2002 Mercedes-Benz G-Class; The ultra sport/ute G500 brings truckin' to a new level.

As smart as the folks at Mercedes-Benz undoubtedly are, you wonder why it took so long for them to recognize the market for a high-line super-rugged sport/utility vehicle. Look around: At one end is Range Rover's Land Rover, whose interior appointments and accoutrements are the stuff of bespoke legend; at the other is Hummer, as rough and tumble a terrain terrier as exists in the four-wheel-drive world. Both of those have been for sale, if not in large numbers to the general public, then to a passionate and discriminating audience, for close to a decade.

For 2002, Mercedes-Benz of North America officially introduces the G-Class, a robust roustabout that slides between the two competitors. We have driven it to the heights of an Austrian mountain as well as to the trailhead of a Brooks Brothers two-for-one sale. It is a vehicle that's equally as comfortable being used as a mountain blitzer or urban jungle warrior. We say ``officially introduces'' because for some time the G-Class, known by its full Gelaendewagen name worldwide, has been brought in under the fed's radar as a gray-market import. Now, Mercedes will push G500s through its U.S. dealers at a relative steal (for such a beast) of $73,165. Gun turret and sterling silver-laden picnic basket extra.

Here's why the G500, a truck of which Mercedes will sell only 1500 copies over the course of the year, makes sense: It gives the firm another step in its truck lineup ladder, and a profitable one. The G500 may be new to the United States, but it is well known around the world. It is built in so many configurations-``strippers'' sold to the military and to police; enclosed cabin vehicles with bench seats open to the elements for mining companies; ...