

More by Chad Kirchner

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 11 comments
  • Dima Dima on Jul 17, 2019

    In my city (Basel) there are not many G-Klasse, I have seen more around Zurich, still, BMW is more popular around here.

  • GenesisCoupe380GT GenesisCoupe380GT on Apr 07, 2020

    Whoever came up with this idea has far too much time on their hands because this is like a lifelike replica of a Power Wheels toy

  • AMcA My theory is that that when the Big 3 gave away the store to the UAW in the last contract, there was a side deal in which the UAW promised to go after the non-organized transplant plants. Even the UAW understands that if the wage differential gets too high it's gonna kill the golden goose.
  • MKizzy Why else does range matter? Because in the EV advocate's dream scenario of a post-ICE future, the average multi-car household will find itself with more EVs in their garages and driveways than places to plug them in or the capacity to charge then all at once without significant electrical upgrades. Unless each vehicle has enough range to allow for multiple days without plugging in, fighting over charging access in multi-EV households will be right up there with finances for causes of domestic strife.
  • 28-Cars-Later WSJ blurb in Think or Swim:Workers at Volkswagen's Tennessee factory voted to join the United Auto Workers, marking a historic win for the 89- year-old union that is seeking to expand where it has struggled before, with foreign-owned factories in the South.The vote is a breakthrough for the UAW, whose membership has shrunk by about three-quarters since the 1970s, to less than 400,000 workers last year.UAW leaders have hitched their growth ambitions to organizing nonunion auto factories, many of which are in southern states where the Detroit-based labor group has failed several times and antiunion sentiment abounds."People are ready for change," said Kelcey Smith, 48, who has worked in the VW plant's paint shop for about a year, after leaving his job at an Amazon.com warehouse in town. "We look forward to making history and bringing change throughout the entire South."   ...Start the clock on a Chattanooga shutdown.
  • 1995 SC Didn't Chrysler actually offer something with a rearward facing seat and a desk with a typewriter back in the 60s?
  • The Oracle Happy Trails Tadge
Next