Mercedes-AMG G63

REPORT 4 £ 143,305 OTR/£148,005 as tested/£1,828pcm WHY I T ’S HERE The ultimate old-school charmer, but can it hack the daily grind? DRI V ER Rowan Horncastle

THERE I WAS, SUMMITING AN ITALIAN ALP HAVING SINGLE-STINTED THE G63 from the UK, thinking I had the ultimate car for a week’s skiing. I was wrong. Pulling into the car park in Sauze d’Oulx, I was greeted by the true King of the Hill – a bespoke MAN 4x4 Expedition Overlander.

But I didn’t care, because if someone is going to steal your thunder (especially after an 800-mile drive), they’ve got to do it in style. And these guys had. The apocalypse-proof battleship on wheels was bigger than the G63, better equipped and even more luxurious. Which, given I had plush heated leather seats (that can be specced with massagers) and a heated wheel, I found quite hard to believe.

Owned by a lovely couple from Warwickshire, they were overlanding to China with their three-legged Doberman, Hugo. After a chat, I realised we had a common goal: not to use our driving licences simply as an easier way to pop down the shops, but as a passport for freedom.

Too many G63s spend their life sauntering around central London – so I wanted to stretch KY68 LXN’s legs to see if it’s a cruiser. And, thanks to road-worthy suspension and effortless steering that actually works (unlike the previous gen) it’s now as easy to schlep as an S-Class. The V8 now has cylinder deactivation, so under partial load cylinders two, three, five and eight are shut down – doubling the fuel economy.

Plus, with winter tyres and a bespoke ‘slippery’ drive mode to play with, I felt like I could literally go anywhere in the Alps. So I did. I just followed the snow and did over 2,000 miles across five ski resorts in four countries in seven days.

And if you thought a G63 was a four-wheeled flex in Sloane Street, you should see the faces people pull in a ski resort. Unless you happen to run into an Overlander, that is.