Delta 4x4 builds stunning BMW Motorrad homage G
BMW's Dakar bikes used G-Wagen assistance trucks in the 80s - now this one's heading back
There can’t be many examples of BMW using a Mercedes in an official capacity, or vice versa, but back in the 1980s there was one very cool crossover. A Puch G (as the original G-Wagen was also known) was used as an assistance truck for BMW Motorrad’s Dakar effort on two wheels. BMW didn’t have a suitable off-roader at the time, and there was no better vehicle for rescuing stranded riders in the desert than a G. So a Puch it was - not a Mercedes, of course, couldn’t have that. But the best 4x4 around, decked out in a quite incredible livery of Marlboro, Playboy and BMW (those were the days etc etc), off to support those maniacs that attempt the Dakar on two wheels.
In 1985, the BMW Motorrad Team won the Dakar, with a Puch G as an ‘assistance rapide’ vehicle. It was piloted by seasoned Dakar driver Josef ‘Beppo’ Loder, who had also founded Delta 4x4 five years earlier. Now his sons Max and Laurence, involved in the family business and enamoured by their father’s exploits, have built another G just like their old man’s. And they’re going to the Dakar with it.
Sponsorship from cigarette companies and adult mags may have gone, but this looks a very faithful recreation of the original Loder Wagen. Using a donor Puch from a fire department in Austria, the Loder boys have spent 10 months converting it into a rally raid weapon. They even went as far as making a three-door G from what was a five-door variant, to make it as accurate as possible. It’s said that no expense was spared getting the car for five thousand miles in the Saudi Arabian desert, and certainly it looks ready for anything now. As well as brilliant. Finished just three days before scrutineering, the Delta 4x4 G is now ready for the two-week epic that kicks off on Friday. Good luck to the Loders!
And just finally, if a Dakar homage G-Wagen has you in the mood for adventure, you know where to look… This 1993 G290D has been uprated to military spec with a tougher chassis, all-terrain tyres, LED lights and a host of other fresh parts. Something a little different to a Defender for green-laning and the like, it’s £23k. Or, of course, you go the whole hog and get a squared…
The original non-blinged G Wagens are very cool though
Corporate public between the big three German brands are normally quite limited, as it should be, last one that springs to mind is Mercedes doing that donut celebration of Audi’s birthday and it was a cringe fest.
In the ‘80s our BMW dealer stock used to get delivered on a transporter towed by a Mercedes truck. When querying this with BMW GB, the answer we got was “Well, it’s the only thing Mercedes are good for, delivering BMWs.”
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