This Custom Mercedes G500 Looks Ready for a Very Expensive Expedition

Banyan Motors gave the old V8 G-Wagen a towering stance, Coyote Brown paint and a cabin you’d hate to climb into with muddy boots.

A brown Mercedes sounds like a sensible choice. This one rather quickly puts that idea to bed.

Houston’s Banyan Motors gave this 2000 Mercedes-Benz G500 a 4×4²-style transformation, complete with LeTech portal axles, 37-inch tires and Coyote Brown Magno paint. The proportions are gloriously exaggerated. You’d want to measure the garage door before getting too attached.

The interesting stuff is underneath

Those LeTech portal axles are the crucial detail. Geared hubs place the wheel centers below the axle centerline, creating extra clearance under the axles themselves. On rough ground, that gives rocks and deeply rutted tracks more room to pass beneath the truck. It’s an engineering decision with a very visible payoff.\

There’s pedigree behind the hardware, too. LeTech’s engineering contributed to Mercedes’ G 63 6×6, G 500 4×4² and G 650 Landaulet. The company also offers portal conversions for older G-Class axles, giving these trucks a route to some of the same mechanical thinking that made the factory specials so outrageous.

The build adds dual-coilover suspension, beadlock wheels, steel bumpers and a winch. Together, they give the square body a wonderfully heavy-duty look. The paint does its share of the work: that dusty brown makes the whole thing feel like an expedition vehicle somebody has taken a little too far. Which, frankly, is the attraction.

We’ve seen the G-Class pushed to similar visual extremes in the Brabus 850 4×4². This build’s earthy palette is particularly appealing. It suits the old body’s upright, almost architectural shape, and gives all that extra hardware a cohesive look.

Bring clean boots

The cabin offers a welcome change of mood. Saddle leather with octagonal stitching covers the seats, accompanied by heated fronts and a microsuede headliner. It’s an inviting combination, with enough warmth to soften the truck’s rather intimidating exterior.

That choice is a big part of why this build works. A stripped-out interior would push the whole thing toward a military-truck fantasy. The leather keeps some traditional Mercedes indulgence in the picture. You can imagine wanting to take the scenic route home, then spending an unreasonable amount of time brushing the dust off your shoes before getting back in.

Power comes from a 5.0-liter M113 V8, factory-rated at 291 horsepower, with a five-speed automatic and three locking differentials. The older V8 suits the character of the project. There’s something satisfying about giving this much attention to a G500 from the turn of the millennium, especially when the basic shape still looks so good.

Private Collection Motors is offering the truck in Costa Mesa, California, through Bring a Trailer, with the auction scheduled to close October 23. The odometer shows 1,900 miles, but total mileage is unknown, and the listing says it has not passed California emissions testing.

The appeal is easy to understand: an old Mercedes box, some serious engineering underneath and a color scheme that makes the excess feel considered. Sensible might be a stretch. Memorable is a certainty.